#ancient trees

[pickleweed2]

a huge two-stem Redwood with beautiful trunk flare

Redwood National Park, California

#redwoods #forest floor #coastal forest #ancient trees #old growth forest #dendrophilia #redwood national park #public lands #forest photography #nature photography #landscape photography #original photographers #nikon photography #nikon #24mm-120mm #photographers on tumblr

[silvaris]

Garden of Gethsemane by Cliff Hope

#ancient trees #olive trees #garden of gethsemane #good friday #ancient garden #my upload #silvaris #olive grove

[1five1two]

800 year old Fredville Oak in the Fredville Park, Nonington, Kent, England.

#photography #Trees #ancient trees #oak tree

[fhtagn-and-tentacles]

DESCENT 

by Rachael Pease

#tentacles #fhtagn #rachael pease #tangled #vines #roots #ancient trees #forest #oak #caves #detailed #concept art #fhtagnnn

[thesilicontribesman]

Gorpley Clough Ancient Woodland and Trackways, nr. Todmorden, Calderdale

#landscape #nature #natural forms #gorpley clough #trackways #outdoors #yorkshire #ancient trees #ancient woodlands #ancient living #geology #tracks

[yebreed]

Second General: Shang Dynasty Cypress

According to legend, in 110 BC, when Emperor Wu (漢武帝) of the Han Dynasty visited Mt. Song (嵩山) in Zhongyue, he discovered three huge cypresses towering towards the sky.  Emperor Wu named these lush ancient trees “Great General” (大將軍), “Second General” (二將軍) and “Third General” (三將軍) respectively.

This is so-called “Second General” cypress, probably, the thickest one, with a diameter of nearly 5 meters and a circumference of more than 13 meters. According to expert evaluation, the age of the tree is about 4500 years or more.

Located in Songyang Academy (嵩陽書院).

Photo: ©黑敀

#ancient china #chinese culture #shang dynasty #shang #Zhou dynasty #han dynasty #chinese mythology #ancient trees #cypress #old trees #Emperor Wu #evergreen trees #trees #greenery

[toadlett]

this one isn's that old but I just sent the files to print a few copies of it for cons so it seems a good one to post for #repostober 1!

#repostober #illustration #trees #oak #ancient trees

[siduribythesea]

Speak to me in shades of G R E E N 💚

#green #trees #tree lover #ancient trees #live oaks #ferns #moss #forestcore #woods

[thepastisalreadywritten]

By Connor McGovern

16 October 2023

We’ve a lot to thank the trees for. Other than their vital role in the ecosystem, they’ve played an important part in mythology, agriculture, industry, and medicine since humans first walked the Earth.

Remarkably, a good number of the UK's most ancient trees — most of them yews and oaks — still stand today as living, breathing witnesses to centuries of British history.

We take a look at some of the UK’s most fabled trees — and the intriguing stories that surround them.

1. Ankerwycke Yew, Berkshire

Yews are guardians of churchyards throughout Britain. Many represent the oldest and most storied tree specimens.

Few are more spectacular than the Ankerwycke Yew, in the village of Wraysbury, near Staines-upon-Thames.

Measuring 26ft in diameter, it’s a botanical behemoth that’s believed to be around 2,500 years old, making it one of the oldest trees in Britain.

It long outlived the now-ruined St Mary’s Priory, a Benedictine nunnery whose grounds it stood in, and some even believe it to be the true site of the signing of Magna Carta in 1215, rather than Runnymede on the other side of the river.

Its intrigue doesn’t end there — it’s also alleged to stand on the spot where Henry VIII wooed a young Anne Boleyn. If only trees could talk.

2. Isaac Newton’s apple tree, Lincolnshire

Numerous trees are cited as being the very one that inspired the young physicist to investigate the theory of gravity.

But the apple tree in the grounds of Woolsthorpe Manor, near Grantham, has arguably the greatest right to this claim, with a scion planted (and still growing) at Trinity College Cambridge, where Newton once studied.

While the apple story is probably the stuff of scientific myth, it’s almost certain that Newton would’ve been familiar with the tree — which today is at least 350 years old — as it’s the area in which he was born and raised.

The county is also home to another of the country’s stalwarts: the Bowthorpe Oak, reputedly the UK’s girthiest oak, with a hollowed-out trunk so wide that it’s said to have hosted the Earl of Bowthorpe’s parties.

3. The Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Tree, Dorset

Beneath the boughs of a 350-year-old sycamore in the village of Tolpuddle, a small group of agricultural workers gathered in 1833 to lament their poor working conditions and paltry wages — only to be arrested, tried, and sentenced to penal transportation in Australia for seven years.

The six men became known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and after much public outcry, they were pardoned and returned to England.

