Matthew Fox once said – “If you look closely at a tree you’ll notice its knobs and dead branches, just like our bodies. What we learn is that beauty and imperfection go together wonderfully.”
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El Arbol de La Sabina
Trees are important components of the natural landscape and a wonderful living organism which gives shelter, food, warmth and protection to all living things. Though common trees are fascinating immensely but there are some of the more unusual and amazing tree specimens found in the world which is weird and spectacular, yet people are hardly aware of their mysterious properties, strange sizes or unusual shapes. Here are some which top the list of being the strangest trees found on the planet. It’s a treat to the eye!
AXEL ERLANDSON’S CIRCUS TREE
Axel Erlandson’s passion for sculpting trees, also known as arborsculpture, led him to open a horticulture attraction in 1947 near Santa Cruz, California named The Circus Tree and people flocked in from all over the country to view his strange and striking creations which are nothing short of breathtaking! Using a special set of skills, Erlandson started to sculpt things out of living, growing trees. One such tree is the famous “Basket Tree”. which is actually six Sycamores grafted together in 42 different connections to give it its basket shape.
PIRANGI CASHEW TREE,BRAZIL
It’s the largest cashew tree in the world and more like a root and bush than a tree covering a span of 8,500 square meters alone! This tree is probably 300 feet by 300 feet in total. It looks like a forest and a bears 8000 fruit in a year .This picture doesn’t do it justice but should give you an idea of the enormity.
TREE OF LIFE, BAHRAIN
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The Tree of Life in Bahrain is one of the mysteries of world which is bound to be in the list of most unusual trees aroung the globe! This four century old mesquite tree survives in the midst of desert without availability of water. The mystery of the survival of the tree has made it a legend and the name “tree of life” is absolutely appropriate for the tree, truly representing the magic of life. A legend is also attached to the site where the tree is located. The local inhabitants believe with heart and soul that this was the actual location of the Garden of Eden.
CHAPEL OAK OF ALLOUVILLE – BELLEFOSSE
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Next is the Chapel Tree one of the most famous trees in France – actually, it’s more than just a tree: it’s a building and a religious monument all in one. In 1669, l’Abbe du Detroit and du Cerceau decided to build a chapel in (at that time) a 500 years old or so oak tree made hollow by a lightning bolt. Now, parts of the tree are dead, the crown keeps becoming smaller and smaller every year, and parts of the tree’s bark, which fell off due to old age, are covered by protective oak shingles. As a symbol, however, it seems that the Chapel-Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse may live on forever.
BAOBAB – MADAGASCAR
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Baobabs, with their distinctive shape, are one of the most charismatic group of trees in the world. This particular specimen, located in Madagascar, is referred to as the ‘Teapot Baobab’. These trees remain leafless for most part of the year, and their thick, bloated, fire-resistant trunks store water during the dry months. One would be surprised to find that some baobab trunks are so large that people actually reside inside them!
GERMAN SHERMAN – (SEQUIA NATIONAL PARK)
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General Sherman is about 2500years old tree with a height of 275 feet (83.8 metres), located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in the United States. In January 2006 the largest branch on the tree broke off. The breakage, however, could not change the General Sherman’s status as the largest tree! This stunning tree has the base of its trunk measuring about 102 feet in circumference. Witnesses to this spectacular creation of nature can only justify its stature!
SILK COTTON TREES OF TA PROHM,CAMBODIA
Ta Prohm Temple or the Jungle Temple which is located in the Angkor Thom complex has trees growing here in the most astounding way. Words cannot describe it until you set foot there and see it for yourself. Apparently, the place was left as is over the hundreds of years and the outcome is amazing from what you see now in the place which is also called Angkor Archaeological Park. On every side, in fantastic over-scale, the trunks of the silk-cotton trees soar skywards under a shadowy green canopy, their long spreading skirts trailing the ground and their endless roots coiling more like reptiles than plants.
TULE TREE OF OAXACA, MEXICO
Mexico’s most famous tree, the ginormous Tule Tree (Arbol del Tule) grows near Oaxaca City. It may not be the largest or the oldest tree in the world, but it has no contenders for widest girth award which is abround 164 feet in circumference.It’s best not to look at the tree as a single icon. Indeed there is a family of ancient trees. Rooted in the town of Santa María del Tule, the Tule Tree and its environs comprise a unique natural monument.
DRAGON TREE, CANARY ISLANDS
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The Dragon Tree is found at de los Vinos in Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, and is said to be between 650 and 1,500 years old. This specimen inherited this name from mythical origins: Hercules had to bring back three golden apples from the garden of the Hespérides, which is guarded by Landon, the hundred-headed dragon. Hercules killed Landon and his blood flowed out over the land, which began to sprout ‘dragon’ trees. The tree exudes ‘dragon’s blood’ – a red sap – when cut.
WOLLEMI PINE, AUSTRALIA
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The unique qualities of the Wollemi Pine lie not in its looks but in its history. It is a “living dinosaur”, and was nearly extinct before it was discovered in Sydney, Australia in 1994. Now called “the crown jewels of the botanical world”, the Wollemi pine had previously been known only from a 120-million-year-old fossil. Very few exist in the wild, but conservation efforts have been made in the recent past.
These strange trees have been molded by Mother Nature into species of their own. Shocking, downright weird or seemingly beautiful, the trees amassed in this collection will leave you to ponder on wondrous creation the Almighty!
