List of famous trees

"List of trees" redirects here. For lists of tree genera, see tree.

The following is a partial list of famous trees. The list includes individual trees located throughout the world, as well as trees from myths and trees from fiction.

Real Forests and Individual Trees

Africa

Living

• The Cotton Tree, historic symbol of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
• Post Office Tree in Mossel Bay, South Africa, used by early sailors to leave messages.
• The Wonderboom, a sprawling fig tree in Pretoria, South Africa.

Historical

• Arbre du Ténéré, a very isolated tree in the Sahara region, destroyed in 1973.

Asia

Living

• The Cedars of God, a small forest of about 400 Lebanon Cedar trees at about 2,300 meters above sea level in the mountains of northern Lebanon. The Cedars of Lebanon are mentioned in the Bible over 70 times and used as symbols of the Messiah, and were prized by historical figures such as Herod, Alexander, and Caesar.
• The Great Banyan in the botanical garden near Kolkata, a colonal colony of Indian Banyan with a crown circumference of over 330m.
• The Sri Maha Bodhi tree, a Sacred Fig propagated from the Bodhi tree, planted in 288 BC at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.
• The 450 year-old giant banyan tree at Adyar in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India in the grounds of the Theosophical Society headquarters under which people listened to discourses by luminaries such as J. Krishnamurti, Annie Besant and Maria Montessori.
• Jomon Sugi, a very large, old Sugi on Yakushima island, Japan.
• The Strangler Fig trees at Ta Prohm, Angkor, Cambodia
• The 1000 year-old ginkgo tree at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine.
• The 400 year-old mesquite Tree of Life in Bahrain

Historical

• The Bodhi tree, a Sacred Fig tree under which Buddha is supposed to have been enlightened, at Bodh Gaya, India. The current tree at the site is a later replacement.
• Guilty Chinese Scholartree, located in Jingshan park, on which Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself shortly after escaping the Forbidden City in Beijing, China (deceased and later replaced by a replica).
• Changi Tree, a historical visual landmark located in Singapore. Thought to be a specimen of Sindora wallichii, with an estimated height of 75 metres, it was felled with explosive charges during the Second World War to prevent its use as a ranging aide by the approaching Japanese artillery.
• The Red Forest, formerly the Worm Wood Forest, refers to the trees growing in the 10 km² surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and is one of several of the Chernobyl disaster effects. The name 'Red Forest' comes from the ginger brown colour of the pine trees after they died following the absorption of high levels of radiation from the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986.

Europe

Living

• The forest swastika was a patch of carefully arranged larch trees covering a 60 square yard area of pine forest near Zernikow, Germany.
• Caesarsboom (Ceasar's Tree) is a taxus baccata tree in the town of Lo, Belgium which is famous for the legend that the Roman Emperor Julius Ceasar attached his horse when conquerring the region.
• Granit oak, an oak in Granit village near Stara Zagora in Bulgaria; one of the oldest trees in Europe, estimated to be about 1650 years old. Its crown spread covers an area of 1017 square metres, its girth is 7.45 m and its height is 23.4 m.
• Bartek, an oak growing in Zagnansk in Swietokrzyskie Mountains; the most famous tree in Poland, said to be about 1200 years old, but after research more accurately about 650 years, 30 m tall, measures 9.5 m in girth at breast height and 13.5 m near the ground and its crown spread is about 40 m.
• Fortingall Yew, a yew at Perth and Kinross, Perthshire, Scotland; probably the oldest tree in Europe, thought by some to be about 4,000 years old.
• Gernikako Arbola, an oak representing the Basque people, at Guernica, Basque Country, Spain.
• The Queen Elizabeth Oak in the grounds of the Royal Palace of Hatfield in Hertfordshire UK is said to be the location where Elizabeth I of England was told she was Queen in 1558.
• Kongeegen (the King Oak), an ancient Pedunculate oak in Jægerspris Nordskov, Sjælland, Denmark; estimated to be over 1200 years old, the oldest tree in Denmark.
• Major Oak, an ancient Pedunculate oak in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England, the most famous and most visited tree of Great Britain. About 800 years old, with a girth at breast height of 10.5 m.
• Ivenack Oak, a huge and ancient Pedunculate oak in Ivenack, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, thought to be about 800 years old, 35 m tall, 11 m in girth at breast height and 16.5 m near the ground. The largest oak of Germany and (in wood volume) probably of Europe.
• Baikushev's Pine, an ancient Bosnian Pine in the Pirin mountains near Bansko, Bulgaria, estimated to be 1300 years old, 24 m tall, 6.9 m in girth at breast height. One of the oldest trees of Bulgaria.
• Drago Milenario, a very old Dracaena draco located in Icod de los Vinos, Tenerife, which has been a local tourist attraction for more than a hundred years (mentioned by Humboldt, for instance).
• Stelmužė Oak, a Pedunculate oak in Stelmužė, Zarasai district, Lithuania is thought to be around 1500 years old, with a girth at breast height of 9.58 m and 13 m near the ground. The oldest tree in Lithuania and the Baltic States.

