Special trees

Tree of Love at Unification Church Holy Ground, CheongPyeong, South Korea

This page is one of more pages of Miscellaneous topics with pages that are not a direct part of ERW courses.

Around the world we can find many special trees. Some trees are special because they are very old, other trees have a historic meaning. Trees are often used for sacred purposes, as mediators between heaven and earth on a consecrated location of worship.

Trees also have a symbolic meaning and can refer to 'man.' In the Garden of Eden there were two trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Historical trees

Name of the tree	Photo	Description	Age
Ankerwycke Yew		The Ankerwycke Yew is an ancient taxus tree in Berkshire, England. According to some historians this is the most obvious place for the signing of the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215. It is also said to be the location where Henry VIII met Anne Boleyn in the 1530s.	Various estimates have put its age at between 2,000 and 2,500 years.
Bodhi Tree		The Bodhi Tree was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree located in Bodh Gaya in the Indian state of Bihar, under which Siddhartha Gautama is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi. This tree is a frequent destination for pilgrims, being the most important of the four main Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The current tree at the site is a replacement.
Caesarsboom		Caesarsboom grows in Lo in the West Flanders region of Belgium. Its species is Taxus baccata, common name European Yew. According to a long-held local legend, Julius Caesar stopped at this tree during his military campaign in the area en route to Britannia in 55 BC, tied his horse to it, and took a nap in the shadow of its foliage.	It is a very old tree whose precise age is unknown but is believed to be over 2000 years in age.
Cedars of God		"The Cedars of God is one of the last vestiges of the extensive forests of the cedars of Lebanon that thrived across Mount Lebanon in ancient times. Their timber was exploited by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians as well as the Phoenicians. The wood was prized by Egyptians for shipbuilding; Solomon used them in the construction of the First Temple in Jerusalem and the Ottoman Empire also used the cedars in railway construction."
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi		Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi is a Sacred Fig tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is said to be a sapling from the historical Bodhi tree under which Buddha became enlightened.	It was planted in 288 BC, and is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date.

Oldest trees

Name of the tree	Photo	Description	Age
Baikushev's Pine		The Baikushev's Pine is a coniferous tree from the species Bosnian Pine situated in Pirin, southwestern Bulgaria. It has a height of 26 m.	It has an approximate age of 1,300 years.
Granit Oak		Granit Oak is an English (Pedunculate) oak tree that grows within the boundaries of Granit village, Bulgaria. The oak measures 2.38 m in diameter and 7.46 m in girth at waist level and reaches 23.4 m in height, but only eastern side branches remain alive.	It was estimated in 1982 that the tree was 1637 years old. It is the oldest tree in Bulgaria and one of the oldest in Europe.
Great sugi of Kayano		This is a Cryptomeria (Sugi) tree with a girth of 9.6 m. One of the four trees believed to be sacred in the precincts in a Shinto shrine.	Estimated to be 2,300 years old.
Hundred Horse Chestnut		The Hundred Horse Chestnut is the largest and oldest known chestnut tree in the world. It is located on the eastern slope of Mount Etna in Sicily — only 8 km (5.0 mi) from the volcano's crater. It is a Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa).	It is believed to be 2,000 to 4,000 years old
Jardine Juniper		The Jardine Juniper is an individual of the species Juniperus scopulorum (Juniper) found within Logan Canyon in the Cache National Forest. It stands approximately 40 feet tall and its circumference has been measured at 284 inches (7.21 meters).	Core samples taken in the 1950s revealed that it was over 1500 years old.
Kongeegen		Kongeegen (the King Oak) is an oak tree in Denmark. It grows in Jægerspris Nordskov on the island of Sjælland.	It has an estimated age of 1500–2000 years, and may well be the oldest living oak in northern Europe.
Methuselah		The tree grows in the Methuselah Grove of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California. It is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva).	Its measured age of 4,843 years makes it the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism.
Old Tjikko		Old Tjikko, a Norway Spruce, is the oldest known living individual clonal tree.	9,550 year old
Pando		Pando, also known as The Trembling Giant, is a clonal colony of a single male Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) determined to be a single living organism. It has one massive underground root system. The plant is estimated to weigh collectively 6,000,000 kg, making it the heaviest known organism. Pando is located in the Fishlake National Forest in South-central Utah.	The root system of Pando, at an estimated 80,000 years old, is among the oldest known living organisms.
Sarv-e Abarqu	150px	Sarv-e Abarqu ("cypress of Abarqu") is a cypress tree in Abarkuh, Yazd, Iran. It has a height of 25 meters height and perimeter of 18 meters.	It is estimated to be over four thousand years old and may be the oldest living thing in Asia.
Stara Maslina		Stara Maslina is one of the world's oldest olive trees, located near Stari Bar (City of Bar) in Montenegro.	The tree is said to be over 2,000 years old
Te Matua Ngahere		Te Matua Ngahere is a giant kauri (Agathis australis) coniferous tree in the Waipoua Forest of New Zealand.	It is estimated to be between 1200 or even 4000 years old.

Other special trees

Name of the tree	Photo	Description	Age
Dodda Alada Mara		The Doda Alada Mara or Big Banyan Tree is a giant Banyan tree located in the village of Ramohalli, Karnataka, India. This single plant covers 3 acres (12,000 m2) and is one of the largest of its kind.	It is said to be at least 400 years old.
General Sherman		The General Sherman is a giant sequoia tree located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park, California. With a height of 83.8 metres (275 ft), a diameter of 7.7 metres (25 ft), and an estimated bole volume of 1,487 cubic metres (52,513 cu ft), it is among the tallest and widest of all trees on the planet.	Estimated age of 2,300 – 2,700 years
Tree of Life, Bahrain		The Tree of Life (Shajarat-al-Hayat) in Bahrain is a 9.75 meter high North American mesquite tree located 2 kilometers from Jebel Dukhan. The tree is a local tourist attraction, as it is the only living thing growing in the area. Mesquite trees are extremely well adapted to arid environments with one of the deepest known root systems.	It is said to be 400 years old.

See also

• Gardening courses

External links

• List of oldest trees - Wikipedia
• List of trees - Wikipedia