B6 PRINCIPES [VoL.34

Principes,34{2).1qq0. pp. 86-93

The Palmetum: Its Objectivesand Development

Rosnnr Tucrsn TownsoilleBotanic Gardens,P.O. Box 1268, Tonnsuille, , 4812

As Australia's 1988 Bicentenary inated the ground. The planted rain and approached,a Federally funded authority tamarind trees invadedthe mango orchard, was establishedto instigate and support making the bulk of the closed forest. heritage oriented projects nationwide. The As suburban residential developments resulting Australian Bicentennial Author- took place around the site in the late ity consistedof a national center in Can- I960's, various proposalswere put for- berra, with State Capital and Regional ward for its development. During this Committeesto evaluate project proposals period, Council performed some manage- then solicitedfrom interest groups. Project ment in the form of slashing, but did not criteria were broadly definedas thosewhich considerany developmentuntil the idea of preserved or enhanced Australian heri- a palm collection was proposedsometime tage. Numerousprojects were proposed. around 1983, apparentlyby local - The Townsville City Council submitted man Jim Darley. Impetus for the crucial two major proposals,both being centered furthering of the palm collectiongoal came upon providing lifestyle enhancing green via the enthusiasmof the then Parks and spacewithin the city area. The Palmetum Recreation Department Director, Jim was one of these, and here I will attempt Thomas. to define its origin and objectives and Thomas was a member of the Bicen- describe the methods used in its develop- tennial Environment and Gardens Sub- ment. Committee when fellow member Darley proposed a palm garden for a project. responsiblefor selecting the Originof the Palmetum Thomas was current site and suggestedforming a local Through a generous bequest, Council Palm Society to generate public interest obtained rhe 25 hectare site in the tran- and support. Darley provided in his sub- "The sitional region between suburban Annan- missiona concept termed Meridian" dale and Douglas. This site was originally (palmetum). From these beginningsarose o'The a dairy farm and had beenleft, after initial both Palmetum" and the North clearing of the original mixed open wood- QueenslandPalm Society. land, in a relatively undisturbed state. A The inaugural meeting was attended by mangoorchard wasplanted sometimeafter membersof the BicentennialEnvironment the turn of the century and tamarind and and Gardens Sub-Committee and inter- raintreesadded in severallocations. Pre- ested public, including the current Presi- sumablythrough someform of resumption, dent of The Palm and Cycad Societiesof the site becamepart of the massivemilitary Australia, John Batterham. The City's installations in Townsville during World Mayor, Mike Reynolds, who later opened W'ar 2, having a hospital sited near the The Palmetum,attended and spoke.The present-dayclosed forest area. After the support of the Mayor and Council was war the site becameneglected, an over- undoubtedlythe major factor contributing growth of various exotic weedssoon dom- to the project's eventualsuccess. I gg0l TUCKER:TOWNSVILLE PALMETUM 87

