Log in

Editor's Picks

q._grahamii_beatrice.jpg
Who was Quercus grahamii named in honor of?
Roderick Cameron | Dec 17, 2024
Quercus rubra in autumn
The Tree of the Year Association in Germany selected a non-...
Website Editor | Dec 16, 2024
Image from Enarrationes
A 16th century commentary on the medicinal property of oaks...
Website Editor | Dec 16, 2024

Plant Focus

Quercus magnosquamata acorn
A  little-known species from the northern Zagros forests of Iran

The Anlaby Commemorative Oaks: an Extraordinary Case of Multiple Ground- Layered Branches in Quercus canariensis Willd.

PDF icon Log in or register to access the full text.

Charlie Buttigieg

Published May 2014 in International Oaks No. 25: 93–102

Abstract

Located beside a dry creek bed and originally fenced off in a farm paddock grazed by merino sheep for over one hundred years are three Algerian oaks (Quercus canariensis Willd.). These three Algerian oaks were planted in the winter of 1918 under the direction of Thomas Leslie, the former Head Gardener on behalf of the owners of Anlaby, one of South Australia’s most influential and significant pastoral properties. The Anlaby Commemorative Oaks were planted as a memorial to three farmworkers who went to fight in World War One and lost their lives. This story is certainly very significant in the context of Australia’s many sacrifices during the First World War but in November 2012 when I first examined these specimens another story, a botanical one, was apparent. A complex combination of human, environmental, biomechanical and biochemical factors or sequence of events has resulted in a behavior never seen before in this species of oak: numerous ground-layered branches that have grown their own root systems, yet are still attached to the mother tree via the original “umbilical” branches.

Keywords

Algerian oak, Australia in World War One

References

1915. “Kapunda’s Soldiers. The Roll of Honour.” Kapunda Herald, Friday, May 14,

1918. “Soldiers Memorial Garden. To be planted in Dutton ” Kapunda Herald, Friday, November 15,

Geoffrey Dutton , Out in the Open (Australia: Brisb, 1994), 26

1936. “Heavy ” Kapunda Herald, Friday, January 17, 2.