FICUS MACROPHYLLA

A single Ficus macrophylla (Moreton Bay Fig) on the bank of Albert Park Lake.

Measurements as at 2025:
Average Circumference: 5.50m
Average Height: 29.2m
Canopy Spread (N-S): 14.0m
Canopy Spread (E-W):16.4m
Estimated planting date 1923

This trees are significant at Regional Level for contribution to the landscape, health and 
vigour of canopy, and source of propogation material as long as it remains psyllid free

Within Albert Park, other Moreton Bay Figs appear primarily in promenade, with few larger 
than 2m girth. Albert Park's Great Fig remains remarkable for its substantial buttress roots 
and prominence within its landscape. It is a natural break or turning point in a lakeside run, 
ride, or walk. In recognition of this fact, Parks Victoria installed a bench and memorial stone 
to Brian O'Neill (a global pioneer of parks) underneath the tree, creating a place where people 
can rest under its shaded canopy and admire the lake. Unlike other members of its species in 
Albert Park, this Great Fig has grown as a magnificent specimen tree of considerable age and 
size, with ample room for its canopy to grow to its natural extent.
In historical aerial photography, the Great Fig is not visible in 1931, but a small but substantial 
canopy has developed in its modern location by 1946, and can be observed to persist and 
increase in size throughout 1946, 1956, and 1970. From 1986 to present, its large canopy 
dominates the immediate area. According to historical information in People's Playground: A 
History of the Albert Park by Jill Barnard and Jenny Keating, this most likely
gives a planting date on or just after 1933, by either Mrs Bulomarte James of the Wattle 
Society or park curator Mr Cave.