An Australian seed that made the voyage from Sydney to Portugal 150 years ago has grown to be named as one of the most significant trees in Europe.
The Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla), sometimes referred to as an Australian banyan, is located in Coimbra’s romantic Quinta das Lágrimas Gardens and was this week named runner-up in the annual European Tree of the Year.
The competition, organised by the Environmental Partnership Association,is determined by voters all over Europe and looks to showcase beautiful and unique trees from across the continent.
The 2025 winner was a 300-year-old beech tree in Poland’s Dalków known as The Heart of the Dalkowskie Hills.
Its branches have sheltered concerts, reading clubs and Catholic masses, while tourists throw peanuts into a hole in its trunk “believing the tree makes dreams come true”.
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Tourists believe this Polish beech tree can grant wishes. Photo: Marcin Kopij
The Coimbra Moreton Bay fig was planted in the 19th century by aristocratic tree collector Miguel Osorio Cabral after seed exchanges with the Botanic Gardens of Sydney.
Known locally as The Lovers’ Banyan Tree, it is in the Quinta das Lágrimas Gardens next to the Fountain of Lovers – the scene of a secret love affair between King Pedro of Portugal and Inês de Castro in the 14th century.
The tree is now visited by thousands of visitors each year, who are “fascinated by the size and beauty of its branches, huge trunk and buttress roots”.
Native to the eastern coast of Australia, Moreton Bay figs gained popularity internationally from the 1800s and are widely used as “feature trees” in public parks and gardens.
As well as Portugal, examples of the Moreton Bay fig have thrived in parks in California, Spain, Italy, Malta and Auckland.
While the trees are known to grow wild from the Wide Bay in southern Queensland to the Shoalhaven River on the NSW south coast, they prefer subtropical climates.
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Seeds for Coimbra’s Moreton Bay fig came from Sydney’s Botanic Gardens. Photo: Ana Rute
Now in its 15th year, the European Tree of the Year competition inspires intense interests and hundreds of thousands of votes.
The winners are traditionally recognised in an awards ceremony in the European Parliament in Brussels.
Third place in the 2025 competition went to the Pino de Juan Molinera, a stone pine in Abengibre, Spain. It was planted 400 years ago to provide shelter for the workers tending the surrounding orchards.
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This pine was planted in the 1600s to offer shelter for farm workers. Photo: Andres Gonzales
Fourth was a 700-year-old oak tree in Lukavice, Czech Republic, while fifth was a 150-year-old wild pear grown from a stray seed in Slovakia’s rural Bošáca.