Currency Creek Arboretum is a specialist eucalypt arboretum focused on education and scientific research into Australia’s most dominant and iconic group of plants, the eucalypts (genera Angophora, Corymbia and Eucalyptus). The arboretum has the largest collection of eucalypt species growing anywhere in the world, it is privately-owned, managed by partners Dean Nicolle (botanist, arborist & ecologist) and Anne F Boerner (geoecologist and scientific publications specialist) and is largely self-funded through their income and research collaborations. The sheer number of fully-vouchered collections makes the arboretum an unparalleled resource for live material, data, observations, and experimentation in many fields of eucalypt-related research. The Arboretum’s first plantings occurred in 1993 (30 years ago), with new blocks of trees planted in most years since. To January 2023, approximately 10,800 individuals have been planted, sourced from 2,790 different seed accessions (populations).
Over 140 scientific articles have been published that have used data and/or resources of the arboretum. Research includes:
- Response of eucalypts to climate change and drought
- Chemistry of, and natural products from, eucalypt flowers
- Eucalypt evolution and genetics
- Leaf chemistry and herbivory
- Eucalypt hybridisation and pollen dispersal
- Eucalypt taxonomy
- Regeneration strategies and fire response
- Suitability of eucalypt species for urban and rural cultivation
