Louise Fowler-Smith | Environmental Artist & Writer

Le micocoulier or Hackberry (Celtis australis) is a deciduous Mediterranean tree in the Cannabaceae family. It can easily live up to 500 years old. The leaves of this tree have medicinal properties. For ancient peoples, hackberry was a sacred tree. The priestesses offered their branches, which they had cut as an offering (for example the hackberry near the temple of Diana in Rome). The funeral urns were made from the wood of its roots. The Gauls believed that this tree offered eternal strength. In Occitan, le micocoulier is called “fanabreguier” or temple tree. The suffix “bréguier” refers to “brogilum”, a Gallic word meaning wood of sacred trees. Sculpture in foreground: ‘The death of Lais’. Mathieu-Meusnier Roland. Marble, 1850.

Thought to be introduced to France by the crusaders, the tree of Judea is native to the south of Europe and the west of Asia. This hermaphrodite tree, with a tortuous trunk, can measure up to 10 meters high. In April-May, before the leaves appear, it is covered with pink-purple flowers, grouped in small bouquets. The Jardin des Tuileries does not use any pesticides or insecticides, making this tree a magnet for bees who pollinate the flowers. The tree of Judea was formerly called the tree of Judas, because it is on this tree that, according to legend, Judas hung himself after betraying Jesus Christ.

Thought to be introduced to France by the crusaders, the tree of Judea is native to the south of Europe and the west of Asia. This hermaphrodite tree, with a tortuous trunk, can measure up to 10 meters high. In April-May, before the leaves appear, it is covered with pink-purple flowers, grouped in small bouquets. The Jardin des Tuileries does not use any pesticides or insecticides, making this tree a magnet for bees who pollinate the flowers. The tree of Judea was formerly called the tree of Judas, because it is on this tree that, according to legend, Judas hung himself after betraying Jesus Christ. The sculpture in the foreground is ‘Cain coming to kill his brother Abel’ by Henri Vidal. Marble. 1896

The Lebanon cedar was introduced in England around 1650 and the first specimens were brought from England and planted in France in 1734. They were given to Bernard de Jussieu, then Conservator of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris by P. Collinson. Legend has it that he brought back 2 cedars from England in his hat because he had broken their pots. One of them was planted in the labyrinth of the Jardin des Plantes (the tree in this photograph) and the other at Noissy-leRoi. This tree can reach 40 meters high in Europe and can live for 900 years.

Related to araucarias and contemporary to dinosaurs, the Wollemi Pine was known only from fossils, until in 1994 an Australian forester found a growth in an isolated valley in the south east of Australia. The Australian government keeps this place secret and inaccessible and multiplies this tree to spread it around the world to reduce the risk of extinction. Thus, in 2006, three plants were offered to the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. This Wollemi Pine grows proudly in front of the Gallery of Comparative Anatomy and Paleontology.

The Mûrier Blanc or White Mulberry tree originated in China and is a species found within the Moraceae family. The Tuileries Gardens were created for the widow of King Henri II, Catherine de Medici, but it was under King Henri IV reign, between 1589 and 1610 that mulberry trees were introduced to an area of the garden in the hope of cultivating silkworms. Sculpture in foreground, ‘Pericles distributing Wreaths to Artists’ by Jean-Baptiste Debay. Marble, 1833.

Originating from the east of the USA, this cypress tree was introduced in France in 1640. It was planted in parks at the end of the 18th century, at the water’s edge. Beautiful specimens adorn the Parc du Petit Trianon, Versailles (the tree in this image) and the Rambouillet park in France. This tree is situated on the edge of an artificial lake which formed part of the Hamlet of the Queen, a Norman style Hamlet especially built for Marie Antoinette from 1783 to 1785. In the background is the fishery tower or ‘Marlborough’ Tower.

Also known as the Japanese Pagoda Tree. Grown from the seeds of the “unknown Chinese tree” of the botanical garden of Louis XV in Trianon which flowered in 1779, it was planted in April 1783 following the birth of the dauphin, son of Louis XV and Marie Antoinette. According to legend, Marie Antoinette specifically asked for this tree to be planted near her bedroom window to commemorate the birth of her son, so that she could watch it grow at the same time as her son

Originally from China, the Sophora of Japan was sent to Bernard de Jussieu in the form of seeds with the note “unknown Chinese tree” by a Jesuit naturalist who resided in China. It was planted in 1747 and flourished for the first time thirty years later.

Originally from China, the Sophora of Japan was sent to Bernard de Jussieu in the form of seeds with the note “unknown Chinese tree” by a Jesuit naturalist who resided in China. It was planted in 1747 and flourished for the first time thirty years later.

A tree native to Corsica, it was planted in the garden in 1774, thus is considered remarkable because of its age. The Corsican Pine is part of the Black Pine family, hence the name Pinus nigra.

The first robinier was planted in France in 1601 or 1602 by Jean Robin. The black locust, or Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly called, wrongly, “acacia”, is a tree species of the family Fabaceae (Leguminosae of the subfamily Viciaceae). Originally from the Appalachian region of North Eastern America, it was introduced to France by Jean Robin (arborist of Kings Henry III, Henri IV and Louis XIII, director of the garden of apothecaries) who would have received seeds from his friend John Tradescant the Elder. This is the oldest tree in Paris.

