12 Fabulous Trees
Trees are the pillars of life on Earth. In fact, they are indispensable to sustain life on the planet - without them, the delicate balance of all cycles that govern and keep life, would be shattered.
From the legend of Apollo and Daphne (turned into a laurel tree) to the Saxon’s adoration, trees have been a part of man’s history, mystery and legends since the dawn of times.
Throughout the centuries and across cultures, trees have been revered for their life-giving properties: providing food, medicine, shelter, fuel, building material and shade, not only to man but to countless creatures and animals, absorbing harmful C02 emissions and releasing oxygen, locking moisture and water in the underground sheets of water, ensuring the richness of the soil and the diversity of the ecosystems.
Yet for all their indispensable contributions and their long-lasting connection with humankind, trees and forests have long been abused by the action of man, and are now under serious threat all across the planet - and our lives with them.
The United Nations declared March 21st as the International Day of Forests.
To celebrate their enduring importance, here’s a brief list of some of the most famous trees in world culture, both real and legendary, alive and already gone, some as old as the human race itself and yet still alive to tell the tale.
In the Jewish-Christian tradition, the tree of wisdom represents not only nature but the source of all knowledge and the source of our very souls.
According to these traditions, the tree of good and evil was located in the middle of the Garden of Eden, and the first humans, Adam and Eve, were strongly warned not to eat its fruits, under penalty of death.
Lured by the devil in the shape of a serpent, Eve fell to temptation, tasting its fruit and inducing Adam to do the same. Although they did not die, both Adam and Eve were imposed severe punishments which would be passed on to all of their descendants, and were since then expelled from Paradise.
What kind of a tree was the tree of good and evil? Many believe it was an apple tree; others think it must have been an species now extinct.
1.- Tree of Good and Evil
In the Jewish-Christian tradition, the tree of wisdom represents not only nature but the source of all knowledge and the source of our very souls.
According to these traditions, the tree of good and evil was located in the middle of the Garden of Eden, and the first humans, Adam and Eve, were strongly warned not to eat its fruits, under penalty of death.
Lured by the devil in the shape of a serpent, Eve fell to temptation, tasting its fruit and inducing Adam to do the same. Although they did not die, both Adam and Eve were imposed severe punishments which would be passed on to all of their descendants, and were since then expelled from Paradise.
What kind of a tree was the tree of good and evil? Many believe it was an apple tree; others think it must have been an species now extinct.
Regardless of its kind, the tree of good and evil is symbolic of our eternal connection with nature as the source of our origins, life, sustenance, refuge, wisdom and solace.
In the Old Norse religion trees were considered sacred, and none was more important than Yggdrasil, the world tree that represented the Norse cosmic vision.
Yggdrasil was a holy tree believed to be at the center of the Universe, connecting the known nine worlds. Earth was only one of those worlds, for even in this early representation, man saw himself as part of a greater universe, and not necessarily at its center.
The Yggdrasil tree was host to the gods’ meetings, and provided shelter to myriad mythical creatures, among them dragons, antelopes, stags and eagles.
Yggdrasil is only one of the many representations of world trees in ancient cultures across the globe.
2.- Yggdrasil
In the Old Norse religion trees were considered sacred, and none was more important than Yggdrasil, the world tree that represented the Norse cosmic vision.
Yggdrasil was a holy tree believed to be at the center of the Universe, connecting the known nine worlds. Earth was only one of those worlds, for even in this early representation, man saw himself as part of a greater universe, and not necessarily at its center.
The Yggdrasil tree was host to the gods’ meetings, and provided shelter to myriad mythical creatures, among them dragons, antelopes, stags and eagles.
Yggdrasil is only one of the many representations of world trees in ancient cultures across the globe.
Other cultures that possess similar traditions and legends include: the Baltic states, Iran, India, North and South Asia, Siberia, Mongolia, China and Pre-Columbian American cultures.
Located in Sweden and at 9,000 years old, this Norway spruce is considered the oldest tree alive in the world. This means, this tree was a young sapling when the first homo sapiens were still living in caves.
But, how can a single tree live so long? Aside from a very slow metabolism and growth, this particular species has the ability to clone itself. Thus, even if a stem dies, if the root system is still alive, it will regrow again.
In fact, what we see of the Old Tjikko spruce is much younger than its root system, which is presumed to be around 9,500 years old.
Found in 2004 by natural researcher Leif Kullman, he named the tree ‘Old Tjikko’ after his dog, Tjikko.
At 3647 years old (and counting) this is the oldest reported tree alive in Latin America, and the third oldest living tree in the world.
Located in the depths of the Alerce Costero National Park in Chile, the Gran Abuelo is a Patagonia Cypress, which, along with the Bristlecone pine and the Giant sequoia, it’s one of the most longevous species in the world.
But its age alone says very little until we learn about the endangered condition of this species, even after being declared a protected species and even while located within the limits of a national park.
The wood of the Patagonian cypress is so valuable that at a time it was even used as currency - and the loggers' greed for its precious wood hasn’t waned over time, a precarious condition shared by many species in endangered forests around the world.
The Gran Abuelo cypress tree is not only a symbol of survival through the ages - it reminds us of the dangers we have imposed onto the environment for centuries, and the urgent necessity of protecting the nature we still have, while we still have it.
With a girth of 120 feet (36 mts.), this is the thickest tree in the world. Its branches extend to the width of a football field.
But beyond its amazing dimensions, and an age calculated at around 2,000 years old, this magnificent tree is also rooted deeply into the traditions of Mexican folklore.
According to a Zapotec legend, the tree is said to have been planted over 1,400 years ago by a priest of the Wind god, Ehecatl. Tule means ‘illumination’ thus making this ‘the tree of illumination’.
To further its legend, many people have said to have found animal figures naturally formed on the bark of the tree.
The tree of Tule is a touristic attraction in Oaxaca, and it even has its own day of celebration on the second Monday of every October.
While it may be hard to believe, this forest of over 47,000 quaking aspen trees is actually one single organism covering 106 acres (43 hectares).
Its age is no less astonishing, calculated at around 10 000 years from its origin as a single seed, although currently each individual is about 150 years old.
The quaking aspen is a type of tree that can clone itself, similar to the case of Old Tjikko - while its root system remains alive, its stems may die and grow back, or spawn endlessly as in this case.
Located in the Fishlake National Park in Utah, the Pando colony is a natural monument to nature’s marvelous inventiveness to multiply and survive.
Measured by volume, this is the tallest single-stem tree on the planet, with a total of 274.9 feet (83 mts.) tall.
Located in the Sequoia National Park in California, this giant sequoia was named after the civil war general William T. Sherman by the naturalist James Wolverton in 1879, after this one serving under his orders during the war.
Although currently it holds the record, the general Sherman is not the tallest tree ever recorded - two other trees hold this honor: the Crannell Creek Giant, a redwood cut down in the mid-1940s, which was estimated to be 25% larger than general Sherman; and the Lindsey Creek tree, another redwood reported at the turn of the XX century, with a staggering volume of 9,000 cubic feet.
However, the general Sherman sequoia is the tallest tree still alive.
Which makes us wonder, how tall would other trees have grown if only they had been allowed to live long enough?
While its age was disputed (calculated at around 1000 to 6000 years old), its dimensions were clearly impressive. With a girth of 155 feet ( 47mts.), the Sundland Baobab was reportedly the widest baobab tree in South Africa, and probably the widest of this species.
The baobab trees naturally hollow after its first millennium, and the enterprising owners of the area where the baobab was located, banked on its popularity by establishing a bar inside its natural cavity. Thus, the Sundland Baobab became the only tree in the world holding a full bar inside.
But the severe droughts and the dramatic climatic changes affecting South Africa in the past years weakened the health of the majestic baobab, which finally succumbed during a heavy storm in May 2017.
Despite its status as a revered species, the Baobab is an endangered species due to its slow adaptation to the rapid climatic change and global warming, and the death of the Sunland Baobab reminds us that, as magnificent as these trees may be, they are living creatures not immune to disease, old age and climatic change.
To learn more about the critical situation of the baobab trees, check the following article
According to the legend, this was the oak that the legendary bandit Robin Hood and his band of merry men used as a base of operations in Sherwood forest.
Whether the legend is real or not, what remains certain is that is one of the most majestic oak trees in Sherwood forest, singled out and catalogued by Major Hayman Rooke (from which it received the name) in 1790.
Visited by hundreds of tourists every week, the Major Oak tree was declared “England’s Tree of the Year” in 2014 by public vote.
