4 must-see Australian trees

Posted 18 February, 2025 John Pedler

From towering giants rising above ancient rainforests to weird savannah dwellers with mysterious origins, Australia is home to some marvellous trees.

Here are four species to add to your must-see tree itinerary.

1. Tree house – Western Australia

The arid north-west corner of Australia is dotted with a peculiar variety of tree that looks a bit like a bulbous bottle.

Like the tree world’s version of a camel, chunky boab trees store moisture in their bloated, fibrous trunks.

In a country not known for deciduous trees, the boab is an oddity, shedding its leaves around April in preparation for dry season dormancy. Blessed with extraordinary longevity, they can live up to 2000 years.

Their only known relatives live in Madagascar and on mainland Africa, and there are three main theories on how an African tree ended up in Oz.

Some scientists suggest boabs were carried here by travellers millennia ago, while others claim their chunky seed pods drifted across the Indian Ocean.

The third theory says they hitched a ride aboard the Australian tectonic plate when the supercontinent Gondwana broke apart.

Australia’s most famous boab is a 1500-year-old specimen near Derby, known as the prison tree. With its hollow trunk and whopping 14.7m girth, it’s reputed to have been used as a temporary holding cell for prisoners being transported through the region.

However, there’s no hard evidence to support this yarn, and the Derby tree may have been confused with a boab near Wyndham that was definitely used as a cell.

The Derby tree has cultural significance to the local Nyikina and Warrwa people and is protected under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, 1972.

Tree spotting

• The Derby tree is just off the sealed Derby Highway, 6km south of Derby.
• The Wyndham tree is 30km south of Wyndham beside the unsealed King River Road.

2. Jurassic jackpot – New South Wales

When national park ranger David Noble abseiled into a Blue Mountains canyon in 1994, he had no idea he was about to make a remarkable discovery.

Hidden between the ravine walls were about 90 trees of a species thought to have been extinct for millions of years.

Subsequently named Wollemia nobilis (combining Wollemi National Park where they were found with the name of their discoverer) the secluded grove of Jurassic-era Wollemi pines has somehow survived the ravages of time unscathed.

The massive 2020 Gospers Mountain fire damaged some of these trees but specialised firefighters saved the bulk of the colony.

Determined to save the tree from extinction, Wollemi pines have been propagated and sent to botanic gardens internationally and locally, including Adelaide.

Homeowners can even buy a Wollemi for the backyard garden.

Tree spotting

While the exact location of the wild Wollemi pines remains a closely guarded secret, the Adelaide tram stops right near the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

3. Wonder wood – Tasmania

Found only in the temperate rainforests of western Tasmania, Huon pine is one of the most extraordinary tree species on the planet.

It contains methyl eugenol oil which makes it resistant to rotting, wood worm, borers and other bugs that enjoy a timber snack. Plus, the wood is durable, yet soft and easy to work with.

When early European settlers discovered its near-magical properties, it became the darling of ship builders and furniture makers.

In the spirit of the day, it was harvested to within an inch of its existence, and by the time logging of Huon pine was banned in 1970, 90 per cent of known pines had disappeared.

It has an achingly slow growth rate of about 1mm of girth a year, and can take 1000 years to reach a height of 30m. So, we won’t be seeing any Huon pine plantations for a while.

The remaining stands of the tree are protected, but a significant supply of timber felled during hydro-electric dam construction is available for use by craft and furniture-making businesses.  

Due to it’s almost indestructible nature, usable Huon pine logs are still found submerged in rivers or buried in forests.

Tree spotting

• A Huon pine can be seen on the short Huon Pine Walk, which follows the Pieman River from Corinna Wilderness Village.
• Built in 1939 from Huon pine, the tour vessel Arcadia ll is still going strong and regularly takes passengers deep into the rainforest along the Pieman River, departing from Corinna Wilderness Village.
• Huon pines can be seen at Heritage Landing during a Gordon Wild River cruise.
• There are several other Huon pine viewing sites.

4. Bay beauties – Queensland and beyond

Hailing from the Queensland coast, Moreton Bay fig trees have travelled far and wide, including a 120-year-old monster that calls Santa Barbara, California home. 

With their sprawling canopies, they’re sought after as a shade tree, while their massive, above-ground roots seem like the ideal place for a fairy village.

The mighty specimens on the northern perimeter of Adelaide Oval were planted in 1890 to – eventually – block the view of cricket enthusiasts trying to get a free peek of the game from outside the ground.

Tree spotting

They’re everywhere, but among South Australia’s finest examples of Moreton Bay fig trees are the whopper behind the McLaren Vale Hotel, which features on the National Trust Register of Significant Trees, and the grove of trees in Botanic Park beside Plane Tree Drive.

Honourable mentions

Land of the giants

South-west WA is home to towering karri, jarrah and tingle trees. A heart-in-mouth ladder climb spirals around the trunk of the 61m-tall Gloucester Tree, leading to a treetop viewing platform. The climb is currently closed for extensive maintenance. The full ladder climb of the nearby Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree is also closed for work, but visitors can still reach the first platform at the 20m mark.

Curtain call

High in Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands, the Curtain Fig Tree is an example of what happens when trees attack. After its seed germinated in the crown of another tree, the fig tree sent roots to the ground before strangling its host to death. Unsupported, the Curtain Fig Tree toppled onto Its neighbour and sent more roots to the ground, before dispatching this second tree and becoming free-standing. It’s a jungle out there!

And the winner is…

The tallest species of gum tree is Eucalyptus regnans, which is known as mountain ash in Victoria and swamp gum in Tasmania. Rising to a height of 100m, the tallest living swamp gum lives in Tassie and goes by the name Centurion.