Forest Gallery
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No. 767. Study of the Bunya-Bunya
Oil on board, no date. Study of the Bunya-Bunya. This noble Conifer, Araucaria Bidwillii, Hook., is perhaps the most valuable food-tree indigenous in Australia, and only grows on one semi-circle of hills, within 100 miles in stretch, between the Brisbane and Burnett rivers, Queensland. The larger of the older trees are nearly 200 feet high, with a circumference of trunk of about twenty-five feet; and the horizontal markings on the pillar-like trunks make them very conspicuous amongst other trees. But what is most remarkable about these trees is that they are the only hereditary property any of the aborigines are known to possess. Each tribe has its own group of trees, and each family a certain tree or trees; and any interference with these rights leads to a bloody fight. The larger cones are a foot long and nine inches in diameter; and they are full of edible nuts (seeds) as large as chestnuts. Every third year there is an extra large crop, when the natives assemble from all parts to collect it. By an act of the Colonial Government the Bunya-Bunya is strictly preserved for the use and sustenance of the aborigines. Look at 713, 771, 773'. [Entry from the Official Guide to the North Gallery'. Fifth Edition, 1892]
© RBG KEW

Felled tree for Kew Flagstaff, British Columbia, 1914
British COlumbia 1914: The felled tree which was to form the great flagstaff at RBG Kew from 1919 to 1959. Made from a Douglas fir, it was gifted by the Provincial Government of British Columbia and measured 65m high after felling and finishing. It was shipped to England in 1915 and towed along the Thames to Kew
© RBG KEW