Auckland trees: some historic beauties

Here in Auckland city, unless they were lucky enough to survive European settlement – and, sadly, very few did – most native trees don’t have a long history, as they were only planted after settlement got underway with the arrival of the first immigrant ships in the 1840s and 1850s. For exactly the same reason there are very few exotic trees in Auckland that are more than 160 years old. So, for my last tree blog before I depart New Zealand’s shores I thought I’d share a few of the local trees that are older than most.

Coral tree (Erythrina caffra), Old Government House, Auckland central

Although some sources say New Zealand Governor Sir George Grey planted this South African coral tree in the 1850s it seems more plausible that it was planted in 1861 or soon after, as that was the year Grey came to Auckland from South Africa to begin his second term as Governor and he lived in Old Government House, in front of which this tree stands, until parliament was moved to Wellington in 1864.

The tree’s identification has been the subject of some debate over the years: in his 1971 unpublished report 'Historic and Notable Trees: Northland and Auckland', S. W. Burstall labelled it Erythrina phlebocarpa, and the plaque at the base of the tree names it Erythrina indica. However, the Notable Tree Register says they’re both wrong and it is, in fact, an Erythrina caffra, also known as a coast coral tree, a Kaffir boom, and a South African coral tree. Whatever its name, it is a magnificent specimen, tall, elegant and most beautiful when covered with bright orange flowers in the springtime.

English oaks (Quercus robur), Old Government House, Auckland central

Also at Old Government House, in the grounds that border Waterloo Quadrant and Princes Street, can be found many large old oak trees. Burstall says the largest of these were planted in the early 1850s by First Secretary to Governor Hobson, George Graham but the origin of the acorns from which they were grown is much disputed. Burstall states that they ‘were collected from the Royal Oak, Boscabel, Shropshire, in which Charles II hid after the Battle of Worcester, or from the Great Forest of Windsor. Some oaks are said to have been planted from seed given to Bishop Selwyn by Queen Victoria’. However, in her book Notable Trees of Auckland, Elizabeth Francke reports as follows:

Writing in 1885, James Baber stated that the acorns were sent from Sydney. Another source gives Herne’s Oak, the famous tree of Windsor Great Park, as [the] parent, while yet another claims that the acorns came from Queen Anne’s oak, also of Windsor Great Park.

Regardless of their origin, they are now magnificent trees. I like what early New Zealand writer and intellectual Edward Tregear had to say about them in a letter to the editor of the Evening Post (28 December 1894, page 4):

When a young man, I saw oak trees planted in the grounds of Government House at Auckland. What summer visions of beauty are those trees now. Thirty years ago the townships of Cambridge and Ngaruawahia, in the Waikato, were mere desolate wastes of sand. Now they are homes of loveliness, with their avenues of umbrageous greenery and whispering aisles of refuge from the glare of day. Benedictions on the heads of men who plant trees. There is an unselfishness in planting trees that others may enjoy the shade which is a moral strengthening and a mental refreshment, lifting us awhile out of the sickening struggle of the daily life of the nineteenth century. "It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." I am, &c Edward Tregear.

Pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), Parnell Rose Gardens, Parnell

This sprawling tree is acclaimed as the largest pohutukawa in Auckland but, as with so many of our old trees, its age is uncertain. Burstall reckoned it was planted in the 1850s and listed three notable early Aucklanders as potential planters, Sir William Swainson, Robert Gillies or Sir Logan Campbell, all of whom resided on this piece of land in the early years of Auckland’s settlement.

However, there is also a possibility that the tree pre-dates European settlement, as Logan Campbell’s obituary in the Auckland Star (‘The Father of Auckland’, 22 June 1912, page 5) seems to suggest: ‘With his own axe he cut down the scrub and hewed out paths along the edge of the cliff from one side round to the other. He planted macrocarpa, Pinus insignis, and other shade trees, and here and there left native trees to themselves.’