Thomasrecommended forming a Tech- Townsville was experiencing a prolonged nical Committeeto steer the project and drought and water resources were dwin- was the first Chairman of the new North dling fast. QueenslandPalm Society(N.Q.P.S.). The My involvement with The Palmetum Committeeconsisted of N.Q.P.S.members begins here, when hopes about its devel- and Parks and Recreation Department opment were being abandoned. I had technical staff. Thomas insistedthat public returned from nearly six months in the participationwas vital for the project, which United States and had contracted Ross turned out later to be something of an River Virus, a long-term mosquito-borne error. Variousproposals were put forward disease, named after the very river that and FederalCommunity Employment Pro- provided a boundary to The Palmetum site. gram funds were obtained to begin site I was unable to work and involved myself worksin 1984. in the issue of the project only because I Y'/hile some works were progressing,it felt it should succeed. Thomas asked me becameapparent that major development if I would co-ordinate the project, but could not proceedwithout substantialfund- knowledge of the worsening situation that ine. In 1985 Council submittedThe Pal- existed between Council and the N.Q.P.S. *"t.,- proposal,which was then still unde- made me decline initially. It was not until fined by any specific design or objective I rode my bicycle out to the site on a fine criteria, for Bicentennial Crant funding. day after drenching rain in December I9B5 The Parks LandscapeOfficer, Helen Paul- that I realized the site's potential and sen, is credited with obtaining grants for accepted the position, which Thomas had the construction of a water feature, The kept open for me. 'When Lake. Bicentennial funds amounted to I saw Thomas and said I was $171,950. keen to tackle the project, he immediately By late 1985 it becameapparent that asked for a report on my recommendations progresswas not satisfactory,and despite for its development and reorganized the N.Q.P.S.and Councilcommitments to the Palmetum Technical Committee. project, no developmentobjectives or plans I began working on a Master Plan in had been devised beyond the conceptual January 1986, with the new Technical stage. In looking through our files I can Committee which then had a single find variouscorrespondence from N.Q.P.S. N.Q.P.S. representative. I have to admit dealing with the need for a development here that progress never went fast enough olan. but becauseof unfortunate internal for my liking and that I eventually took problemswithin both The Society and the responsibility for planning in terms of the Department.no planof any merit waspro- objectives and layout. Although an overall duced. concept came quickly, its details and lat- I feel it is imoortant to look into the eral objectives and benefits took some nine problemsthat canarisethrough public par- months to formulate. ticipationin civic projects,if only to avoid makine similar mistakes in the future. It The Site-The Plan is cleai from our recordsthat the N.Q.P.S. had taken the project very seriouslyand The Palmetumsite is remarkablefor its were frustratedby our Department'slack topographicand vegetationfeatures which of steeringright from the start. This was immediately attracted attention. The land due partly to understaffingat a time when lay in a large triangular expanse of undu- pressureto produceother importantproj- Iating alluvials and black podzols with a ects was heavy, creatinga feeling of apa- meandering tributary of the Ross River thy at times. To make matters worse, winding through one boundary. To the PRINCIPES [Vor. 34 south were open grasslandwith small hills the plantings should only be located where and moist depressionsand flats. Centrally conditions are, and will remain, Iargely located was a seasonallagoon overlaying suited to the subjects (within their natural a deep claypan and on the north between tolerances) and that broader areas (i.e., a lateral drainage gully and the creek sys- habitats) should maintain an overall appear- tem was a large closed forest containing ance in accordance with their natural impressiverain and mango trees. The site expressions. Strict adherence to these demanded an aesthetic goal, its natural euidelines allows the achievement of most beauty could be too easily compromised if the oljectives outlined above. Firstly, by artificiality. Our budget, on the other the layout being entirely environmental dif- hand, demandeda cost-effectiveapproac,h, fers substantially from all the palm collec- having less than $240,000 to devetop tions I have seen or read about. The use nearly50 acres. of the natural features, rather than their The planning was guided almost exclu- contradiction, achieves the aesthetic goal "habitats." sively by the site's mosaic of with a minimum of cost. Using natural This is how the design concept, later to be vegetation associations and population termed Environment PreferencePlanning, densities makes for considerable interpre- evolved. Following discussionswith other tive and educational purpose while low- staff, I decidedthat we could developmost ering running costs as the plantings become of the land inexpensively and provide a relatively self-maintaining. The idea that diverse environment-oriented layout and the place should convey information about collection by providing as little modifica- palms primarily through its layout - tion as possible, such was the variety of ings is one that can be expanded further, habitat types presented by the site. The limited only by the designer's knowledge recognition