Lone Pine (tree)

[1] Pinus brutia or Turkish Pine is native to the Gallipoli Peninsula and scattered specimens grew across the hills of the battlefield, and all the trees except the famous one were cut down by the Turks for construction of their defensive trenches.

Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis) is not native to the Gallipoli peninsula but grows naturally in other Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy, Greece, Syria and Morocco but is widely planted.

The original Lone Pine was the sole survivor of a group of trees that had been cut down by Turkish soldiers for timber and branches to cover their trenches during the battle.

Other trees, particularly Aleppo pines (Pinus halepensis) which are widely planted across the region but not endemic to Gallipoli, were brought from plantations beyond the Dardanelles and also used to roof the Turkish trenches.

[3] The tree at the Shrine Reserve was planted near the north-east corner of the building by Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Savige, founder of Melbourne Legacy, at a formal ceremony.

[6] In 1964, the President of Warrnambool Branch of Legacy Australia, Tom Griffiths, proposed at its Perth Conference to raise and distribute seedlings of the Lone Pine in time to mark 50 years since the Gallipoli landings.

[7] The project was strongly supported by delegates and some cones of Pinus brutia were collected from trees at ‘The Sisters’ and the Warrnambool Gardens and sent to Ben Benallack at the Forests Commission Victoria in Melbourne.

[7] The Melbourne Branch of Legacy collected more cones from the Lone Pine tree near the Shrine of Remembrance and this time about 150 seedlings were successfully raised at the Forests Commission's nursery at Macedon under the direction of Dr Ron Grose, Director of Silviculture.

[4] One was presented to her home town of Inverell, New South Wales and the other was forwarded to Canberra where it was planted by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in October 1934.

Both Melbourne Legacy and the Yarralumla Nursery in Canberra have raised and grown seedlings over a number of years, sourced from both species and from both trees at the Shrine of Remembrance and the Australian War Memorial respectively.

[13] There are many memorial plaques in front of fine specimens of "Lone Pines" in cities and gardens across the country which are Pinus halepensis and claim to be direct descendants of the solitary tree stood on the ridgetop.

The original Lone Pine landscape before the charge in 1915. The tree ( Pinus brutia ) was used as target practice. Photo: AWM
Lone Pine at Lone Pine Cemetery , Gallipoli was planted in the 1920s and is native to Spain and Italy. Pinus pinea
The Lone Pine planted at Wattle Park (Melbourne) in 1933 is one of the originals grown from seed from the cone collected by Thomas Keith McDowell. It comes from the solitary "Lone Pine". Pinus brutia.
Lone Pine at the Australian War Memorial (Canberra) is an Aleppo pine Pinus halepensis. It was planted in 1934 by the Duke of Gloucester. The seed came from a cone collected by Benjamin Smith from a Turkish trench. Aleppo pine is not native to the Gallipoli peninsula but was brought in by the Turks to reinforce their fortifications.