Ten of the most amazing trees in the world. The strangest trees in the world Unusual trees on the planet

An innumerable number of amazing trees grow on the territory of our planet. We will introduce you to some of them in this article. We are all accustomed to the way the trees around us look in everyday life, so if we see something different from them, at first we cannot even believe that such unusual trees exist - but they exist, they grow beautifully where we are not and are taken for granted by local residents
Take, for example, the baobab - well, which of us in our right mind would call such a tree “ordinary”? Moreover, he doesn’t even have rings to determine his age - scientists have to be content with the results of radiocarbon dating when figuring it out
No less interesting is another type of baobab, familiar to Madagascar landscapes - the teapot baobab. It is not a separate species - any of the six species of baobab native to Madagascar can take the form of a teapot or bottle. What this is connected with is unknown, but most likely in this way the trees take care of moisture, which is not so abundant in these latitudes
Another interesting tree is the rainbow eucalyptus. The bark of this amazing tree literally attracts the eye - it seems as if some artist “worked” here. Eucalyptus trees themselves, even those without “rainbow” bark, are amazing trees. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that the tallest trees ever found were eucalyptus trees. For example, one report from 1872 mentions a fallen eucalyptus tree that was over 150 meters high!

Another amazing tree that does not have growth rings is the dragon tree or simply dragon tree. Because of the red sap that immediately appears at the site of the cut in the bark, it is also sometimes called the dragon's blood tree.
Cotton trees (ceibs) growing on the ruins of the ancient Cambodian temple complex of Angkor Wat deserve special attention - their roots have long formed a single whole with the ancient stone buildings of the majestic temple Ceibas are interesting in themselves, not only in the context of a picturesque “symbiosis” with the ruins of an ancient temple. Their unusualness lies in the fact that, being essentially representatives of the palm tree family, they grow mainly in arid regions of the planet, and therefore their entire trunk and branches are covered with a dense layer of thorns, allowing them to retain the moisture so necessary for life
Sometimes trees are found so unusual that they are given their own names. This happens for a number of reasons - due to great age, unusual appearance or colossal size. One such unusual tree is the intermountain bristlecone pine Methuselah, discovered in 1953 in the Inyo National Forest in eastern California. The uniqueness of this pine is that it is one of the oldest and still living trees in the world - according to experts, Methuselah turned 4842 this year. In order to prevent acts of vandalism and protect the pine tree, its exact location is not disclosed Another ancient tree with its own name is located in another North American state - South Carolina. We are talking about the 1,500-year-old Angel Oak, growing in the wilderness of John's Island. The height of the oak is 20 meters, the diameter is 2.7 meters, and the most spreading branch reaches 27 meters in length. This oak received such an unusual name from the last owners of these lands - the Angel family
Also worthy of attention is the thickest tree in the world - the Tule Tree, growing next to one of the churches in the Mexican city of Santa Maria del Tule
The tree belongs to the Taxodium family, found only in Mexico, its trunk girth is 11.62 meters, the trunk circumference is 36.2 meters, the Tule Tree reaches a height of 35.4 meters, although it used to be slightly taller. According to different versions, it is from one and a half to six thousand years old


The oldest olive tree grows on the island of Crete - the Elaia Buibon tree. Despite the fact that it is already about 4 thousand years old, it, surprisingly, still continues to bear fruit.

And last of all, I would like to dwell on perhaps the most unique of the currently known trees - relatively young, in comparison with the above-mentioned long-livers, “only” the 400-year-old Tree of Life, which grew in the middle of the desert in Bahrain, not far from the city of Jebel Dukhan . It seems amazing that such a huge tree survived and grew in conditions of extremely scarce water supplies, and it still remains a mystery how miraculously it managed to do this...

Capable of presenting amazing surprises to people. They will be discussed below.

Today, more than 60,000 species of trees are known. Among them there are bread, dairy, soap and even sausage trees. From this article you will learn many interesting facts about the most unusual trees growing in different places on our planet.

Breadfruit

One of the most unusual trees is the bread tree. It grows in tropical countries, but its homeland is New Guinea and the territory of Oceania. They learned about it only in the 17th century thanks to English sailors.

The sailors watched in amazement as the indigenous people ate the fruits of an unusual tree instead of bread. Then the sailors took seedlings of the amazing plant and planted them in their area.

However, nothing good came of it. In the 18th century it was successfully bred to. The fruits of this plant became one of the main products that were fed to slaves.

