Unsolved Mystery of Crooked Trees

In the village of Nowe Czarnowo, near the town of Gryfino, in Poland, there is a grove of 400 oddly shaped pine trees in the midst of a forest of straight pines. These crooked pines are bent sharply towards the north, about a metre above the ground, and thereafter, the trees return to their upright position, creating a J shape or hook shape with a width of about 1 to 3 metres (approx. 3 to 9 feet).

No one knows the reason for the hook shape of these trees. Were the trees purposefully manipulated by locals, or was the bending of the trees an act of nature?

The widely held belief is that some tool or technique was employed to induce the bending of the trees in this fashion. However, the process used has never been explained, and there is also no explanation as to why all the trees bend in the same direction. Others speculate that some heavy and unusual snowfall twisted the trees in their early stages of growth; however, there is little proof of this. Moreover, this would have affected all the trees of that period, not just these 400 odd ones.

It has been estimated that the trees were planted in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The village of Gryfino was abandoned at the time of the German invasion and reinhabited in the 1970s. The individuals who lived there before the war and most likely had the answer to the mystery are dead or not traceable. The enigma remains unsolved.

The grove known as 'Crooked Forest' (Polish: Krzywy Las) has been declared a protected natural monument of Poland and is a popular tourist destination.

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by Michał Słupczewski - Fotografia slupczewski.pl

Image from Google Maps is by Wolfgang

Image from Google Maps is by Karol “Hart” Przerada

Google Street View

Source of information:

• Wikipedia
• discovery.com
• rees.sas.upenn.edu

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Tree With Largest Canopy Area in the World

As per Guinness World Records, the Indian Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) tree known as Thimmamma Marrimanu in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India, is the largest tree in the world in terms of area covered by its canopy. The spread of the tree is roughly elliptical in shape, and its horizontal east-west spread is about 145 metre (476 ft.), and its north-south spread is about 190 metres (623 ft.). The tree is approximately 550 to 660 years old, and its canopy covers an area of 19,107 square metres (4.72 acres / 205,666 square feet) with a perimeter of approximately 846 metres (925 yards). The entire tree is supported by about 4,000 aerial roots.

As per local forest officials, due to care and conservation, the spread is now about 32,370 square metres (8 acres / 348,480 square ft.). In comparison, the famous "Great Banyan" in the Botanic Garden in Kolkata, India, measures about 14,500 square metres (3.58 acres / 156,000 sq. ft.).

Image Source: Google Map

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by PJeganathan

Image from Google Maps is by imran ker

Image from Google Maps is by imran ker

Image from Flickr is by murali sakala

Image from Google Maps is by  Viswanath Ammisetty

Image from Google Maps is by Neeruganti Sreenath

Location in Google Map / Google Earth

Source of information and more information:

1. guinnessworldrecords.com
2. smithsonianmag.com
3. bbc.com
4. bioguia.com(Some good photos.)

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Amazing Trees Atop Chimneys

An amazing sight in the Xialu Village, Tuling Town, Quangang District, China, is the banyan trees growing at the top of two red brick chimneys of now defunct state-owned Hui'an Sugar Factory. The sugar factory built around 1960s had ceased working in 1980s, though the building was continued to be used for other businesses but the chimneys were disused. Around mid eighties locals observed small banyan trees on top of the chimneys. The foliage now has become quite large and can be seen from distance. The locals call these as "Chimney with Green Hat.

The two chimneys are about ten meters high and the banyan trees have never withered despite the dry seasons and have withstood both wind and the sun. As per locals there was a drought in the village for a year yet both trees were fine, and they grew more and more lush.

Banyan tree grows very easily in cracks or crevices on buildings. The seeds of banyans are generally dispersed by wind or fruit-eating birds. When the seeds germinate they send roots down towards the ground, and may envelop part of the building structure, giving banyans the casual name of "strangler fig". A typical example of such an strangulation are the temple structures in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

View location in Google Maps / Google Earth

Main source of info: fj.people.com.cn (In Chinese) (English Translation)

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Copyright: The images shown here have been copied from en.people.cn and are Copyright © People.cn. Permission to use these images has been requested and same is awaited.

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Bosco Verticale - World’s First Vertical Forest

Bosco Verticale are a pair of residential towers in Milan, Italy, designed by the Stefano Boeri, an Italian architect and urban planner.

Bosco Verticale (English: "the Vertical Forest") is an amazing architectural concept of creating a vertical forest in heavily populated urban area and has been billed as World’s First Vertical Forest. The first tower has height of 110 metres (360 ft) and hosts 550 trees on its 1.3 metres wide concrete balconies. The second tower with a height of 76 metres (249 ft) has 350 trees. In addition to these trees, which have a height varying from 3 - 6 metes, the green area also have about 5,000 shrubs, and 11,000 perennials. Scaled model of the building was tested in wind tunnel to ensure that the trees don't topple during high winds.

