Old and Valuable Treesand Stonewall Trees

Introduction

Hong Kong's trees sometimes find their own way to grow. Chinese Banyans shade streets between high-rise buildings. On old stone walls below the hills, their roots spread across the masonry like a net. In New Territories villages, roots and brick houses can even grow together, forming a familiar part of the landscape.

These tree scenes have different histories and reflect the character of different places. The distribution data show a striking contrast: Stonewall Trees are concentrated on Hong Kong Island, while Old and Valuable Trees are found across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. Often discussed together, the two categories have different botanical characteristics and growing environments.

The distribution statistics use the 17 April 2026 edition and cover 738 registrations. They are not a census of all trees currently growing in Hong Kong.

Trees in the city

Two kinds of tree, very different distributions

Walking through older districts on Hong Kong Island, you may see banyans growing from masonry retaining walls. This landscape of trees and walls is particularly noticeable in Central and Western District and Wan Chai District. Across Hong Kong, 94.9% of Stonewall Tree registrations are on Hong Kong Island; Kowloon and the New Territories account for the small remainder.

Old and Valuable Trees are more evenly distributed: Hong Kong Island accounts for 40.8%, Kowloon 29.4% and the New Territories 29.8%. Trees in the register can be found in urban parks, roadside planters and rural visitor spots.

Looking at the 18 districts, Central and Western and Wan Chai together account for 86.2% of Stonewall Tree registrations. Central and Western alone has 298 registrations across both categories, or 40.4% of all registrations. Its walls, slopes, streets and parks bring different tree landscapes into a small urban area.

Kowloon presents another scene. Along Nathan Road between Austin Road and Haiphong Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, roadside planters contain 31 Old and Valuable Tree registrations. Nearby Kowloon Park has 40. Both the busy commercial street and the park at the heart of the city have space for trees.

Two identities

One category recognises the tree; the other concerns where it grows

The name “Old and Valuable Tree” may suggest a towering tree hundreds of years old. Since 2004, the Government has selected distinctive trees on unleased Government land within built-up areas and tourist attraction spots in village areas for the register. The five main criteria cover large size, precious or rare species, old age (such as over 100 years), cultural, historical or important commemorative significance, and outstanding form.

Old and Valuable Trees are therefore not all over a century old. The Government also considers health and growing condition, life expectancy and location. A tree may be valued for an exceptional form or particular cultural significance.

Stonewall Trees are associated with Hong Kong's hilly terrain and traditional masonry retaining walls. To meet the definition, the base of the trunk must be within the wall face, with most roots attached to or passing through the wall. Ordinary freestanding walls, concrete walls and concrete walls faced only with stone do not fall into this category.

A registration can belong to both categories. There are 31 such registrations in the data. This is why the category totals cannot simply be added: the categories overlap, while each has its own inclusion criteria.

Trees and places

Four familiar tree scenes, four ways of growing

Statistics describe the distribution, but the relationship between trees and the city becomes clearer on particular streets, in parks and in villages. The same species, Chinese Banyan (Ficus microcarpa), can grow on a wall on Hong Kong Island, in a roadside planter in Kowloon or around a brick house in Kam Tin. A Tree Cotton in Hong Kong Park shows a different form.

Forbes Street: banyans on an old stone wall

The retaining wall on Forbes Street in Kennedy Town is a distinctive Stonewall Tree landscape. Chinese Banyan roots extend down the masonry to the foot of the wall. The texture of the stones and the winding roots form a characteristic scene on Hong Kong Island's dense streets.

Forbes Street Temporary Playground and King George V Memorial Park are separate places. Together they have 57 Stonewall Tree registrations, including 48 Chinese Banyans. These combined figures show the importance of the species in these wall landscapes.

Traditional masonry retaining walls were built to support slopes and respond to the terrain. As trees take root in their joints, these practical structures acquire a living landscape. Forbes Street's character comes from the lasting relationship between roots, stone walls and hillside streets.

