Century-old banyan relocated from Jockey Club in 1990s cut down due to root rot

A stately banyan outside the Hong Kong Jockey Club that was saved in a costly transplant operation two decades ago is one of two heritage trees that were recently removed after it was infected with a plant disease that appears to be spreading across the city.

The banyan, along with a heritage weeping fig in Chater Garden, are the latest to be found with brown root rot disease - also called tree cancer - and were cut down late last month after being damaged during Severe Typhoon Vicente, the strongest to hit Hong Kong in 13 years.

But the method of disposal has been criticised by an expert in urban trees, and may not have followed the government's removal guidelines.

During the removals, debris and parts of the trees were left behind at the sites, prompting fears this could help spread the disease.

The Chinese banyan on Wong Nai Chung Road was reportedly at least a century old. It and another were transplanted from their original sites on Sports Road in the early 1990s to make way for the expansion of the Happy Valley racecourse.

According to press reports at the time, the trees were between 80 and 150 years old. The transplant was estimated to cost at least HK$1 million.