A tree may fall in a forest and not make a sound; but at the University of Sydney they send out a press release.
Past and present students of the university are mourning the loss of a tree that collapsed overnight after 88 years.
The jacaranda had bloomed in the main quadrangle since 1928 but on Saturday morning was found uprooted.
The university issued a press release (“We are saddened to advise the University community...”) and has been sharing tributes to the “beloved” tree on social media.
Our beloved jacaranda sadly collapsed last night, but not without one last bloom for final weeks of study for 2016. https://t.co/qtD7zyZgmY pic.twitter.com/n8fbJalW8f
— University of Sydney (@Sydney_Uni) October 29, 2016
It had featured in the backdrop of “thousands” of graduation and wedding photos over its lifetime, a spokeswoman for the university told Guardian Australia – photos that, for a time, will be doubtless too painful to look at.
She said the tree was thought to have died “of old age” and that people were “very emotional”.
This image, tweeted by “Sarah B” following news of its death on Saturday afternoon, could be the last to show it alive.
My last shot of the @Sydney_Uni jacaranda. Taken only yesterday! RIP tree. pic.twitter.com/ndCoco88yG
— Sarah B (@brensoft) October 29, 2016
The jacaranda has been remembered on social media as “famed”, “iconic”, “magical” , “beautiful” and “Sydney Uni’s only redeeming feature”.
“Oh my gosh... literally the saddest day. Say it isn’t so,” tweeted a science student.
RIP the Sydney Uni Quadrangle jacaranda pic.twitter.com/IYZhsf2B8j
— James Jeffrey (@James_Jeffrey) October 29, 2016
It is just the latest loss in a year already marred by high-profile deaths, including the other Purple One.
“I mean, you gotta admit that the jacaranda falling is VERY 2016,” one woman suggested.
Jacaranda, the tree who died
— ɛda (@peripeteda) October 29, 2016
Mark Scott, former managing director of the ABC and now secretary of the NSW Department of Education, said the jacaranda was “the most famous tree in Australian education” (“Vale”).
This is a subjective honour, though the tree was one of 1931 trees listed on the City of Sydney’s Significant Tree Register in 2005. It also made the city’s chief aborist’s Top 10 Trees list in 2012.
The jacaranda had lived a “truly great life,” as one lecturer put it.
Journalist Annabel Crabb said the loss was “very sad”. “But Lordy, I hope when I keel over I look this beautiful.”
Peter FitzSimons, head of the Australian Republican Movement and former Australian rugby international, also said the loss of the tree was “very sad”, while also evoking happy memories of him passing his exam in 1980.
Very sad.
— Peter FitzSimons (@Peter_Fitz) October 29, 2016
In 1980, I saw it was blooming, and realised I hadn't yet started studying. Went to my room, and emerged six weeks later. PASSED! https://t.co/qoKlfAaZFg
FitzSimons’ tribute, and many others, referenced folklore that any undergraduate who failed to study before the tree’s first bloom appeared would fail their exams.
“Students are reminded that the current tree had begun to bloom and we wish them all well for their final weeks of study for 2016,” the university concluded its press release.
It is not known whether this is indicative of the university’s teaching on causal relationships.
So the fact the whole tree has collapsed and died is probably a bad omen for the upcoming exam period, right? 😢 @Sydney_Uni #exams #Sydney pic.twitter.com/rnYKAkX1Zi
— Sarah McLain (@SarahMcLain_) October 28, 2016
The student newspaper Honi Soit produced a moving video tribute to “The Jacaranda, 1928-2016”.
It quoted section 42.1 of the University of Sydney’s Tree Management Procedure: “Trees are living organisms so it is inevitable that they will die.”
The @Sydney_Uni Jacaranda. Dead this morning, gone this afternoon: pic.twitter.com/W6c9nF2YXB
— Honi Soit (@honi_soit) October 29, 2016
It is not known whether the tree will be pulped to make paper on which future editions of Honi Soit can be printed, thus continuing the circle of student life.
But Lisa Pryor, former journalist and doctor, tweeted expressed disappointment at the apparent callousness – and lack of foresight as to monetiseable opportunities –with which the tree was disposed of.
“Can’t believe they just got rid of the dead jacaranda. So many would like a piece of that wood as a momento, like a piece of the Berlin Wall.”
Can't believe they just got rid of the dead jacaranda. So many would like a piece of that wood as a momento, like a piece of the Berlin Wall https://t.co/YF4xZZ0PrK
— Lisa Pryor (@pryorlisa) October 29, 2016
Already, with the tree not long out of the ground, there are demands for answers as to the cause of death – and rampant speculation.
“I think we all know that leftism killed that jacaranda tree,” tweeted cartoonist Jon Kudelka.
The demise of the iconic and much-loved figure so suddenly after Honi Soit spoofed the Australian has also prompted suspicion.
Incredible that News Corp operatives murdered the Sydney uni jacaranda just because Honi killed off Rupert
— Rob Stott (@Rob_Stott) October 29, 2016
But the editors of Honi Soit denied involvement to Guardian Australia in a statement.
“This has left a gaping hole in the hearts of students, and University PR brochures alike. Contrary to reports, we did not do it. We solemnly call on the Vice-Chancellor to release the arborist’s report. It was almost as if the removalists were waiting in the wings. This whole thing smacks of an inside job.”
The university community may be comforted by the fact that the tree will, eventually, be replaced by one of its own.
“In 2014 the University advised that that the jacaranda was nearing the end of its natural life and hired a specialist jacaranda grower to take cuttings,” said its statement. “Grafted onto the base of other jacarandas, the cuttings have produced two clones. This means that the University will be able to replace the jacaranda with genetically identical stock.”
A spokeswoman rejected Guardian Australia’s suggestion that this was excessive.
“If you ask any Sydney graduate, they’re all very attached to it.”
In the meantime, Sydney residents are advised to take solace in the shade of the hundreds of similar jacaranda trees able to be found outside university grounds.