Nathan Road: a green corridor beside a busy street

Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui is busy with pedestrians, shop signs, buses and traffic. Banyan crowns add greenery to the street. In its 2014 account of these trees, the Development Bureau described the roadside banyans as a “green corridor”.

Unlike the trees growing along the wall on Forbes Street, these Chinese Banyans stand in roadside planters. They are the same species in a different setting. The photographed tree, registration LCSD YTM/1, is one example.

A street's character is made up of many everyday details. Nathan Road's banyans share the street with signs, pavements and commerce, adding a natural outline to dense development. People may not know each tree's registration number, but they can readily recognise its shade.

Kam Tin Tree House: banyan roots and brickwork

At Shui Mei Village Playground in Kam Tin, Yuen Long, a Chinese Banyan's large roots intertwine with a brick house. Parts of the walls appear enclosed by the roots, creating what is commonly called Kam Tin Tree House. Accounts of the building's original purpose and history differ; its appearance alone cannot establish them.

The intertwined roots and brickwork create a distinctive rural landscape and a representative tree attraction in Kam Tin.

Hong Kong Park: the form of a Tree Cotton

Large trees in Hong Kong may first bring leafy banyans to mind, but the Old and Valuable Tree register is much more varied. A Tree Cotton (Bombax ceiba) in Hong Kong Park is included for its outstanding form, under registration ARCHSD CW/40.

Its shape differs from a banyan's, with a distinctive trunk and striking red flowers when in bloom. This tree adds another form and colour to the story of Old and Valuable Trees.

A public tree election

Hong Kong's favourite Old and Valuable Trees in 2014

Kam Tin Tree House also won public appreciation. The Development Bureau held the “Our Favourite Old and Valuable Trees” online election from 30 May to 12 September 2014. About 4,800 online votes were received, and the results were announced on 15 November. Three entries won in each of four categories, making 12 individual trees or groups. The Chinese Banyan LCSD YL/6 at Kam Tin Tree House came first in the Historical and Cultural Significance category and received the highest number of votes overall. The category winners appear below; the full 12-entry list can also be expanded.

Species and growth

Why are most Stonewall Trees figs?

Chinese Banyans recur in the tree landscapes from Forbes Street to Kam Tin. The species data support that familiarity: Stonewall Tree registrations cover 11 species, 97.0% belong to the genus Ficus, and Ficus microcarpa alone accounts for 73.9%.

Old and Valuable Trees cover a more varied 69 species. Chinese Banyans remain common at 48.4%. The register also includes 44 Cinnamomum camphora registrations and 19 Ficus elastica registrations, while 39 species each have only one registration. Hong Kong Park's Tree Cotton is one vivid example of the wider range.

The ability of figs to grow on stone walls relates to their reproduction and root systems. Species such as Ficus microcarpa, Ficus subpisocarpa and Ficus virens have a strangling growth habit and can attach to and grow on vertical masonry surfaces.

The process often begins with a seed. Birds or bats eat fig fruits and carry their seeds elsewhere. A seed that lands in a joint between stones may germinate in suitable conditions. Young roots gradually enter the joints and reach soil behind the wall, where they obtain water and nutrients. As the roots grow, a network develops across the wall face.

Standing in front of a wall, we can see roots spreading across its face but may not see their connection to soil behind it. The relationship between the tree, the wall, its joints and the soil is intricate.

These retaining walls represent Hong Kong's traditional masonry construction, and their trees are part of the urban landscape. Caring for Stonewall Trees must take account of the structural conditions of both tree and wall; their relationship is more complex than the visible roots alone suggest.

Hong Kong in the shade

Look again next time you pass

Hong Kong's cityscape keeps changing, while some trees have long been bound to particular places. Banyan roots spread across Forbes Street's old walls; Nathan Road's Chinese Banyans line a busy street; Kam Tin Tree House brings a tree together with village architecture; and Hong Kong Park's Tree Cotton shows a different form. Next time you pass, look beyond the buildings, shops and signs to the trees beside them. Details among their branches and roots are another way to understand Hong Kong.