1 minute read

South Australia’s 2021 Tree of the Year

A spectacular example of the rare Dingley Dell Gum (featured on our front cover) has been voted the winner of the inaugural South Australian Tree of the Year competition.

The competition was initiated by Tom Morrison, who was named the 2021 City of Mitcham’s Young Citizen of the Year for his efforts to raise awareness about the importance of protecting our native and significant trees. Tom started the popular Facebook page, 20 Metre Trees, where he advocates for the value of large trees, particularly in urban environments.

Advertisement

As part of the South Australian Tree of the Year competition, the public was encouraged to nominate their favourite trees for recognition, by taking images of them and giving a brief description of why they thought the tree should be awarded the title.

Many different species of different sizes were nominated from across a wide area and for a variety of reasons, creating a showcase for some of the State’s most impressive trees. Encouragingly, many entries came from their nominators’ own backyards, with people sharing personal stories about their connections to the trees and the benefits they gave them.

Once nominations closed, a short-list of 24 trees was selected by an expert panel of judges from the National Trust, Trees for Life and the Conservation Council. This short-list was then made available for a public vote.

The 2021 winner is an example of Eucalyptus leucoxylon ssp.

megalocarpa, known in the Port MacDonnell area as the Dingley Dell gum because it grows around Dingley Dell cottage. During the 1860s, the historic house was home to famous Australian poet, Adam Lindsay Gordon, who reportedly wrote poetry sitting in the boughs of one of them.

Also commonly known as a large-fruited blue gum in South Australia, and a large-fruited yellow gum in Victoria, the sub species is found mainly in a narrow coastal strip stretching from the Lower South East of the State across to the Glenelg River, just over the Victorian border. A highly ornamental and hardy tree, which attracts nectar-eating birds and insects, its wood was traditionally used by indigenous peoples to make fighting sticks and shields.

One of the largest remaining stands in the State is in Germain Reserve at Port MacDonnell, where they have survived a tough environment, with strong coastal winds and shallow saline soils. The tree can even be found growing prostrate along wind-torn cliff tops.

The winning tree’s nominator put it forward because it represents South Australia’s southern-most gum and there are few mature examples left due to clearing for agriculture. “She's twisted and beautiful, especially in the mottled light of a setting sun!"

If you are visiting Port MacDonnell, or Dingley Dell cottage, please go and pay your respects fo a worthy competition winner.

This article is from: