'Philip John MacMahon was curator of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Queensland, Australia, 1889-1905, and Director of Forests 1905-11. MacMahon significantly expanded the palm collection at the Botanic Gardens and he encouraged their wide-spread use in both public and domestic situations. He envisaged Brisbane as a 'City of Palms'. This paper provides a brief biography of MacMahon and outlines the development of the palm collection in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens during his curatorship.' (Publication abstract)