With a no less impressive girth of about 33 feet (10 mts.), and an estimated age of a thousand years old, this is the type of tree - wide, tall, lush, majestic - that gives way to fairy tales and makes us believe in legends.
There’s hardly a soul that hasn’t heard the legend about how Newton got inspiration for his theory of gravity after witnessing the fall of an apple. And this is the very tree it fell from.
Located in Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, this ancient apple tree was once torn by a storm around 1820, but its roots remained intact and it regrew into the tree we can see and visit today.
The original tree that Newtown knew put down roots about 400 years ago, and it’s been receiving visitors for the past 240 years, even during Newton’s time, and after the storm crumbled the first tree.
Today, the tree and the manor in which it is located are protected by the National Trust, and you can learn more about it, and even watch a video of the tree through the seasons, here
Anyone who’s read Anne Frank’s diary will remember the young writer’s fond description of the tree she could see from the window of her refuge in Amsterdam - her only connection to the outside world, a silent companion in her distress, a faithful compass of the passing of the seasons.
Unlike Anna, the chestnut tree survived the war, and was dutifully maintained by the family and later the foundation created along the Anne Frank remembrance museum.
Sadly, the tree fell prey to disease and old age and crumbled in 2010. Although efforts were made to grow it back, and for a while it showed promise, eventually it died away.
However, several saplings have grown from its chestnuts and currently thrive in different locations all around the world, spreading a message of resilience, courage and love exemplified by both Anne and the tree.
While not born in nature, these fantastic structures conceived by man replicate a tree’s main functions (except for photosynthesis) while also serving to honor them as main inspiration.
Made of a core of concrete with a hydraulic jet system and a steel trunk holding over 16,300 native plants, the trees collect solar power through its photovoltaic cells, collect rainwater, and cool the buildings in the Singapore Marina Bay area.
The trees also hold an aerial walkway between them and become illuminated by night, providing visual attractiveness to the area.
Accompanying these SuperTrees two conservatories of sleek design, that hold a large collection of flowers and plants representing all five continents
Despite its qualities, the SuperTrees were not meant to become a replacement for actual trees. Instead, they remind us that human ingenuity can be used to work along nature to supply for our needs without sacrificing the environment.
*The Dragon’s Blood tree - A native of the island of Socotra, the tree is not only famous due to its particular shape, which make us think of trees found in fantasy worlds, but also due to the deep red color of its sap, which resembles blood and gives the tree its name.
But the tree’s shape and its sap are only adaptations to its stringent environment, making this tree a perfect example of nature’s ingeniousness to survive.
* The tree of Life in Bahrain - A mesquite tree growing in the middle of the desert, it is considered the loneliest tree in the world after the original ‘loneliest tree’, located in the Sahara Desert, was crushed down by a drunken driver in 1973.
Despite its remote and inhospitable location, the tree is currently visited by tourists as a place for meditation and prayer, and many see in this lonely tree the original location of the Garden of Eden.
* The gingko Zoshigaya Kishimojin in Tokyo - Located in the garden of the temple devoted to the goddess Kishimojin, guardian and protector of children, this gorgeous gingko tree is said to help mothers conceive, and is daily visited by couples who come to deposit their petitions and prayers to the goddess.
A similar tradition is observed with the Thimmamma Marrimanu tree in India.
Humble, majestic, inspiring, irreplaceable, generous, patient and resilient, young and old, great and small, trees remind us that life is a precious gift, and that the spirit that connect all living beings is one and the same for man, plants and beasts alike.
Sources: National geographic, Business Insider, National Parks Service, National Trust, Support Anne Frank Tree, Nunet.com, Wikipedia.
3.- Old Tjikko
Located in Sweden and at 9,000 years old, this Norway spruce is considered the oldest tree alive in the world. This means, this tree was a young sapling when the first homo sapiens were still living in caves.
But, how can a single tree live so long? Aside from a very slow metabolism and growth, this particular species has the ability to clone itself. Thus, even if a stem dies, if the root system is still alive, it will regrow again.
(Picture: Wikipedia)
In fact, what we see of the Old Tjikko spruce is much younger than its root system, which is presumed to be around 9,500 years old.
Found in 2004 by natural researcher Leif Kullman, he named the tree ‘Old Tjikko’ after his dog, Tjikko.
4.- Gran Abuelo
At 3647 years old (and counting) this is the oldest reported tree alive in Latin America, and the third oldest living tree in the world.
Located in the depths of the Alerce Costero National Park in Chile, the Gran Abuelo is a Patagonia Cypress, which, along with the Bristlecone pine and the Giant sequoia, it’s one of the most longevous species in the world.
But its age alone says very little until we learn about the endangered condition of this species, even after being declared a protected species and even while located within the limits of a national park.
(Picture: Wikipedia)
The wood of the Patagonian cypress is so valuable that at a time it was even used as currency - and the loggers' greed for its precious wood hasn’t waned over time, a precarious condition shared by many species in endangered forests around the world.
The Gran Abuelo cypress tree is not only a symbol of survival through the ages - it reminds us of the dangers we have imposed onto the environment for centuries, and the urgent necessity of protecting the nature we still have, while we still have it.
5.- Arbol del Tule
With a girth of 120 feet (36 mts.), this is the thickest tree in the world. Its branches extend to the width of a football field.
But beyond its amazing dimensions, and an age calculated at around 2,000 years old, this magnificent tree is also rooted deeply into the traditions of Mexican folklore.
(Picture: Cronica de Oaxaca)
According to a Zapotec legend, the tree is said to have been planted over 1,400 years ago by a priest of the Wind god, Ehecatl. Tule means ‘illumination’ thus making this ‘the tree of illumination’.
To further its legend, many people have said to have found animal figures naturally formed on the bark of the tree.
The tree of Tule is a touristic attraction in Oaxaca, and it even has its own day of celebration on the second Monday of every October.
6.- Pando
While it may be hard to believe, this forest of over 47,000 quaking aspen trees is actually one single organism covering 106 acres (43 hectares).
Its age is no less astonishing, calculated at around 10 000 years from its origin as a single seed, although currently each individual is about 150 years old.
(Picture: Wikipedia)
The quaking aspen is a type of tree that can clone itself, similar to the case of Old Tjikko - while its root system remains alive, its stems may die and grow back, or spawn endlessly as in this case.
Located in the Fishlake National Park in Utah, the Pando colony is a natural monument to nature’s marvelous inventiveness to multiply and survive.
7.-General Sherman Tree
Measured by volume, this is the tallest single-stem tree on the planet, with a total of 274.9 feet (83 mts.) tall.
Located in the Sequoia National Park in California, this giant sequoia was named after the civil war general William T. Sherman by the naturalist James Wolverton in 1879, after this one serving under his orders during the war.
(Pictue: Wikipedia)
Although currently it holds the record, the general Sherman is not the tallest tree ever recorded - two other trees hold this honor: the Crannell Creek Giant, a redwood cut down in the mid-1940s, which was estimated to be 25% larger than general Sherman; and the Lindsey Creek tree, another redwood reported at the turn of the XX century, with a staggering volume of 9,000 cubic feet.
However, the general Sherman sequoia is the tallest tree still alive.
Which makes us wonder, how tall would other trees have grown if only they had been allowed to live long enough?
8.- Sunland Baobab
While its age was disputed (calculated at around 1000 to 6000 years old), its dimensions were clearly impressive. With a girth of 155 feet ( 47mts.), the Sundland Baobab was reportedly the widest baobab tree in South Africa, and probably the widest of this species.
(Picture: EB News Daily)
The baobab trees naturally hollow after its first millennium, and the enterprising owners of the area where the baobab was located, banked on its popularity by establishing a bar inside its natural cavity. Thus, the Sundland Baobab became the only tree in the world holding a full bar inside.
But the severe droughts and the dramatic climatic changes affecting South Africa in the past years weakened the health of the majestic baobab, which finally succumbed during a heavy storm in May 2017.
(Picture: Traveller 24)
Despite its status as a revered species, the Baobab is an endangered species due to its slow adaptation to the rapid climatic change and global warming, and the death of the Sunland Baobab reminds us that, as magnificent as these trees may be, they are living creatures not immune to disease, old age and climatic change.
To learn more about the critical situation of the baobab trees, check the following article
9.- Major Oak (Robin Hood’s Oak)
According to the legend, this was the oak that the legendary bandit Robin Hood and his band of merry men used as a base of operations in Sherwood forest.
