EUROPEAN TREE OF THE YEAR. PART 2

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6

Name of tree: Kippford Leaning Tree

Species: Hawthorn

Age: 60 years

Country: UK (Scotland)

Votes: 30,761

The tree’s story:

A defiant lone hawthorn guarding the Scottish coastline.

The tree on the coast of Dumfries & Galloway is a fine example of a mature hawthorn tree. While not spectacular in size, it cuts a striking presence as the only tree on the windswept cockle shell beach. The hawthorn has been enjoyed by three generations of one local Dalbeattie family. It’s been climbed on, battered by the winds and even bumped into by cars turning. Yet still it survives and stands strong and proud on the edge of the beach.

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5

Name of tree: Umbrella from High Tatras

Species: Weeping European Beech

Age: 70 years

Country: Slovakia

Votes: 37,872

The tree’s story:

Symbol of Starý Smokovec

Now it's impossible to find out who planted the tree - it was probably planted in the 1950s by students from the Horticultural School in Lednice in Moravia during the "Great Cleaning". Since the unusual sloping building of the Mountain Rescue Service grew up in the centre of Starý Smokovec, the tree has found itself under the protective wings of all of the members who even saved it from being cut down. Although it is the most common tree in Europe, it is unique in the High Tatras. And there is definitely only one that looks like this.

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4

Name of tree: Chestnut of the Hundred Horses

Species: Sweet Chestnut

Age: 3000 years

Country: Italy

Votes: 46,275

The tree’s story:

This chestnut is thought to be over 3,000 years old. It is composed of three large stems that perhaps use the same root system. If so, it would also be the largest tree in the world. Legend has it that Queen Joan of Aragon took shelter with all her knights under the branches of this huge tree following a storm. Since then the chestnut, also visited by Goethe and many other writers and artists, has been called "The chestnut of 100 horses".

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3

Name of tree: The Big Cork Oak

Species: Cork Oak

Age: 250 years

Country: Portugal

Votes: 70,563

The tree’s story:

Vale do Pereiro, in the municipality of Arraiolos, is a small village whose surrounding area corresponds to the typical Alentejo landscape. Among its paths stands “The Big Cork Oak” which, due to its size, harbours life, awakens feelings and surprises us with the diameter of the canopy and the way it is loved, esteemed and known by the community. In the summer, under its shade, shelters men and animals, harbouring the workers field lunch and giving way to the herds.

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2

Name of tree: Oak of Conxo's Banquet Forest

Species: English Oak

Age: 250 years

Country: Spain

Votes: 168,284

The tree’s story:

The Tree of Liberty

This historic oak was born at the time of Enlightenment. He was a witness in 1856 of the Democratic Banquet of Conxo, a revolutionary act that vindicated the ideals of the new Europe: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. It was defended by Rosalía de Castro in a pioneering ecological protest in Spain. And the forest that welcomes it, at the foot of the Portuguese Pilgrimage Trail, is today a whole botanical treasure chest, open to the public in 2018 (with a great popular festival) after remaining inaccessible for more than a century.

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1

Name of tree: Oak Dunin

Species: English Oak

Age: 400 years

Country: Poland

Votes: 179,317

The tree’s story:

Guardian of the Białowieża Primeval Forest

The oak tree is growing at the edge of the Białowieża Primeval Forest, one of the most known lowland forests, not only in Poland but also in Europe. It has been particularly respected and admired by local people as well as tourists visiting this area of Poland, called the European Region of Wisent. It is an inspiration for many artists. It amazes in every season – during full vegetation but also when it is showing its leafless, mysteriously curved branches.

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By the way, does anyone else think that the trunk looks like a pair of elephant’s legs and feet? –