It is quite possible a centuries-old mataī that quietly fell at Dunedin’s Glenfalloch Woodland Gardens in February might yet go out with a bang, after being named one of six finalists in this year’s New Zealand Tree of the Year competition.
Despite toppling in February, both the competition’s organisers and the man who nominated the prominent tree, understood to be up to 1000 years old, were until yesterday unaware the ‘‘Mighty Old Mataī’’ was no longer standing.
‘‘Like many people, we’re saddened by the news,’’ competition chairman Brad Cadwallader said.
The finalists were announced late last week and Mr Cadwallader confirmed the mataī would remain a finalist.
The competition was about recognising and celebrating trees that had captured the imagination of their communities through their size, age, beauty, history or significance.
‘‘The Mighty Old Mataī was selected on those merits and its story remains just as important today as it was before it fell.
‘‘In some respects, its sudden loss highlights exactly why notable trees matter and why it is important to celebrate them while we still can.’’
It was the first time a fallen tree had been named a finalist for Tree of the Year ‘‘albeit, after the fact’’, he said.
Former Dunedin man and trained arborist Jacob McSweeny nominated the mataī and was yesterday shocked to learn it had fallen over.
‘‘It’s heartbreaking.’’
He had not visited the tree in several years and had wanted it to get some national recognition as a species.
‘‘It was considered possibly the oldest living thing in Otago, and that’s kind of why I thought it was a great specimen to nominate for Tree of the Year.
‘‘I was chuffed that it was in there, a bit like the All Whites at the World Cup.’’
Mr McSweeny agreed the tree should remain a contender in the competition.
He still considered it to be alive given the roots of the tree were still there.
Winning the competition might even be a fitting way to mark its life.
‘‘I still think it’s [an] absolutely worthy candidate of winning Tree of the Year, and perhaps even more so.’’
Glenfalloch garden manager Alan Funnell confirmed the tree, which was discovered fallen by a dog walker, had toppled in February, the cause unknown.
The garden was consulting local iwi as part of planning what to do with it.
‘‘We have an obituary ready to go regarding the tree.’’
It had developed a split and become ‘‘quite rotten’’ over the years.
‘‘It was holding on by its teeth.’’
‘‘To me, it was the matriarch of the garden.
‘‘It’s the oldest tree on the peninsula that I know of.’’
Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker said the tree was precious to the peninsula and she was ‘‘absolutely gutted’’ by its loss.
Her office was at Glenfalloch when she worked for the Otago Peninsula Trust.
‘‘I walked past that tree nearly every day and I heard all the birdsong.
‘‘I actually spent a lot of time quite near it.’’
Ms Barker also thought the tree should remain a finalist and believed some seedlings had been raised from it.
‘‘It does live on, so it’s not entirely dead.
‘‘That doesn’t disqualify it, does it, because it’s got children.’’
Voting is open at www.treeoftheyear.co.nz until June 30.
