Trees in Australia
Keith McDowell, an Australian soldier of the 23rd battalion who fought at Gallipoli, brought a pine cone from the battle site home to Australia. Many years later seeds from the cone were planted by his wife's aunt Emma Gray of Grassmere, near Warrnambool, Victoria and five seedlings emerged, with four surviving. These seedlings were planted in four different locations in Victoria: Wattle Park (May 8, 1933), the Shrine of Remembrance (June 11, 1933), the Soldiers Memorial Hall at The Sisters near Terang (June 18, 1933) and Warrnambool Botanic Gardens (January 23, 1934).
The tree at the Shrine Reserve was planted near the north-east corner of the building by Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Savige, founder of Melbourne Legacy at a formal ceremony. In 2005 the tree required cable bracing following the loss of a major limb and in 2012, despite measures taken to try to save the tree from the effects of disease caused by the fungus Diplodia pinea, it was removed in August. A "grandchild tree" was planted nearby in 2006.
Another soldier, Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith from the 3rd Battalion, also retrieved a cone from the battle site and sent it back to his mother (Mrs McMullen) in Australia, who had lost another son at the battle. Seeds from the cone were planted by Mrs McMullen in 1928, from which two seedlings were raised. One was presented to her home town of Inverell, New South Wales and the other was forwarded to Canberra where it was planted by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in October 1934. The AWM lone pine lost two of its large lower limbs from strong winds preceding a thunderstorm on 27 December 2008, although tree surgeons were brought in to save the historic tree.
Both Melbourne Legacy and the Yarralumla Nursery in Canberra have raised and grown seedlings over a number of years, sourced from the tree at the Shrine of Remembrance and the Australian War Memorial respectively, which they have presented to schools as well as ex-service and other organisations throughout Australia.
Read more about this topic: Lone Pine (tree)
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