Description
This single mature, multi-trunk Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla) is located within the front garden of this private residence. There is also a (Washingtonia robusta) located in the rear yard of this property fronting the harbour. Given the species and its size its is assumed to be from the same planting period.
A Queen Palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana), Canary Island Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis) and more recent additions including Alexandra Palms (Archontophoenix alexandrae) in the southern front garden, further support the eclectic, sub-tropical broadleaf character of the precinct, but are much more recent plantings.
Significance
This native rainforest fig has achieved large proportions and is significant as an individual specimen with local aesthetic, visual, historic values. This tree is an important component of this streetscape. Due to the high value placed on views and the density of high-rise apartment development, there are very few larger specimen trees remaining in private gardens or public spaces in this harbour-side location.In the context, the fig and Washington Palm (Washingtonia robusta) located in the northern garden both have significance as an important historic association and component of the Elizabeth Bay landscape.
Historical notes
It is possible that this Moreton Bay Fig, together with a number of other existing trees located on neighbouring properties, are garden remnants from the grounds of Macleay’s Elizabeth Bay House estate and garden which once covered an area of over 21 hectares (54 acres) (refer to 36 Billyard Avenue ‘Berthong’, 42 Billyard Avenue ‘Boomerang’, Beare Park, private listings for Elizabeth Bay Road and Macleay Reserve in this Register). The Elizabeth Bay House gardens contained a vast collection of botanical specimens, including many rare and recent introductions to the Colony. This particular site is near the original orchard and William John Macleay’s Linnean Society of NSW Hall, which was built in 1885 (see ‘Boomerang’ – NSW State Heritage Inventory). The gardens were widely recognised for their outstanding collection of rainforest figs (Ficus sp.) and native and Pacific Island pines (Araucaria sp.). Given the small size of the tree in 1943 aerial photos it is more likely to have been planted when the stately homes in front of Elizabeth Bay House, along Billyard Ave, were subdivided and constructed in the 1920’s & 30’s.