Brookfield's Sydenham Botanic Park has 24 new nikau palms thanks to a kind donation from Nikau Grove Nursery.

The young trees have been planted at the Jonathon Street end of the park, where in the coming decades they will grow up to 15 metres in height.

Members of the Sydenham Botanic Park Advisory Group were present for the erection of a sign containing details about the palms and an acknowledgement of their donor.

Brian Hodge has been involved with the park since 2012 and says he's very pleased with the new nikau, which are New Zealand's only native palms.

'Our plan is to develop the southern end of the park and grow native plants and trees there.”

He explains there is a lot of living history in the trees populating the park.

'Many of our trees are ‘Gondwanaland' specimens, which means they existed at the time of the dinosaurs.”

Nikau Grove Nursery's Brian Miller is the man responsible for donating the 24 native palms. His passion for the tree is part of his motivation, and he hopes councils will consider them for more parks.

'We came out and had a look at the site, and decided to donate a couple thousand dollars' worth of nikau. I've been growing them for about 40 years, 20 of them commercially.”

He says they're very popular with birds, particularly when they start to develop fruit.

He admits cost can sometimes be a factor in deterring people from nikau, as they are a slow-growing tree.

'But they end up being a beautiful palm,” he says.

The Sydenham Botanic Park was as gifted to Tauranga residents in 2003 by the late Frank Sydenham, one of the first ever Massey University students to graduate with a master's degree in Horticulture.

More information on Sydenham Botanic Park can be found at: sydenhampark.wordpress.com