January 20th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Madagaskar has one of the strangest flora in the world. In addition to the trees here, there are more strange types of trees on that island. They look like they belong to some alien planet.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
That was great. Funny tho that the heading for the general sherman sequoia actually says-GERMAN sherman. Why wasnt the bristlecone pine featured. That was a pic of it at the start wasnt it? Or maybe I missed something.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:30 pm
I am surprised that the New Zealand Kauri is not mentioned. The largest (not tallest) tree in the world deserves a mention surely?
January 24th, 2010 at 2:31 am
General Sherman is not the tallest at 275 feet. The tallest tree is in Humboldt County. Its named Hyperion and is 424 feet.
January 25th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
You forgot the Socotra islands,offshore Yemen.
They have very weird flaura,google it and check out the pictures,they are amazing.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:48 am
“10 Strangest Trees on Earth”??? Hah!!!
No mention of the Boojum Tree?
You ain’t even seen strange ’til you’ve seen a Boojum.
January 26th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
The first tree, the one that do not has name is “El Arbol de La Sabina” and is in “El Hierro” Island (Canary Islands) Spain.
January 26th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
No Joshua trees?
January 27th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Do you think it’s a little politically incorrect to call “General Sherman” “German Sherman”? Just sayin’. Also, why do these photos look like they were all taken with a camera phone?
January 30th, 2010 at 6:53 am
Check these ones out, too!
http://www.pbase.com/sjvucko/crooked
January 30th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Seriously, with deforestation going on, it is amazing that there are so many interesting trees around the world.
February 15th, 2010 at 2:59 am
the first ones are all the way up the coast along geraldton and greenough in western australia
March 4th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
the first tree is called the leaning tree and is to be seen in WA.
April 10th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
…wondrous creation the Almighty!…give us a break.
April 24th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
What About The RAIN FORREST TREES in MALAYSIA??!!
April 26th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
“wondrous creation the Almighty”
You must be kidding. You took a perfectly nice piece and ruined it with that one tiny piece of a sentence. *facepalm*
April 30th, 2010 at 8:01 am
i m surprised! that madhu-van nidhi-van of VRINDAVN(U.P.)is nt included.
May 11th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
It is interesting to note that you can actually PURCASE a young specimen of the WOLLEMI PINE, AUSTRALIA and be able to grow it at home…Sorry I can’t remember where/who for the purchase…but if you Google it I’m sure you can find the source…I believe the proceeds(profits?) go to keep the where-abouts of these trees a secret!!
May 14th, 2010 at 8:00 am
You forgot the rainbow eucalyptus…. really???
http://www.nbhtravel.com/Hawaii1999/rainbow%20eucalyptus.jpg
June 7th, 2010 at 5:43 am
I think you forgot to list up the Great banyan Tree in Botanical garden in West Bengal, Howrah… The oldest banyan tree the world had ever seen.
June 11th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
@Michela: Wrooooooooooooooong!!!!! The first tree is called “Sabina”. It can be located in the Canary Islands (Spain), more specifically in the island of El Hierro.
June 15th, 2010 at 6:58 am
The “tree of life” in the desert of Bahrain had a sister tree in Tenerife, however it was hit by a drunk driver and killed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbre_du_T%C3%A9n%C3%A9r%C3%A9
June 25th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
the banyan tree on Maui in Lahaina
June 29th, 2010 at 11:18 am
It makes you ponder the wonders of nature and twisted paths of evolution.
June 30th, 2010 at 3:22 am
Ha the headline for General Sherman says German Sherman.
Who knew America’s most famous tree was actually German.
June 30th, 2010 at 6:49 am
I think the ‘dragon tree’ is related to the ‘Dragons blood tree’ from Socotra island in the Arabian Gulf, which if anything is a bit wierder. Check it out here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena_cinnabari
August 24th, 2010 at 5:15 am
Its relevant to mention here, that presently there is a more than 400 years old BAOBAB Tree is in Mannar Town, Northern Sri Lanka, Asia which was brought by Arab business men before the invasion of Dutch. Though there are so many Baobab trees in this area, this tree is the oldest among them.
August 28th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Just been to Scotland where we saw (and photographed) what is said to be the oldest tree in Britain at up to 5000 years old. Wiki says:
The yew’s once massive trunk (16 metres, or 52 feet in girth in 1769, of unknown original height) is split into several separate stems, giving the impression of several smaller trees. This is a result of the cutting out of pieces of its wood as tourist trinkets in the nineteenth century and the natural decay of the ancient heartwood, which has reduced the centre of the trunk down to ground level. Other than this the tree is still in good health and may last for many more centuries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortingall_Yew
It is at Fortingall, Perthshire, in a church yard (village itself is very pretty).
November 2nd, 2010 at 11:31 am
“Enormity” does NOT mean “enormousness”. It means something really bad, not the size of an object. Use a dictionary for those big words.
November 2nd, 2010 at 2:02 pm
hehe why is General Sherman called “German Sherman”?
November 5th, 2010 at 11:44 am
I agree with Jenna: “wondrous creation the Almighty” ruined this article for me.
Which ‘almighty’ is being referred to anyway? Humans have created hundreds of gods…
November 6th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
What about the “Monkey Pine”. Originally from Costa Rica, I believe. People are growing them in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. Now those are some funny looking trees!!