The Chinese fan palm (livistona) had grown to a height of more than 25 metres since it was moved to the greenhouse in 1882 - already 44 years old -- and threatened to push through the glass ceiling.
Günter Wimmer, spokesman for Austria's federal gardens, said a system of ropes attached to one of the greenhouse's steel pillars was used to lower pieces of the tree to the ground, but plants around the giant palm tree were moved temporarily to avoid damage should any of the pieces have fallen.
Wimmer said pieces of the tree would be auctioned off and the proceeds used to assist federal garden trainees.
He noted that a flood of telephone calls and emails had arrived from places as far away as the United States and Canada before the tree was cut down. Most offered suggestions for saving the tree, such as raising the roof of the greenhouse - an impossibility, Wimmer said, as the building is listed.
In the spring, a fifty-year-old offshoot of the Sisi Palm will be planted in the tree's place.
Source: Múlt-kor / Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