The green cover is equivalent to about one hectare (2.5 acre) of forest and it helps in not only reducing the fuel cost of cooling/heating but also acts as noise suppressant. In words of it's architect;

"The Bosco Verticale is a system that optimizes, recuperates and produces energy. The Bosco Verticale aids in the creation of a microclimate and in filtering the dust particles contained in the urban environment. The diversity of the plants and their characteristics produce humidity, absorb CO2 and dust particles, producing oxygen and protect from radiation and acoustic pollution, improving the quality of living spaces and saving energy. Plant irrigation will be produced to great extent through the filtering and reuse of the grey waters produced by the building."

The concept of Bosco Verticale has received world wide acclaim and has received the 2014 International Highrise Award as well as "2015 Best Tall Building Worldwide".

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by Luca Nebuloni

Image from Flickr is by Nguyen Tan Tin

Image Source: Google Street View

Image from Flickr is by 準建築人手札網站 Forgemind ArchiMedia

Image from Flickr is by Stefania Buggè

View location in Google Earth / Google Maps and Street View.

Source of info and more info;

• Wikipedia
• inhabitat.com
• stefanoboeriarchitetti.net (Official web site of Architect) and
• Bosco Verticale News

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Enchanting Bamboo Forest of Sagano

Sagano Bamboo Forest in Arashiyama, on the outskirts of Kyoto, Japan is one of the most beautiful forests, not only in Japan, but also in the World. The forest covers an area of 16 square kilometres and its beauty lies in its tall, thick bamboo stalks which sway gently back and forth with the sunlight playing hide and seek through tall stalks, creating awesome dancing pattern on the ground below.

In addition to the visual beauty of the groves, the rustling sound made by the wind as it blows through the stalks, creates an awe inspiring atmosphere. This sound has been included in the "100 Soundscapes of Japan" by the Japanese government. The list includes the "one hundred must-be-preserved sounds of Japan".

Image from Flickr is by Curt Smith

Image from Flickr is by Kimon Berlin

Image from Flickr is by Casey Yee

Image from Flickr is by Iñaki Pérez de Albéniz

Image from Flickr is by Casey Yee

A short clip of the sight and sounds of the rustling bamboos;


View location in Google Earth / Google Maps and Street View

Main source of info: amazingplacesonearth.com / CNN

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Remarkable Pine Tree Which Survived The Great Japanese Tsunami

The giant tsunami generated by the March 11, 2011 earthquake of Japan, had destroyed almost every thing which came in the way of its 38.9 meters (128 ft) high waves. However one pine tree, out of the seventy thousand pine trees along a two kilometre stretch of seacoast in the Rikuchū Kaigan National Park,  Rikuzentakata, withstood the murderous onslaught of the tsunami and miraculously survived.

The 26.8 metre (88 ft) tall, 200 years old tree, which was only few metres off the sea coast, became a symbol of the resilience for the survivors of the tragedy. Remarkably this pine tree had also survived two earlier major tsunamis of 1896 (waves height of 38.2 metres/125 ft) and 1933 (waves height of 28.7 metres/94 ft).

Though the tree withstood the 2011 tsunami, but soon it started decaying because of high salinity in the ground due to absorption of the inundating sea water. With the realisation that the tree cannot be saved and would ultimately wither away, it was decided to preserve the memory of this remarkable tree by replicating it and re-erecting it as a memorial to the to 19,000 victims of the tragic event.

The tree was therefore cut in many sections and using these sections for creating giant moulds, it was recreated. On the second anniversary of the tragedy, the artificial replica of the tree was unveiled at the same spot where the original tree had withstood the raging fury of the tsunami.

Google Earth imagery of July 23, 2010 shows the area full of lush green trees. The surviving tree was somewhere in the small white circular marker near the bridge;

Image Source: Google Earth (Click on the image for larger and clearer view)

Google Earth imagery of March 13, 2011 (2 days after the disaster) clearly shows the lone surviving tree in the white circular marker near the bridge.

Image Source: Google Earth (Click on the image for larger and clearer view)

Photo taken on Sept 17, 2011

Image from Flickr is by Hajime NAKANO

Photo taken on May 5, 2012

Image from Flickr is by Yuichi Kosio

The artificial tree. Photo taken on April 21, 2013

Image from Flickr is by shckor

The artificial tree now. Photo taken on Dec 06, 2013

Image from Panoramio is by Daichi Kohmoto

View location in Google Earth / Google Maps and Street View

Main source of info: dailymail.co.uk

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Widest Non-Clonal Tree in The World

This post has been updated on Feb. 25, 2023

In March 2015, while I was roaming through the Google Street View of Thailand, I came across this large, wide tree in Kanchanaburi.

Image Source: Google Street View

The Google Earth imagery of that time showed a canopy diameter of about 57.9 metres (190 ft.)

Image Source: Google Earth

The large, wide tree located on the Thai Army cavalry grounds in Kanchanaburi, Thailand is known as Albizia saman, or the Rain Tree or Monkey Pod tree. It has a canopy diameter of approximately 60.4 metres (198 feet), a trunk girth (diameter) of 9.15 metres (30 feet), and stands 20 metres (65.6 feet) tall. The tree's canopy covers an area of approximately 2,416 square metres (0.6 acres or 26,000 square feet). The tree is over 100 years old, and its trunk has a circumference of about 17.7 metres (57.5 feet), so large that at least 10 people are needed to embrace it fully. It is a popular tourist attraction.

