Las Vegas Review Journal: Doomed banyan tree finds new home at Bellagio Conservatory

Florida community see beloved tree saved from wood chipper -- at least for now...by Sonya Padgett LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL January 22, 2006

Palm Beach, FL is a tree-loving community. Residents especially loved a 110-ft tall banyan tree that was more than a century old. Standing along the main road leading into Palm Beach, the tree was so grand and so beloved that a donor gave thousands of dollars for floodlights to illuminate the tree at night. It was with great sadness that the town bid farewell to that tree last June, not felled by man but brought down by a disease that threatened the rest of the barrier island's trees.

And though seven months later it is dead, the massive ficus still has a life, of sorts. Last week, (at the suggestion of Stephen Stefanou of Design Solutions) the 200,000-pound banyan became the focal point of Bellagio Conservatory's Chinese New Year display. It will remain in the conservatory for the next 11months.

A garden has been planted within the tree and guests can walk through it to view the orchids, bromiliads, mums and other plants and flowers. In a future display, the tree will serve as a butterfly habitat.