A 24m high poplar gum near Cooktown is tipped to be the largest of its kind in Australia.
The Eucalyptus platyphylla is believed to be more than 80 years old, and has a circumference of 2.76m and a 22m crown. It is located on the Mulligan Highway, north of the Black Mountain lookout, and has been registered on the National Register for Big Trees.
It is the second tree in Cook Shire to be added to the national register, with a beach almond in the Cooktown Botanic Gardens also nominated by council’s parks and gardens manager Jim Doidge. The Terminalia catappa has a circumference of almost 5m and is 30m high with a 32m crown.
The national register records the biggest of every species of tree in Australia, with more than 740 trees registered.
The height, circumference and crown spread are measured, giving the tree a point ranking to compare with others on the register.
The shire is eyeing off a third entry, with Helenvale’s Lester Shepperd waiting to hear if his nomination of a whopping 31m high milky pine, Alstonia scholaris, located in the grounds of the Lion’s Den Hotel at Helenvale, will be successful.