This ‘Saule Pleureur’, or Weeping Willow was planted next to the Temple of Love in the park of Petit Trianon. Totally sacrificing the botanical garden of Louis XV, Marie Antoinette commissioned her architect Richard Mique and the painter Hubert Robert to create an English style garden. The Temple of Love was built in the middle of an artificial island, surrounded by the Queens English garden. The Temple of Love, Richard Mique, architect. 1778 – 1778.

Shot near the town of Castiglione del Lago, in the province of Perugia of Umbria (central Italy)

Shot in the Sacred Forest of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Forest Monumental de La Verna, Italy .

Shot in Umbria, Italy

Shot at San Gregorio- a village in the Abruzzo region of central Italy

Shot in Umbria, Italy

Shot in the Sacred Forest of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Forest Monumental de La Verna, Italy .

Shot in the Sacred Forest of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Forest Monumental de La Verna, Italy .

Shot in Rome, Italy

Shot at San Gregorio- a village in the Abruzzo region of central Italy.

This close relative of the Wollemi Pine is native to the subtropical rainforests in the mountains of South East and Northern Queensland. The Bunya Pine can grow up to 35-45 metres in height and live for 600 years. The cones can be 20-35 cm in diameter and weigh up to 10 kg. Bunya Pines are an important source of food, kindling, timber and fibre for Aboriginal cultural groups. The large seeds can be eaten raw, roasted or ground to make bread. The planting date for this tree is not known but it dates from after 1903.

This is one of the two palms that were transported in tubs in 1840 from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. They were planted in their current location in December of that year, at what was then the entrance to the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Chinese Fan Palms are native to Japan, Taiwan and southern China but were introduced to Reunion Island in the eighteenth century and are now naturalized.

This is one of a number of specimens of this widespread gum tree growing in this garden that predate the arrival of Europeans in Australia. This tree is a remnant of the original woodlands that covered this part of Sydney and has stood witness to the modern transformation of Australia. Forest Red Gum is a variable species that can grow to 50 metres tall, with the largest latitude distribution of any Eucalypt species, as it grows from south-eastern Victoria to southern Papua New Guinea

Planted in 1853, this magnificent tree is probably the tallest tree in the garden.

It was grown from seed collected by early Garden’s director, John Carne Bidwill in 1849, near Maryborough in Queensland. Although over 160 years old this tree is only just approaching middle age, as the species is known to live for more than 500 years. Trees produce male and female cones on the same tree and the ground is often littered with small, slender male cones or larger rounded female cones that resemble balls of string. The genus name, Agathis, is derived from the ancient Greek word meaning ‘ball of thread’.

In 1868, the Sydney Morning Herald wrote with great excitement of the flowering of a Jacaranda in the Royal Botanic Garden. They were probably referring to this tree, likely to have come into our collection in 1857, not long after Jacarandas were first introduced to Australia by nurseryman Thomas Shephard in 1851. Native to Southern Bolivia and North Western Argentina, they were widely planted in Sydney’s suburbs from the late nineteenth century and grace Sydney with their magnificent purple blooms in late October and early November each year.

There is good evidence to suggest that this tree first germinated from seed sent to Sydney by Ludwig Leichardt from Port Essington in 1846. He was the first European to encounter these trees, native to the arid and monsoonal tropics of Northern Australia. Showing the scars and girth of old age this tree, like its wild relatives stores large amounts of water in its internal timber. They were used as a source of emergency water by Aboriginal people and later European explorers.

This clump of trees is a remnant of the Casuarina forest that grew at the highwater mark of Woggan-ma-gule (Farm Cove) in 1788, when Europeans arrived in Australia and began clearing land to establish a farm on what is now the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. A widely distributed species that can form pure stands and create the Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest ecosystem, becoming increasingly rare in NSW due to land clearing for human activities.

A tree of myth and legend associated with ancient writers and mariners who brought tales to Europe of the magical qualities of the blood-like resin of ancient gargantuan plants. Native to the Canary Islands, the resin of these trees has been traded since the fifteenth century and amongst other uses it was used for polishing violins. This tree was probably planted in the 1880s and developed a perfect symmetrical shape, until on the 2nd May 2008 it fell over. It has continued to grow, flower and fruit. This image actually shows the view of the underside of the tree, which is now lying on its side.

Planted in February 1998, this is the first specimen of this rare species planted in the world. The species was discovered by David Noble, a national park ranger, canyoning in the wilderness of the Wollemi National Park in 1994. The discovery was a botanical sensation, a representative of an evolutionary line thought to be long extinct, found growing only 150 km from Sydney. At the time it was described as like finding a dinosaur living 1.5 hours from a city of four million people. There are approximately 100 adult trees growing in the wild. The Botanic Gardens and Centennial Parklands Trust is working hard to conserve this unique and rare species, leading projects involving DNA sequencing, translocating seedlings and finding ways to protect the trees from soil-borne pathogens. Find out more at https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/science.