of this potential leads to the of palms and palm habitats. formulation of the objectives which are The objective of limiting hybridization srrmmarizedthus: among the plantings is one that needs elab- oration. My own experience with collecting a landscapeand concept that 1. Create palms for the project soon indicated that are substantially different from other many Botanic Gardens and priyate collec- palm collections. tions are major sources of hybrid seeds, Make the site appealing and multipur- 2. most often unknown to the people at the pose. source. Hybridization among palms is in Provide the broadest array of palm 3. reality a problem, the seri0usness of which morphologies and adaptations obtain- is rarlly realized. I decidbd that The Pal- able within the limitations of the site,/ metum would not contribute to the threat funding. of extinction in cultivation by hybridization Provide reduced maintenance require- 4. now facing many palms. ments through design. Working in the drafting office with Helen Limit hybridization amongst the plant- 5. over the next nine months, while pursuing ines. plants for the collection and getting ground germplasm conservation of 6. Provide works initiated, proved to be a complete species' threatened Iearning experience. Not only did a com- ongoing developmentoppor- 7. Provide plex and new irrigation system have to be tunities. designed, but new irrigation requirements mistakes evident in other palm B. Avoid had to be foreseen. From the beginning, collections. it was obvious that the closed forest would Although it is difficult to definethe plan- serve as an area for tropical rainforest ning strategy, it is best outlined in this way: species. As the majority of palms come l 9901 TUCKER:TOWNSVILLE PALMETUM B9 from this environment, the area of about monplace. Palm collectors in tropical Aus- 2.5 hectares was not large enough to get tralia tend not to collect rugged palms, a truly representative collection housed, those large, armed, shaggy plants, partic- and the natural rainfall was quite insuffi- ularly those from drier environments. I had cient to support such growth. I devised a to write to contacts in Africa and the Amer- system that creates a rainlike irrigation icas, most of whom did not respond. Some from high in the tree canopy; using the very valuable species were freely donated various negative examples I had seen as by collectors in Townsville, Brisbane, and indications of what not to do, designing Darwin. When it came to obtaining palms this was relatively simple. from Cairns. however. there seemed to be Because funds were not sufficient to irri- a reluctance on the part of some collectors gate the whole site, I decided to omit irri- to send their goods to Townsville. The sation from the southernmost section of majority of species came from commercial ihe sava.rnah area, making it a seasonally suppliers, unfortunately lacking origin data, arid habitat. Helen designed the lake and which is important in cataloguing the mate- supervised its construction, including spe- rials. Some collectors openly stated that cially-made shelf-like areas to accommo- they did not feel that Townsville should date semiaquatic palms. Gradually the land have a good public palm collection, that o'better" began to take on an organized appearance Cairns was a candidate. However, whilst the Master PIan took shape on the Townsville can accommodate any high board. rainfall palm grown in Cairns, but has the added advantage of dryness sufficient to enable some near-xerophytic palms to Plant Collectingand Planting thrive. Despite having a reasonably extensive My most rewarding correspondence background in palms and tropical vege- resulted from contacting the Seychelles tation, I found researching the appropri- Department of Forestry. I simply asked ateness of the subject species to be difficult. about the availability of Lodoicea seed, Apart from the palms I knew as wild plants, explaining the project, only to have five which were a small minority of the 2,800 seeds donated in short order. The already or so known species, most were relatively germinating seeds were airfreighted at our mysterious plants about which scant con- expense, but unfortunately three had been crete ecological or environmental infor- damaged in transit and were functionally mation could be found. Many months were dead. The remaining two, however, grew "spare" spent using all the available time well. We had to construct huge containers I had reading published accounts in a mul- to germinate them under lock and key. titude of sources. I found Principes lhe The results of my careful and regular single most helpful resource in this endeav- observationof the processwere "Genera or. Not until Palmarum" arrived published in Palm and Cycads. Germi- did I gain an understanding of some species. nating seeds of many palms required much Having decided that a particular species experimentation and occasioned some was suited to a site within the area, I then losses which we could not afford, given the had to obtain plants. It was fortunate that meagre funds to buy replacements. palm collecting had become so popular in The site posed various problems, par- north Queensland, for at any time I sur- ticularly when we were denied the use of veyed the available stocks between early water due to local water restrictions. I could 1986 and mid 1988, I found that on aver- neyer accept being charged with the devel- age about 200 species could be had. Some oDment of a new Botanic Garden without were not suited, others were already com- the necessary water. We had to hold plants 90 PRINCIPES lVoL. 34

