By Peter Rosengren
A young Western Australian red gum now stands in the Vatican gardens and may be noticed by Pope Benedict and others on early morning walks.
The tree’s planting in one of the most exotic gardens in the world is the initiative of All Saints, Liwarra parishioner Tom Alford.
Mr Alford, who is now retired from Telstra, has maintained a lifelong interest in the flora of Australia’s biggest state and in 1993 helped set up the Friends of Kings Park.
He also chaired the formation of Florabase, the public website and database set up by the WA Department of Environment and Conservation which holds information on all known WA species and subspecies of plant life.
Mr Alford told The Record he recently approached Mark Webb, the Chief Executive Officer of Kings Park and suggested the Park gift a Western Australian plant to the Vatican Gardens.
He had been inspired, in part, by a visit to the Vatican Gardens in 1998. Mr Webb liked the idea and suggested Corymbia Ficifilia, the Western Australian Redgum as ideal.
Mr Alford then spoke to Archbishop Barry Hickey who raised the matter with the Papal Nuncio in Canberra, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto, who said the Vatican would be happy to receive the plant.
During a visit to the Kings Park botanical laboratories, Mr Alford mentioned the idea to colleagues who told him they knew of Dr Roberto Crosti, an Italian scientist who had conducted research at the laboratories recently.
After Dr Crosti was contacted, he was able to locate a WA Redgum grown from seed in an Italian nursery. A plant grown in Italian soil has an advantage of one grown in Western Australian soil which might not fare so well after transplanting, Mr Alford said.
Dr Crosti also contacted the Responsible for the Vatican Gardens, Mr Lucian Cecchetti, and arranged for delivery of the Redgum on 16 December last year.