The Royal Botanic Gardens is situated on 74 acres, hosting over 700 taxa and 3,500 individual trees. It contains extensive tree planting including many historic trees and pre-European settlement remnant trees. The organization also includes the National Herbarium of New South Wales, the premier reference collections of botanical specimens. The herbarium is used to study the classification, ecology, and evolution of plants in New South Wales, Australia, and the Pacific. The Australian Rainforest Garden is comprised of many rare and endangered tree and plants. The Palm Grove, established in 1862, represents one of the world's finest collections of pines. The Royal Botanic Gardens has developed educational and conservation programs.