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1. The seasonally moist savannah section of the Savannah Area with Hyphaene coriacea. 2. A walk in the Rainforest Area Ieading to the Swampforest Section with Pinanga scortechini on the right. in the nursery until they became impossible progress without essentialwater could have to move through repotting, to avoid stunt- been worse if not for some very dedicated ing. Some palms were tough enough to be workers and Environment Preference planted out and given occasional hand Planning. Despite having installed an irri- waterings. The problem of trying to gain sation system valued at over $120,000, 1e901 TUCKER:TOWNSVILLE PALMETUM 9l

3. Liuistona scribu.s in a swampy section of the Rainforest. 4. Tropical Queensland Community in the 'Mt. Rainforest with Normanbya normanbyi (foreground) and Archontophoenix Lewis'. the site remainedparched and ugly. Men the water, after Cyclone Charlie dumped labored in the hot sun, dragging heavy enough rain to top up the shrinking Ross hosesaround day in andday out, just keep- Lake, we had oniy seven months to plant ing some of the plantings alive. nearly all the gardens and the rainforest 'When we were flnally allowed to use and green up the lawns. Some planting 92 PRINCIPES [Vor. 34

areasturned out to be difficult to work on, tinued (all of which were transported to heavy clays and termites being conspicu- the site in vehicles borrowed from other ous problems. sectionsof the Department, as we had no transport of our own) arrangements were Donationsand Thefts made to focus attention on the project. As The Palmetum was to serve an edu- As funds dwindled it became obvious cationalpurpose, I decidedto gathermate- that sponsorsfor certain works could be rials to make an exhibition conveying the found. Although many collectors, some importa,nceof palms both to mankind and nurseries and The Palm and Cycad Soci- as elementsof the environment. The sub- etiesof Australia donatedseeds and plants, jects covered included economic palms: there werematerials and serviceswe needed Dates, Oil Palm, Coconut, Sugar Palm, that we could not afford. I soon became Sago,Rattans, Palmyra, Betelnut and Car- adept at getting boulders, nuts and bolts, nauba; other Botanic Gardens' palm col- railway sleepers,truck and crane hire, and lections: Kew, Singapore, Honolulu and loads of river stones donated. Many local Fairchild; palm botanists:H. E. Moore, businesseswere quick to supply materials Jr., von Martius; and variousenvironment or serviceswhen presentedwith a reason- aspects. able request. A full list of donors was read In April 1987 I decided to invite the by me at the Opening Ceremony. International Palm Society to hold their Less warming was the repeated plun- l9BB Biennial in Townsville and sent out dering of the planted collection by palm a form letter to various I.P.S. members collectors and others who saw the unse- and officials. Support for the idea was cured site as an easy way of augmenting sought from The Palm and Cycad Society their stocks. On one occasionnearly all of Australia as well as many friends in the the fruiting females of all the Chamae- I.P.S.in the U.S.A. After monthsof uncer- dorea spp.in the rainforestarea were taken tainty, the I.P.S. decidedin favor of an during the night. Someof theseplants were Australian Biennial and handed organiza- clumpsof over 2 m height. Theft continued tion of the event over to P.A.C.S.O.A., until I convinced Council to hire security who widened the itinerary to include the patrols, which are still in operation, and to Cairns area and made the event so suc- d6clare the site closedto the public during cessfuland enjoyable for the participants. construction. The most disappointingtheft In writing to Dennis Johnson,soliciting was of a fine plant of Pelagodoxa hen- materials for the Carnauba display in the rygna from the nursery. The plant had exhibition, I decided it would be advan- beendonated by the well known Townsville tageous to have authorities like Dennis plantswoman Patricia Coutts. It was an come out to lecture on palms, particularly unpleasanttask to inform her that the plant those that are relativelv unknown here. had been taken by some selfish thief. Iike Carnauba.I wrote io JohnsonWax, the company that has a history of explo- GearingUp for the ration and research into Carnauba, and Openingand the Future managedto obtain sponsorshipfor Dennis. Fortunately, John Dransfield, Andrew . As early as mid 1987 we had decided Hendersonand Natalie Uhl were also par- upon l8th September1988 as the date ticipating in The Biennial, so we finally had for the opening of The Palmetum. As the an array of authorities from overseaswho site slowly took form and it appearedthat provided enlighteninglectures at The Bien- it would reach a presentablelevel of estab- nial functions. Iishment, preparations were made for the I also tried to get the local Department Opening Ceremony. While plantings con- of Primary Industries and The North reeol TUCKER:TOWNSVILLE PALMETUM