Historical

• Merlin's Oak at Carmarthen, Wales.
• Glastonbury Thorn, a hawthorn reputed to have been planted by Joseph of Arimathea.
• Irminsul, a tree venerated by the Saxons. It was located near Eresburg castle, Paderborn, and was destroyed by Charlemagne in 772.
• The Lone Pine (tree), a Turkish Pine used as a landmark in the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli in the First World War. Seeds collected from this tree are planted at many Australian war memorials.
• Royal Oak, the Pedunculate oak in which King Charles II hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651, located in Boscobel, England (deceased and replaced by a descendant).
• Shakespeare's mulberry tree at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, cut down in the mid-18th century and fashioned into mementos.
• Tree of Hippocrates, the Oriental plane under which Hippocrates is supposed to have taught, on the island of Kos, Greece.

North America

Living

• The Angel Oak, a Southern live oak on Johns Island, South Carolina, near Charleston, South Carolina is estimated at 1400 years of age. The tree and surrounding park have been owned by the neighboring city of Charleston since 1991.
• El Árbol del Tule, the stoutest tree in the world, a Montezuma Cypress in Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico.
• The Balmville Tree, the oldest eastern cottonwood in the Eastern United States, in Balmville, New York. Among its other protections, it is New York's smallest state forest.
• The Big Tree - Goose Island, Texas' Largest Tree in Goose Island State Park, Rockport, Texas.
• Chandelier Tree, a Coast Redwood with a passage for cars cut through.
• The Devil's Tree,

in Bernards Township, New Jersey. Solitary oak is believed to punish those who damage or disrespect it.

• El Palo Alto, a Coast Redwood in Palo Alto, California.
• The General Grant tree, the "Nation's Christmas Tree" of the United States, a Giant Sequoia in Kings Canyon National Park, California.
• The General Sherman tree, the world's largest living thing, a Giant Sequoia in Sequoia National Park, California.
• The Hangman's Elm, an English Elm and the oldest known tree in Manhattan.
• Hyperion, a Coast Redwood in California, at 115.5 m tall the tallest tree in the world, found in 2006.
  • Stratosphere Giant, also a Coast Redwood, 112.8 m tall, the tallest tree in the world until displaced by Hyperion.
• Le Chêne à Papineau, a 20 m tall Northern Red Oak in Montebello, Quebec. At 300 years old, it is one of the oldest known trees in Quebec.
• The Circus Trees, a group of trees shaped into artistic forms by Axel Erlandson in California
• The Lone Cypress, a dramatically situated Monterey Cypress on the 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, California.
• Methuselah, the oldest known living organism (approximately 4,700 years), a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine in California.
• The National Christmas Tree, a blue spruce planted in President's Park in Washington, D.C.. It was 9 m (30 feet) tall when it was transplated from York, Pennsylvania in 1978.
• Pando (Quaking Aspen), an aspen colony, is the oldest known clonal colony at possibly 80,000 years, and the heaviest at six million kilograms (6,000 tonnes).
• The Queens Giant, a Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in northeast Queens, New York that is 40 m (134 feet) tall and 350-450 years old. It is the oldest living thing in the New York metropolitan area.
• The Seven Sisters Oak, a Southern live oak in Lewisberg, Louisiana, is believed to be nearly 1,500 years of age. The tree has a girth of over 38 feet and is the president of the Live Oak Society.
• The Survivor Tree, an American Elm that is incorporated into the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
• Treaty Oak, in Austin, Texas.
• The Tree That Owns Itself, a white oak tree that owns itself and all land within 2.5 m (8 feet) of it in Athens, Georgia.
• The Washington tree, a Giant Sequoia in California.
• The Burmis tree, near Crowsnest Pass, Alberta.

