Bunya pine
Araucaria bidwillii
Rouse Hill Estate
A sign of home
Owners of large 19th-century estates often planted tall trees around the house or homestead so they could orient themselves from the surrounding area. Bunya pines, with their majestic height and distinctive silhouettes, were perfectly suited to the task. Today the tall trees, with their umbrella-shaped canopies, often indicate where such a house stands or once stood.
At Rouse Hill Estate, bunya pines were planted between the 1850s and 1880s to create welcome shade for people and livestock, and to embellish the hillside with eye-catching greenery. Together with plantings of hoop pines, stone pines (a gift from Governor Macquarie, according to family tradition) and English oaks, they still dominate the skyline along the old Windsor Road.
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