By Charlotte Simpson-Young and Asa Wahlquist
On the east side of Jubilee Oval is a striking formal avenue of 26 Canary Island Date Palms (Phoenix canariensis), or Phoenix Palms. It’s thought that they were planted in 1935. The Canary Island Palm was often used in early commemorative parklands and urban landscaping, particularly in the Inter-war Period between 1915 and 1940. The species was popular because of its drought tolerance and uniform and dramatic growth pattern.
Canary Island Palm at Jubilee Park (C. Simpson-Young)
The City of Sydney considers avenue to be “one of the most outstanding examples of civic planting using this species in the Sydney metropolitan area” and “has group significance at the City [and] Local Government Area level in terms of its commemorative, social, aesthetic and visual values”.
Since 1980 a number of palm plantings across Sydney have been killed by the (currently untreatable) soil fungal pathogen Fusarium wilt. This makes the Jubilee Park planting even more significant as plantings elsewhere (such as in Centennial Park) are lost. Sadly, Fusarium wilt has been found it at least one of the Jubilee Park palms, and the remainder are expected to eventually contract the disease.
Canary Island Palms at Jubilee Park (C. Simpson-Young)
For the original articles go to Asa Wahlquist’s website.
For more posts on the Glebe Foreshore:
Under the Terrace Houses: Glebe before European Settlement
Biodiversity in Urban Sydney: the Glebe Foreshore Walk
A Concrete Creek: Glebe’s Johnstons Creek
The Last Mangroves in the City: Jubilee Park Mangroves
Where the River Meets the Sea: Glebe’s Coastal Saltmarsh
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Christie, Judy (2019) personal communication
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Little Things Ecology 