Whether the legend is real or not, what remains certain is that is one of the most majestic oak trees in Sherwood forest, singled out and catalogued by Major Hayman Rooke (from which it received the name) in 1790.
(Picture: Wikipedia)
Visited by hundreds of tourists every week, the Major Oak tree was declared “England’s Tree of the Year” in 2014 by public vote.
With a no less impressive girth of about 33 feet (10 mts.), and an estimated age of a thousand years old, this is the type of tree - wide, tall, lush, majestic - that gives way to fairy tales and makes us believe in legends.
10.- Newton’s Apple Tree
There’s hardly a soul that hasn’t heard the legend about how Newton got inspiration for his theory of gravity after witnessing the fall of an apple. And this is the very tree it fell from.
Located in Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, this ancient apple tree was once torn by a storm around 1820, but its roots remained intact and it regrew into the tree we can see and visit today.
The original tree that Newtown knew put down roots about 400 years ago, and it’s been receiving visitors for the past 240 years, even during Newton’s time, and after the storm crumbled the first tree.
Today, the tree and the manor in which it is located are protected by the National Trust, and you can learn more about it, and even watch a video of the tree through the seasons, here
11.- Anne Frank’s Tree
Anyone who’s read Anne Frank’s diary will remember the young writer’s fond description of the tree she could see from the window of her refuge in Amsterdam - her only connection to the outside world, a silent companion in her distress, a faithful compass of the passing of the seasons.
Unlike Anna, the chestnut tree survived the war, and was dutifully maintained by the family and later the foundation created along the Anne Frank remembrance museum.
Sadly, the tree fell prey to disease and old age and crumbled in 2010. Although efforts were made to grow it back, and for a while it showed promise, eventually it died away.
(Picture: Support Anne Frank's Tree)
However, several saplings have grown from its chestnuts and currently thrive in different locations all around the world, spreading a message of resilience, courage and love exemplified by both Anne and the tree.
12.- Singapore Super Trees
While not born in nature, these fantastic structures conceived by man replicate a tree’s main functions (except for photosynthesis) while also serving to honor them as main inspiration.
Made of a core of concrete with a hydraulic jet system and a steel trunk holding over 16,300 native plants, the trees collect solar power through its photovoltaic cells, collect rainwater, and cool the buildings in the Singapore Marina Bay area.
(Picture: Wikipedia)
The trees also hold an aerial walkway between them and become illuminated by night, providing visual attractiveness to the area.
Accompanying these SuperTrees two conservatories of sleek design, that hold a large collection of flowers and plants representing all five continents
Despite its qualities, the SuperTrees were not meant to become a replacement for actual trees. Instead, they remind us that human ingenuity can be used to work along nature to supply for our needs without sacrificing the environment.
Other remarkable trees are:
*The Dragon’s Blood tree - A native of the island of Socotra, the tree is not only famous due to its particular shape, which make us think of trees found in fantasy worlds, but also due to the deep red color of its sap, which resembles blood and gives the tree its name.
(Picture: Rod Waddington)
But the tree’s shape and its sap are only adaptations to its stringent environment, making this tree a perfect example of nature’s ingeniousness to survive.
* The tree of Life in Bahrain - A mesquite tree growing in the middle of the desert, it is considered the loneliest tree in the world after the original ‘loneliest tree’, located in the Sahara Desert, was crushed down by a drunken driver in 1973.
(Picture: Wikipedia)
Despite its remote and inhospitable location, the tree is currently visited by tourists as a place for meditation and prayer, and many see in this lonely tree the original location of the Garden of Eden.
* The gingko Zoshigaya Kishimojin in Tokyo - Located in the garden of the temple devoted to the goddess Kishimojin, guardian and protector of children, this gorgeous gingko tree is said to help mothers conceive, and is daily visited by couples who come to deposit their petitions and prayers to the goddess.
(Picture: Diane Cook & Len Jenshel)
A similar tradition is observed with the Thimmamma Marrimanu tree in India.
Humble, majestic, inspiring, irreplaceable, generous, patient and resilient, young and old, great and small, trees remind us that life is a precious gift, and that the spirit that connect all living beings is one and the same for man, plants and beasts alike.
Sources: National geographic, Business Insider, National Parks Service, National Trust, Support Anne Frank Tree, Nunet.com, Wikipedia.
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