Queensland Palm Society to organize a Tanswell,Greg Cuffe, and John Doweabout workshop on agricultural and horticultural The Friendsgroup. They wereenthusiastic aspectsof palms, for north Queensland and immediately set up the initial mem- interests.Unfortunately neither body could bership drive. We now have over thirty devote the time or funding necessary to members and are about to formalize The arrangethis, which could have beena great Friends base in Townsville. benefit locally. The effort that went into the Opening Conclusion Ceremonyculminated on SeptemberlSth While detailing the events and motions with an international gathering of palm that contributed toward the making of a people, sampling foods made from palms, "T" Botanic Gardeninvolves far too much writ- wearing Palmetum shirts, enjoying ten information for all but a special pub- the mild spring sunshineamongst hundreds lication to cope with, I have here tried to of young palms. Prior to the opening,many compile,in as brief a form as possible,the Australian and overseasvisitors came to important and generallyunrecorded aspects look at the site, which was the sceneof of the project. much frantic activity right up to the morn- I would like finally to again thank those ing of the l8th. Many people who had groups, societies, and individuals who seenthe site in previousyears were quite assisted.It is important to acknowledge amazedat its progress. the impetus given to worldwide interest in Considerableenthusiasm came from the palms throughout the years of dedicated founding members of P.A.C.S.O.A. who work by the I.P.S.,which is largelyrespon- still donateseeds and plantsto the project. sible for bringing various Ievels of aware- Having had experienceswith the relation- nessabout palmsto vast numbersof peo- ships betweenthe South Florida chapter ple. of The LP.S. and Fairchild Tropical Gar- dens, and The Friends of Foster Garden and Honolulu Botanic Gardens, I thought Footnote: In November 1987 The Palmetum was awarded a Certificate of Merit in The Royal Aubtralia a Friends of The Palmetum group could Planning Institutes inaugural Awards of Excellence be formed. On a visit to Brisbane durine in Environmental Planning and in l9BB was awarded the P.A.C.S.O.A.Show and olant saleal rnerit in the annual Creening of Australia awards. Mt. Coot-thaCardens, T talt ed lo David

LETTERS QontiruLedfrom p. 85)

Pauahi streets in downtown Hilo. At the of liquid. Mature nuts of this tree are rather time the American Forestry Association scarce for the nuts are so very heavy that accepted this palm for registry the runner- they are easily displaced from the tree in up in Florida was 65 feet tall, so it is a a storm. This tree was planted in 1939 tall tree. But it doesn't look so very tall from a seed sent from Zamboanga on the becausethere is nolhing near to it to give island of Mindanao in the Philippines. a comparison as to its height. So don't stand under the coconut trees, Hilo also has a planting of a San Ramon but do notice them from a distance when variety of coconut at the Tree Nursery on you are in Hilo in June. Kilauea Avenue. This tree is known locally "gallon JaNn F. RosINsoN as a coconut," for the nuts are so huge that they will displace about a gallon