Tree of Hippocrates by CyberMacs
Are readers of TheGardenLady blog tree huggers or tree lovers like this Garden Lady is? How many people are there who make pilgrimages to old trees or who keep a list of the oldest trees they have seen, like bird watchers checking off each bird? Some of these old trees have the most interesting trunks- true works of G-d’s sculptural art. I wish I had thought of visiting ancient trees when I traveled more. But I have decided it is never too late to start making a check list.
For a list of the world’s oldest trees, go to Wikipedia. The list of verified ages of trees is mostly from the US. It is amazing how many of the oldest trees are in the US. Wikipedia also lists ancient tress from around the world but here the ages are not verified, just guesstimated.
The oldest single tree, claimed to be 4,841 years old, is given the name The Methusaleh tree, named after the oldest person in the Bible. It lives in California but its exact location is kept a secret for fear that someone might harm this tree; though you can visit the grove where it resides. Another ancient tree is in Florida, called The Senator Tree; it is a bald cypress tree. Another ancient tree that lives in the US is General Sherman, a sequoia tree in California. Three of the top ten oldest trees are in the US according to Mother Nature Network. (see here)
Some of the trees that you can check off your tree list do not have to be that old, but can have some history attached – the kind of tree that if it had ears would tell fascinating stories, or the trees can just be interesting for whatever reason.
On my list of historical old trees, I have seen the Tree of Hippocrates a plane tree on the island of Kos in Greece where Hippocrates taught his pupils the art of medicine. Hippocrates would be proud to see how the tree doctors use crutches to prop the heavy branches, even though the thinking is that this is a baby of the original tree and this baby is only 500 years old.
TheGardenLady has also visited The Lone Cypress, a wind battered but tenacious tree located on the 17 miles drive in Monterey, California. I find it sad to see a tree so wind battered, though amazing to see its resilience. Perhaps a modern day Aesop should write a fable about this tree.
If you are going to Israel for Easter or Passover, you can make a tree pilgrimage to see 10 of Israel’s most amazing trees.
What interesting trees have readers of TheGardenLady blog seen? Let us know your favorite tree.