Historical

• The Charter Oak, in which the Connecticut charter was hidden from English governor-general Sir Edmund Andros.
• The Geneseo Big Tree at Geneseo, New York, a giant tree on the Genesee River, reported by some as an elm by others as an oak. It was the site of the 1797 Treaty of Big Tree between Robert Morris and the Seneca tribe to sell most of western New York, also known as The Holland Purchase. It was washed away in a flood in the mid 19th century.
• The Hooker Oak at Chico, California.
• Kiidk'yaas, a rare golden Sitka Spruce sacred to the Haida, on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia, Canada. Felled in 1997
• The Liberty Tree at Boston, Massachusetts.
• The Mercer Oak, the white oak on which a wounded General Hugh Mercer rested during the Revolutionary War's Battle of Princeton. Despite its fall in early 2000, it continues to be Princeton Township, New Jersey's emblem.
• The Mingo Oak, formerly the oldest and largest white oak in the United States until its fall on September 10, 1938. It was located in Mingo County, West Virginia.
• The Prometheus, a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, was the oldest living non-clonal organism. The age was estimated at 5000 years. The tree was cut down on August 6, 1964 by a graduate student and U.S. Forest Service personnel for research purposes, though at the time they did not know of its world-record age.
• The Wye Oak in Maryland.
• The Treaty of Greenville Tree. Greenville, Ohio
• The Washington Oak, on Hampton Plantation near Charleston, South Carolina. When George Washington visited in 1791, Eliza Lucas Pinckney complained about a live oak that blocked the view. Washington remarked that he liked the tree, so it was saved, and ever thereafter was known as the Washington Oak.
• Wawona Tree, a giant sequoia with a tunnel cut through it. Fell in 1969.

Other

• Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, a Christmas tree on display every December in Rockefeller Center, New York City.

Oceania

Living

• Wollemi Pine (Wollemia), Wollemi National Park, Blue Mountains, NSW - described as a living fossil
• Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, Karri forest fire lookout tree with accessible platform, near Manjimup, Australia.
• Diamond Tree, Karri forest fire lookout tree with accessible wooden platform (52m high), 10km from Manjimup, Australia.
• Dig Tree, Cooper Creek, Queensland, used as a marker by members of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition.
• Gloucester Tree, Western Australia's most famous Karri tree, with accessible aluminium platform, in Gloucester National Park (61m high), Australia.
• Old Jarrah Tree, Perth, Western Australia.
• Old Gum Tree, Glenelg, Australia
• Tane Mahuta ('Lord of the Forest'), a giant Kauri in Northland Region, New Zealand.
• Te Matua Ngahere ('Father of the Forest'), another giant Kauri in Northland Region, New Zealand.
• Banyan Tree Park, a 132 year-old tree in Lāhainā, Hawai'i. The tree was imported from India and was 2.5 m (8 feet) tall when it was planted on April 24 1873 by Sheriff William O. Smith to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Christian missionary work. The tree is now 18 m (60 feet) high with 12 major trunks.
• A large Boab Tree was actually used as a prison during WWII, the name of the tree became "Prison Boab", the tree is located in Derby, Western Australia.

Historical

• The Tree of Knowledge near Barcaldine, Queensland under which the Australian Labour Party was traditionally founded. In an act of vandalism, the tree was poisoned and was eventually declared dead in October 2006.
• The pine of One Tree Hill, a radiata pine which stood alone until 2000 atop One Tree Hill (Maunga-Kiekie), an extinct volcanic cone in Auckland city, New Zealand.

Mythological and religious

• Cutting of the elm, a legendary event concerning a tree at Gisors.
• Cypress of Kashmar, planted by Zoroaster and felled by Caliph Al Mutawakkil.
• Égig érő fa, the "Tree Reaching into the Sky" of Hungarian folk art and a folk tale type
• Jievaras, the World tree in Lithuanian mythology.
• Man-eating tree
• Thor's Oak, a sacred tree to the ancient Chatti.
• Tree of Jesse, from which the Cross was made, in medieval Christian legend.
• Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, from Christianity and Judaism.
• Tree of Life, from Christianity and Judaism.
• Yggdrasil, The World Tree in the Old Norse religion.
• World Tree, a gigantic oak, that holds the whole Universe in Slavic mythology.

Fictional

• Avendesora and Avendoraldera from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time.
• The Giving Tree, in the book of that title by Shel Silverstein.
• Great Deku Tree from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
• The One Tree from Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.
• Telperion and Laurelin, the Two Trees of Valinor, from The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien.
• White Tree of Gondor from The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.
• A Tree Grows In Brooklyn American novel by Betty Smith
• The Mana Tree from the Seiken Densetsu series.
• The Kite-Eating Tree from Peanuts.
• The Magic Faraway Tree from the books by Enid Blyton.
• The Solar Tree from the Boktai series of video games.

See also

• List of great British trees
• Red Forest
• List of long-living organisms

External Links

• Photos of the Dragon Tree in Tenerife
• Map of this list (in progress)