Their cause was a key step in the workers’ rights and unionist movements. It is remembered in the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival; a memorial plaque sits beside this great tree.

4. Fortingall Yew, Perthshire

Widely believed to be one of the oldest living trees in the UK (and indeed in Europe), the Fortingall Yew spills over its walled enclosure in a village churchyard like a great shower of dark green needles.

Some experts estimate the tree to be the ripe old age of 3,000, which would make it date as far back as the Bronze Age — some 1,000 years before the Romans had even come up with the name ‘Caledonia’ for Scotland.

The sheer age of the tree means that over time, the trunk has split that it now resembles several smaller yews, rather than one sole, mighty plant.

The future of the Fortingall Yew, however, is precarious, with souvenir-seekers stealing needles and branches, and so compromising its health.

Ongoing conservation efforts that preserve the tree’s DNA by planting saplings in other Scottish churchyards will be key to maintaining its history.

5. Spanish chestnut trees, Herefordshire

Of all the ancient trees at Croft Castle, near Leominster (including the 1,000-year-old Quarry Oak), most noteworthy are perhaps the huge Spanish chestnuts.

Planted in one grand avenue, their origins are believed to hark back to the battle with the Spanish Armada in 1588, when chestnuts were salvaged from the wreckages and planted here at Croft.

In fact, the planting arrangement is said to represent a flotilla when viewed from above.

But it’s at ground level that the trees truly amaze, as they’re almost fantasy-like in their size and contortion.

Take time to admire the gnarled, grotesque trunks and the twisted branches reaching towards the sky.

6. The Chained Oak, Staffordshire

This old oak in scenic Dimmingsdale is now bound in rusty chains.

Local legend has it that in the early 1800s, the Earl of Shrewsbury was accosted by a beggar as he was passing by.

He snubbed the old woman, and in retaliation, she placed a curse on his family that held that every time a branch fell from the oak tree a member of the Earl’s family would die.

That night during a storm, one of the branches fell from the tree and — lo and behold — a relative of the Earl died.

Seized by paranoia, he chained up all the branches to prevent any more falling from the oak.

Even today, as you approach the tree through the thick woodland, there’s a mysterious air to this gnarled old giant.

Just moments away at Alton Towers, the legend is the inspiration for Hex — a psychological hair-raiser of a ride set within the Alton Towers building itself.

#ancient trees #trees #yews #oaks #ecosystem #United Kingdom #British woodlands #fabled trees #Ankerwycke Yew #oldest trees #Henry VIII #Anne Boleyn #Isaac Newton #apple tree #Woolsthorpe Manor #Bowthorpe Oak #Earl of Bowthorpe #Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Tree #Tolpuddle #Tolpuddle Martyrs #Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival #Fortingall Yew #Spanish chestnut trees #Croft Castle #Spanish Armada #The Chained Oak #Earl of Shrewsbury #Alton Towers #Hex

[sweaty-confetti]

anybody else violently emotional about methuselah the bristlecone pine tree. because of its age and all that but specifically because its location wasn’t disclosed to the public until very recently. you can go to the grove and know that somewhere there’s a nearly 5,000 tree nearby. i wonder if you can feel it. and the location. they were worried someone would hurt it. someone would hurt that 5,000 year old god of a tree. we know where it is now. but still. something about the protection of it and having it nestled in among a group of other trees that protect it i’m emotional

#emo moss talks #Nature #wildlife #trees #ancient trees #megaflora #sort of? #methuselah #methuselah tree #nature conservation

[mikfelt]

#mirjam mölder-mikfelt #mikfelt.com #synesthetic artists #estonian artists #painting #nature #artists on tumblr #art #landscape #forest #woods #enchanted forest #fern #ferns #acrylic #ancient trees #light #portal #forest portal #trees #trees and forests #peaceful #greenery #scenery #bliss #green #fairy forest #fairyforest

[sspacegodd]

#ancient trees #happy trees #bob ross

[silvaris]

Old trunks by Stefano Sala

#frosted trees #winter woods #winter landscape #frosty #ancient trees #my upload #silvaris #trees #woods #woodland #nature

[afrodytis]

6000 years old baobab tree in Senegal.

#nature #ancient trees #senegal #baobab

[ancientstuff]

Not the usual fare for this blog, but absolutely fascinating, so here it is.

#ancient trees #boreal conservation #conservation #map of ancient trees

[thesilicontribesman]

Gorpley Clough Ancient Woodland and Trackways, nr. Todmorden, Calderdale

#ancient living #ancient woodlands #woodland #trees and forests #ancient trees #wild spaces #routeway #trackways #outdoors #Calderdale #Gorpley Clough #geology #nature #natural forms