Firewheel tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus), Gillies Ave, Epsom

This is one of several trees in the Auckland suburb of Epsom that were probably planted by G. B. Owens around 1865 and, according to the expert, Burstall, this is the largest firewheel tree in New Zealand. It’s an Australian native, a member of the protea family. The Firewheel is a shapely evergreen tree but its most stunning feature is the flower that gives it its name, a pendant umbel of bright red stalks that looks more like a Christmas tree decoration than a blossom.

Sadly, this particular tree appears unloved and under-appreciated, perched rather precariously next to the driveway of a block of flats. My apologies for the poor photos – the block of flats sits on a very busy road so it was difficult to get a better angle on the tree.

Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) and Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), Owens Road, Epsom

These two stately trees are also reputed to be some of Owen’s 1860s’ plantings, as he originally owned this particular property, and the road is named after this prominent early settler. English-born George Burgoyne Owen (1819-1893) was an apprentice in the Sheffield cutlery trade before sailing first to Sydney and then to Auckland in the 1840s. According to his obituary in the New Zealand Herald (25 September 1893, page 5), Owen purchased a cutter, the Saucy Kate, and ‘ran her in the coastal trade (principally kauri gum)’, before settling in Auckland as a storekeeper and general merchant. We are fortunate indeed that he was an enthusiastic tree planter: many of the large old trees in this suburb were planted by him.

Norfolk pine (Araucaria heterophylla), St Stephens Ave, Parnell

The last in this short list of Auckland’s historic trees is also the tallest. It was 102 feet tall in 1970 so is probably considerably taller now. It’s located in the grounds of Selwyn Court (formerly Bishops’ Court), home to Bishop George Augustus Selwyn (1809-1878), who served as the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand from 1841 to 1858 and as Primate of New Zealand from 1858 to 1868. Our expert, Burstall, reckons this stately Norfolk pine looks old enough to date from the very early church days in Auckland so may well have been planted by Bishop Selwyn himself (or, at least, by his gardener).

Sources:

A. W. Burstall, ‘Historic and Notable Trees: Northland and Auckland’, Forest Research Institute, 1971

Elizabeth Francke, Notable Trees of Auckland, The Tree Council, Auckland, 2003

Auckland trees: New Zealand’s first royal tree planting

Tree planting has been used for centuries to mark and celebrate both historical and royal occasions. In New Zealand, the first such occasion was in 1863, to celebrate the wedding of Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Although the wedding took place at Windsor, in England, on 10 March 1863, the news of the happy event took a couple of months to reach New Zealand, and it was a further couple of months before the various local authorities decided how, if at all, to celebrate the occasion.

In the end, it was only in Christchurch that the royal wedding was marked in any formal way, with the planting, on 9 July 1863, of an oak tree, the very first tree to be planted in the park that went on to become the Botanic Gardens. The ‘Albert Edward oak’ still survives; the Notable Tree Register has photos and a map.

The first tree plantings by an actual member of the royal family took place during New Zealand’s first ever royal tour, in 1869, when Queen Victoria’s second son, Prince Alfred Ernest Albert (1844–1900), Duke of Edinburgh, came to visit. As Captain of the HMS Galatea, he first visited Wellington, then sailed on to Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and finally Auckland. Along the way, he was a prolific tree planter.

I don’t have any photos of the trees planted in Wellington or Christchurch but can pass on what the local newspapers of the time reported about Prince Alfred’s efforts. The report at left is from the Hawke's Bay Herald, 23 April 1869, page 3.

The common name for Abies Nordman is Nordmann or Caucasian fir, the Podocarpus totara is a New Zealand native that we simply call totara, the Cedrus pensilis is no longer recognised in the taxonomy of trees but must have been some kind of cedar, and the Arancaria excelsa is mis-spelt; it should be Araucaria excelsa or Araucaria heterophylla, the Norfolk Island pine. 

The Duke of Edinburgh was also an energetic tree planter during his visit to Christchurch. The Press (on 26 April 1869, page 2) reported that ‘On Saturday His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, attended by His Excellency the Governor, His Honor the Superintendent, several officers of the Galatea and Blanche, and other members of the Royal Suite, visited the Government Domain.’

