Look who I met last week, The Big Tree of Guilford in Central Victoria. This beautiful River Red Gum, with superbly contorted branches, is estimated to be between 500 to 1000 years old.

She is one of the largest in Victoria, with a height of 34 metres and circumference of 9.35 metres at the base.

Like a kindly foster mother, her branches and hollows provide homes to a variety of wildlife, and her shade offers respite from the searing summer heat. Mamma Red Gum has been providing these services for centuries.

Please take a look at the photograph taken in the mid-1800s; even then she was a big lass.

JWT