AN ancient boab in the remote Kimberleys has been declared
Australia's most remarkable tree. The tree, at the confluence of
the Sprigg and Isdell rivers, near Mt Hart station, 165km northeast
of Derby, has an almost spherical trunk, with a circumference of
17m.
The centuries-old boab is the centrepiece of Australia's
Remarkable Trees, written by Richard Allen and photographed by
Kimbal Baker to showcase 50 of Australia's oldest, largest and most
unusual trees. Produced with the assistance of readers of The
Weekend Australian, who were invited to help identify the nation's
most remarkable trees, some of the trees tell ancient stories,
while others tell of the arrival of Europeans in an old land.
They include a river red gum bent almost to breaking point by
the elements; a haunting 200-year-old ghost gum in the West
MacDonnell Ranges of the Northern Territory the authors describe as
"the embodiment of bloody-mindedness in the face of extreme odds";
and a giant Tasmanian myrtle circled by lichen on Paradise Plain in
northeast Tasmania.
Australia's Remarkable Trees
Richard Allen & Kimbal Baker
Miegunyah Press
http://catalogue.mup.com.au/978-0-522-85669-9.html
