The rrrr Separation tree was a heritage listed ''

Eucalyptus camaldulensis ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

'' tree, commonly known as a red river gum, located in the

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land was rese ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Found on the Tennyson Lawn the tree was one of two original river red gums that were along the banks of the swampy

billabong Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result ...

which makes up part of the Ornamental Lake. The tree was a Melbourne landmark and is best known as the site where the citizens of the city congregated on 15 November 1850 to celebrate when the news that Victoria was to separate from the colony of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

after it had been announced by Governor La Trobe. It is one of the few trees left in the garden that pre-dates European colonization. The tree was approximately in height with a canopy that was around wide. The trunk had a circumference of at its girth. A plaque commemorating the centenary of the separation of the colonies was placed at the base of the tree in 1951. Separation Tree 20180726-019

In 1982 the Separation Tree was placed on the Significant Tree Register of the

National Trust of Victoria The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...

. In 2010 and again in 2013 the 400 year old tree was damaged in acts of vandalism. In the 2010 attack the tree was

ringbarked Girdling, also called ring-barking, is the complete removal of the bark (consisting of cork cambium or "phellogen", phloem, cambium and sometimes going into the xylem) from around the entire circumference of either a branch or trunk of a woody ...

and about 90 per cent of the cambial tissue removed. The wound was further widened and the remaining 10 per cent was destroyed in the 2013 attack. The tree canopy and parts of the trunk were lopped in 2015 after it was confirmed to be dead. By July 2015 only the main trunk and parts of three scaffold limbs remained. There are 26 separate plantings of saplings of the original tree scattered around Victoria including one in the botanic gardens in Melbourne and another in the garden at Parliament House.

References

{{coord, 37.828808, S, 144.984225, E, source:dewiki_region:AU-VIC_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Individual eucalypts Individual trees in Victoria (Australia) City of Melbourne Heritage sites in Melbourne 2010s individual tree deaths Landmarks in Melbourne

See also

References