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Level of Significance

  • File
  • Local
  • Regional
  • State
  • National

Age

124yrs

Trees

1

Diameter

1m

Height - 25m

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Details

Common name
Manna Gum
Botanical name
Eucalyptus viminalis
Type
Individual Tree
Condition
Good
Municipality
Corangamite (VIC)
Location
34 Gnotuk Lane Camperdown VIC 3260
Access
Restricted
Significances
  • Outstanding species (Scientific)
  • Landscape (Social)
  • Park/Garden/Town (Historic)
Date of germination
01 Jan 1900
Date of measurement
15 Dec 2016
Date of classification
16 Aug 2017
Other register(s)

Statement of Significance

This Manna Gum is significant for aesthetic and scientific reasons at Regional level. This tree is an outstanding example of the species for its location in Camperdown on the western volcanic plains with low rainfall. It measures 25.4m in height and has a canopy spread between 18 and 20m. This tree is part of a 12 acre garden belonging to the Gnotuk homestead, and makes a significant contribution to this landscape. This Manna Gum is self-sown, growing in the base of old bluestone quarry on the edge of Gnotuk garden. Bluestone was quarried from this site for building stone in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Because of its sheltered position, it has grown to a good height for the region.

History

Soil on the northern edge of Gnotuk Lake crater is friable due to high volcanic ash content. Wallabies inhabit this south-facing slow of the Gnotuk Lake crater. The tree base is difficult to access as it is 7m below the ground level over the quarry face.

Location

The first plantings at Gnotuk were in the early 1860s, at the site of the original stone farmhouse. At that time the 7,700 acre property was at the eastern edge of the vast Glenormiston sheep run of Niel Black, an influential pioneer of the Western District. His nephew Archie built the first “Gnotuk”. According to Niel Black’s diary, the early garden was laid out in July 1862 by Daniel Bunce, a self-taught botanist and first curator of the Botanic Gardens at Geelong. The oldest trees at “Gnotuk” include Illawarra Flame trees, Moreton Bay Figs, Norfolk Island Pines, a New Zealand kauri, a Norfolk Island Hibiscus Tree and an Italian Cypress. The garden design later borrowed some of the ideas of William Guilfoyle, director of Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens, who created the Camperdown gardens across the lake from “Gnotuk”. Besides reflecting his preference for curved walkways and interlinked “rooms”, the “Gnotuk” garden has several Guilfoyle signature trees, notably a trio of date palms, a few venerable cordylines, a stand of ficifolia gums, and a Captain Cook’s Pine.