River Red Gum is Voted Australia’s Favourite Tree!

Australians have voted and crowned our first favourite native tree – the stoic, strong, and widespread River red gum.

After weeks of voting and three rounds of competition, ABC’s National Science Week poll on Australia’s favourite native tree has come to a close and declared River red gums the winner.

Unlike some of the other trees in the running whose habitats are limited to niche areas around the country, the River red gum can be found nearly everywhere across Australia, and its broad and immovable trunks, and gnarled, sky-reaching limbs make it hard to miss.

What trees made the top five?

Possibly unsurprisingly for some, the three species with the most votes were all varieties of gumtrees, with the iconic Snow gum, the tree that distinguishes Australia’s highest mountains coming in second, and the somewhat mythical Ghost gum of Central Australia rounding out the top three. 

Coming in fourth as the first non-gumtree on the list is the ever-impressive Morton Bay fig, only missing a poll position by 30 votes! If you live on the mid-East Coast, it’s likely you’ve had a kip under one of these beauties in a park!

Fifth place goes to the Mountain ash, the tallest flowering tree in the world, which can be found in Victoria and Tassie.

Did you favourite tree make the top 20?

Australia’s Top 20 Favourite Trees

1. River red gum
2. Snow gum
3. Ghost gum 
4. Moreton Bay fig 
5. Mountain ash
6. Boab
7. Karri
8. Red flowering gum
9. Illawarra flame tree
10. Golden wattle
11. Huon pine
12. Gungurru
13. Wollemi pine
14. Sydney red gum
15. Paperbark
16. Old man banksia
17. Bunya pine
18. Deciduous beech
19. Weeping bottlebrush
20. Macadamia tree

Feature photo thanks to Destination NSW