It may be worthwhile to note there are few wide trees which are bigger in circumference than this tree, however all these are clonal trees and cannot be considered as the Widest Non-Clonal Tree in The World.

I am therefore of the firm opinion that this tree in Kanchanaburi, Thailand is World's Widest Non-Clonal Tree. I request my readers to negate/confirm this.  This premise has since been confirmed as this tree was included in 2018 in the Guinness World Records.

Image from Google Maps is by Yps Yps

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by Chainwit.

Image from Finding The Universe is copyright © Laurence and Jessica. Permission to use image is thankfully acknowledged. 

The tree's radial roots, protruding above the ground, are as thick as the tree trunk.

I am thankful to J'AoO for sharing several fantastic images of this giant tree in pantip.com.

View location in Google Earth / Google Street View

Source of info:

1. tourismthailand.org (Edit Note: The original Tourism Thailand web site is not available anymore, but it can be accessed via Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
2. thailandee.com
3. Guinness World Records

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Oldest Cherry Blossom Trees in The World

Note: Sometimes back I came across Google Street View of a beautiful Cherry Blossom tree in Japan called Miharu Takizakura. A search on the WWW revealed that that it was one of the three Cherry Blossom trees in the Japan which are more than thousand years old. A further search for oldest Cherry Trees in World always showed these three cherry trees, this leads me to conclude that these three trees are not only the oldest in Japan but also oldest in the World. This post is about these millennium club trees.

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Cherry Blossom trees are one of the most beautiful ornamental trees in the World. Its profuse pink and white blooms which cover nearly the entire tree are a treat to watch. The Cherry Blossom or Sakura has a special place in Japanese traditions and culture. It is revered by Japanese and it is their unofficial national flower. Japanese have a tradition of celebrating Hanami (meaning "flower viewing") under the Sakura when it starts blooming in March/April each year. Till about 8th century the Japanese used to celebrate Hanami under the plum blossom (ume) trees but sometime in 8th century they also started celebrating under Cherry Blossom and nowadays Hanami is mostly celebrated under Cherry Blossom trees.

Cherry Blossoms trees can be found almost every where in Japan namely along the road sides, rivers, in and around parks, schools and specially in the temple complexes. The country boasts of about 200 varieties. The average lifespan of a cherry tree is about 20 years but some trees have attained age of two/three hundred years. However three remarkable trees in Japan have reached an amazing age of 1000 years or more. These are the longest surviving cherry trees not only in Japan but also in the World.

These millennium club trees are;

1. Miharu Takizakura, in Miharu, Fukushima prefecture, Japan - Age about 1000 years.
2. Usuzumi Sakura in Neo, Motosu, Gifu prefecture, Japan - Age about 1500 years.
3. Jindai Sakura, Yamataka, Hokuto, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan - Age about 1800-2000 years.

Brief details and images of each are given below.

1. Miharu Takizakura - Third oldest Cherry Blossom tree in the World

This cherry blossom (sakura) tree located in Miharu town in central Fukushima, is considered by many as the most beautiful cherry blossom tree in Japan. "Takizakura" literally means "waterfall cherry tree" - A name given to it due to its wide drooping branches which looks like a cascading waterfall. The 12 meter tall tree with a spread of about 25 metres and trunk circumference of about 9.5 meters is estimated to be over 1,000 years old.

It is a popular tourist destination and about 300,000 people visit it every year.

The town of Miharu had suffered badly in the Great Tsunami and Earthquake of March 2011 but amazingly the tree survived and was in full bloom within a month of the tragedy. For the Japanese people it became a symbol of resilience, hope and reconstruction.

Image from Flickr is by Nemo's great uncle

Image from Flickr is by Shin K

View in Google Street View

Main Source of info: Wikipedia and rocketnews24.com

2. Usuzumi Sakura - Second oldest Cherry Blossom tree in the World

This cherry blossom (sakura) tree in Motosu, Gifu Prefecture is over 1,500 years old. As per the historical records the tree was planted in early sixth century by Emperor Keitai.

The tree is 17.2 meters is high with a girth of 9.2 meters. The buds of this tree are a soft pink which gradually become white as the flower blooms and finally turns pale grey when the flowers fall down, hence the name Usuzumi which translates into "pale black ink".

Image from Flickr is by Fiordiligi0127

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by Kazutoko

View in Google Street View

Main source of info: rocketnews24.com / japan-australia.blogspot.com

3. Jindai Sakura - Oldest Cherry Blossom tree in the World

This cherry blossom (sakura) tree located in Jisso-Ji Temple complex in Yamataka is estimated to be 1800-2000 years old. As per local folklore it was planted by the 12th emperor of Japan who ruled until roughly 133 A.D. It's name Jindai means "divine generations". The tree has a height is about 10.80 metres and girth of about 11.80 metres.

Image from Flickr is by tomotubby

Image from Flickr is by hiroaki

View in Google Street View

Source of info: German Wikipedia / rocketnews24.com / monumentaltrees.com
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View all the three locations in Google Earth

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