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TT: Significance of individual trees

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Hi TreeTowners!
I am copying to this list a couple of posts that came through the LARCH-L
(Landscape Architecture) list today.  There is ongoing discussion about
important specimen trees, as a response to the first post I've inluded, a
request for information.
Archived posts can be found at
        http://www.clr.toronto.edu/ARCHIVES/HMAIL/

(I'm sorry about the odd puntuation marks in the copies -- why does that
happen in some mailages?)

Cheers,
Mary

------------------------------
Mike Steven wrote:
>We are preparing material for a course on plants in society. An aspect
>of the course is an examination of the role that certain trees
(individual
>specimens, not forests) have played in the myths and legends of
>society or groups of people. Some trees may be significant due to their
>association with some historic event, or there may be certain legends
or
>stories attached to them. Is anyone aware of any individual
>mythical/legendary trees, anywhere around the world? If so, please let
me
>know, including details of where the tree is to be found and why it is
>significant.

------------------------------

Date:    Wed, 17 Dec 1997 18:49:18 -0800
From:    David Mandel <daman@SEANET.COM>
Subject: Mythical trees and arboreal whimsies

Mike:

An offshoot of this -- while I scratch my head to recall particular =
trees -- is categories of trees that serve a particular and highly =
significant cultural purpose.  Two that come to mind immediately are =
whatever produces the yule log and the American hangin' tree.  Make what =
you will of the psyche of an entire nation fixated on a period that =
lasted less than 30 years in its 200+-year history (the cowboys of the =
so-called Old West).  Hanging of those perceived as deserving of such by =
self-appointed law-enforcement (or other) groups has a sinister place in =
Yankee history which unfortunately continued well into the 1970s.  We =
call such hangings "lynchings", and we have lynched not just horse =
thieves and perceived horse-thieves (see a film called "The Oxbow =
Incident") but black men for the crime of being black, Native Americans =
for their race, and northern youth of the 1960s who dared to come to the =
then-racist-dominated American south to secure the voting rights of =
black southerners.


Aha, individual trees:  "Methuselah" is the name of a particular tree =
along California Highway 35 (Skyline Boulevard) on the coast range ridge =
just south of San Francisco.  This tree is a Sequoia sempervirens (Coast =
Redwood) which was -- until a storm in the 1970s -- the tallest and =
methinks oldest living coast redwood in historic time.  I'll explain in =
a moment why I think this tree has significance beyond size and =
longevity.  A mountain redwood or California Big Tree (Sequoiadendron =
giganteum) near California Highway 120 was long famous for the tunnel =
carved through its trunk -- large enough to drive large American cars =
through.  I believe it was called the General Sherman tree.
The road has since been moved to protect the ancient grove in which that =
tree stood.
 =20
Finally, an infamous tale of American idiocy:  in north-central Nevada =
one of our newest national parks -- Great Basin N.P. -- is found.  The =
park essentially consists of one 13,000-foot peak, its =
roughly-11,000-foot sister, and their joining ridge jutting alone out of =
the Nevada desert.  Above the 11,000-foot level of the larger peak is a =
forest of the Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine (Pinus aristata) -- the =
oldest known living species on this planet.  Before the area became a =
national park, it was recognized as unique for its beautiful limestone =
caverns at the 7,000-foot level and for its glacier-topped peak out in =
the middle of an otherwise-blistering desert.  It had been for those =
features established as the Lehman Caves National Monument (a =
lower-order protected area than an N.P.) since the late 1800s.  It had =
been under the management of the U.S. Forest Service during those years =
-- an organization whose function has largely been resource production =
management rather than resource protection (as opposed to the National =
Park Service).

        In the 1940s, an enthusiastic graduate student in forestry (as I =
recall) came a-hiking thru the N.M. and found that one tree in =
particular was truly the ancient of all ancients, as proven by his =
Swedish borer.  He got permission from the =
not-particularly-preservation-oriented Forest Service to cut the tree =
down for lab study -- this oldest of all living things (4,500 years) =
ever found on our planet!  The not-too-much later discovery/disclosure =
of this incredible event was quickly managed by the Forest Service in =
typical bureaucratic style: they hauled nearby granite boulders and =
debris to the stump, whittled the stump down to the ground and buried it =
under rock and scrub.  To this day they will not disclose its =
whereabouts.  Habeus corpus knoweth no bounds.  [Any help with my =
recollection of this episode from other listmembers would be =
appreciated].

        So what is the point of large and old trees?  In the =
emotionally-nomadic American culture, we have returned psychologically =
to the cult of the biggest-and-strongest.  Forgive the unintentional =
pun: it is not the roots but the awe-inspiring size that counts.  Thus =
Methuselah, General Sherman, and the missing O Most Ancient have little =
immediate meaning as individual trees but, methinks, great emotional =
significance to the average American tourist who happens by their sites =
(or graves).

One other species of particular interest:  Adansonia digitata -- the =
African baobab tree -- reaches trunk circumferences of 30 feet.  Its =
often-hollow trunk has been used since pre-history as a motel room by =
nomadic hunters and in historic times as prison cell or lavatory =
(Mabberly, D.J.. The Plant Book. Cambridge, U.K. & Melbourne, Aus.:  The =
Cambridge Press, 1987), and as a source of collected water and food.  =
While I imagine that the folks who used the baobab created myths around =
them, I have no personal knowledge of such.  If you research further and =
discover such, I'd love to hear of them!
Much fun, interesting topic, thanks!

Dave

David Mandel, MLA, ASLA
Principal, Dune Land Design
7326 24th Avenue N.E.
Seattle, Washington 98115-5810
ph/fax (206)527-1166
daman@seanet.com





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