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Level of Significance

  • File
  • Local
  • Regional
  • State
  • National

Age

?yrs

Trees

1

Diameter

5m

Height - 8m

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Details

Common name
Silk Floss Tree
Botanical name
Ceiba speciosa
Type
Specimen
Condition
Poor
Municipality
Melbourne (VIC)
Location
Melbourne Zoological Gardens, Elliott Street, Parkville VIC 3052
Access
Unrestricted
Significances
  • Horicultural/Genetic (Scientific)
  • Rare (Scientific)
  • Attractive (Aesthetic)
  • Unusual (Aesthetic)
  • Species/Location (Aesthetic)
Date of measurement
01 Jan 2012
Date of classification
24 Sep 2012

Statement of Significance

This Silk Floss Tree (<I>Ceiba speciosa</I>) is located in the snow leopard enclosure at the Melbourne Zoological Gardens which were established in 1862 are one of State's most treasured gardens. The gardens are not only home to thousands of animals but also approximately 70,000 plant specimens.<BR>Silk Floss Trees are rarely grown in Melbourneand could be an important source of propagating stock. The tree makes an important contribution to the snow leopard enclose, providing an interesting aesthetic of a tropical plant and an arctic animal. The tree exhibits a curious natural growth with spiny trunk. The tree is indicative of design characteristics which clearly differentiate the different periods of development such as the influences of Albert Le Souef and the late Victorian era with its penchant for specimen trees.