As you can see from the report (at left), this time the Duke planted an oak tree, a Wellingtonia gigantea, which we now know as a Sequoiadendron giganteum or Giant redwood, a totara, a deodara (also known as a Cedrus deodara or Deodar cedar), and a Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani).

Next stop on his New Zealand tour was Auckland and here I can show you photographs of HRH’s trees, as most have survived and, indeed, thrived. The Prince obviously had green fingers!

The first planting took place on 18 May 1869, as reported by the New Zealand Herald (19 May 1869, page 3):

The Giant Redwood

Yesterday afternoon, at about half-past two, his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, accompanied by Sir George and Lady Bowen, planted two Norfolk Island pines and a Wellingtonia Gigantea [Sequoiadendron giganteum or Giant redwood] on the lawn in front of the Government House [now known as Old Government House, in the grounds of the University of Auckland]. The spots were well selected, so as not to interfere with any view from the house when the trees are more fully grown, and will, we should hope, be respected and allowed to remain in their present position by the fortunate individual or corporate body that may eventually become possessed of the property, as, no doubt, the Southern members of the Assembly, doubting the necessity of a Government House and grounds in this province, will be of opinion that they should be sold for the benefit of the colony generally. After his return from the Kawau His Royal Highness intends to plant some two or three more trees in the Domain and in the grounds of the Auckland Acclimatization Society, and a Ponga (the male New Zealand fern tree), in the grounds at Government House.

Though there are several Norfolk pines planted at Old Government House, only one has a plaque saying it was planted by Prince Alfred (and that mis-reports the planting date as 14 May 1869), so I’m not sure if the second tree is one of the others or if it has not survived.

The enormous Norfolk pine Prince Alfred planted at Old Government House

A week after his first tree planting efforts, the Prince was at it again, this time in Auckland Domain. Here’s the article from the Daily Southern Cross, (27 May 1869, page 3):

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY. PLANTING OF TREES BY H.R.H. THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.

Yesterday morning the committee of the Acclimatisation Society received an intimation from his Royal Highness that he would visit the Domain, and attend at their gardens at half-past eleven to plant the four trees which had been selected to stand in that delightful place of recreation as memorials of his visit.

As it had been determined that the operation should be performed in an unostentatious and private manner, very few of the citizens were enabled to be present, and those fortunate exceptions who witnessed the ceremony were merely such as had been accidentally strolling about the grounds at the time.

HRH's oak tree

Shortly before noon his Royal Highness, accompanied by his Excellency the Governor, Captain Pitt, A.D.C, Major Hamley, and escorted by H.R.H.'s orderlies, cantered up to the gate [how amazing to canter about the city!], where the party was received by the Hon. F. D. Fenton, on the part of the Domain Board; Captain Hutton, President of the Acclimatisation Society and Messrs J. T. Mackelvie, D. L. Murdoch, W. Morrin, members of Council. These gentlemen, with Mr. Brighten, the energetic curator, accompanied the Prince through the garden.

After viewing the various specimens of natural history confined in the cages {there used to be a small zoo in the Domain], and commenting favourably on the aspect of the gardens, which the Prince said he thought were in a most creditable condition considering the short period which he had been given to understand had elapsed since their first formation, H.R.H. proceeded to discharge the self-imposed task.

The trees, which were fine healthy young plants, comprised a specimen of each of the varieties Dammara robusta [Queensland Kauri], Araucaria Cookii [Captain Cook’s Pine], Araucaria glauca [also known as Araucaria cunninghamii or Hoop pine], and though last not least, a tall symmetrical plant of English Oak. The spades employed were the common ones in daily use in the garden, and his Royal Highness in handling them showed the result of some practice in the horticultural art. Mr. Brighton held the tree upright while the Prince shovelled the earth about the roots.

I love how the reporter almost sounds surprised that Prince Alfred used ‘common’ spades – no gold-plated spades for this prince, and I have to admire a royal who didn’t mind getting stuck in and getting his hands dirty. One hundred and forty-six years later, we continue to enjoy the fruits of his labours. Long live the royal tree-planting tradition!

At left, the Captain Cook's pine and Hoop pine and, at right, the Queensland kauri