Reader\'s Digest Australia - 05.2019

READER’S DIGEST

May• 2019 | 107

Pines are known to exist in the wild.
In 2008 a further 18 forests were
sown, including the threatened
species Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria
araucana) from Chile – named so be-
cause the spiky leaves left monkeys
puzzling over how to climb them –
and the critically endangered Saharan
Cypress (Cupressus dupreziana), a tree
that only grows in limited areas of the
Sahara Desert in south-east Algeria.
The arboretum currently has the larg-
est stand of these trees anywhere in
the world– including the Sahara.
In 2013 the arboretum was opened
to the public. Currently, there are 94

mostly monoculture (single-species)

forests growing, including 31 threat-

ened species, two of which are extinct

in the wild – theToromirofrom Easter

Island andFrankliniafrom the US.

“This is the only arboretum in the

world of this calibre. In other arbo-

retums you might walk 30 metres

and see 30 different trees. This is the

only monoculture arboretum,” says

Saddler.

Many of the trees are still young.

However, two forests, Himalayan

Cedar (Cedrus deodara), planted in

1921, and Cork Oak (Quercus suber)

in 1917, are over 100 years old and

From left: a Lone Pine and one of the few plantation pines that survived the fire;

sculpture made from old farm tools; the Smokebush is representative of the fire