The breadfruit tree has a strong trunk and an extensive crown. It grows rapidly and can reach a height of 25 meters. The length of the fruit is about 30-35 centimeters, and the weight is about 4-5 kg.

Outwardly, they are somewhat similar to a melon and have a pimply surface. They grow in clusters, both on the trunk and at the base of large branches. They contain sweet pulp inside.

Breadfruit can survive without water for several months, and can also withstand heat up to 40 degrees Celsius.

An interesting fact is that this unusual tree can bear fruit for 9 months a year. Every year, about 600-700 fruits are collected from one tree, for as long as 70 years.

As mentioned earlier, breadfruit is used in cooking: it is boiled, fried, ground into flour or eaten raw.

They taste somewhat like potatoes.

However, they spoil quite quickly, so they have to be eaten within a short period of time. But if you make crackers out of them, they will be stored for quite a long time.

The Samoan natives came up with an interesting way to preserve this “bread”: they wrap the fruits in banana leaves and then simply bury them in the soil.

Soon, they begin to ferment, turning into an alcohol-containing mass, which allows them not to spoil for a long time.

The remaining parts of this tree are also widely used on the farm: its leaves are fed to livestock, and its seeds are fried.

milk tree

The milk tree is an extremely unusual tree. It is also called "brosium" or "cow tree". Today it can be seen in South and Central America, as well as in Asian countries.

It often grows up to 30 meters in height. The very name of the tree suggests that it produces sap, for which it is actually grown. Unlike other plants, it is not poisonous, but rather healthy and pleasant to the taste.

Externally, this juice resembles regular milk, only it is thicker and has a unique aroma. Even in the hottest season, the milk does not spoil for up to a whole week if it is first boiled over a fire.

The first Europeans to learn about the milk tree were the Spanish conquerors. Arriving at their home, they talked about a wonderful tree that could be milked. An incision is made on the trunk, and a vessel is placed under it, where this unusual juice actually flows. At one time you can collect 3-4 liters of milk.

Local aborigines drink this juice the same way we drink cow's or goat's milk. In addition, it can be used to obtain wax suitable for making candles and chewing gum.

Candleberry

The candle tree, or parmentiera edible, is so named because of the unusual shape of its fruits. In addition to being similar in appearance to candles, they also contain oil, which makes them burn very well.

The candle tree grows in tropical jungles. People have learned to use it for medical purposes.

Soapberry

An unusual soap tree grows in the tropical forests of Asia and America. This interesting plant, and especially its fruits, contains many saponins - substances with detergent properties. Once upon a time, Indians successfully bleached fabric with the bark of this tree.

Today, soap tree is widely used in cosmetology. Its seeds are extremely hard, so rosaries and various wooden decorations are made from them.

Its fruits are called soap nuts because they can serve as a substitute for washing powder. They are absolutely hypoallergenic, odorless, and also do not cause any harm.

sausage tree

The sausage tree, or kigelia, grows in African countries. It grows up to 10 m and has a spreading crown. It grows large flowers and unusual sausage-shaped fruits 50-60 cm long. In Europe, people learned about this tree only a couple of centuries ago.

Interestingly, sausage trees only grow singly and never next to each other. With the onset of heat, they shed their leaves to save water supplies, and with the arrival of the rainy season, leaves appear on their branches again.

During the daytime, the unusual flowers are completely closed, and at sunset they open, showing their scarlet inflorescences. The only drawback of these flowers is their unpleasant smell, which is necessary to attract pollinators.

Before eating the fruits of this unusual tree, they must be subjected to heat treatment, as they are very poisonous. An interesting fact is that local residents have learned to make an alcoholic drink from them.

The fruits have incredibly strong skin. So, in order to get seeds from them, you must first dry the fruit and only then split it with an ax.

An innumerable number of amazing trees grow on the territory of our planet. We will introduce you to some of them in this article.

We are all familiar with what the trees that surround us every day look like, so if we see something different from them, at first we cannot even believe that these unusual trees exist - but they exist, they grow wonderfully where we are not and locals take them for granted

Take, for example, baobab - nWho among us in their right mind would call this tree “ordinary”? Moreover, it does not even have rings to determine its age - when determining its age, experts have to be content with the result of radiocarbon analysis.

Another interesting tree is the rainbow eucalyptus. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that the tallest trees ever found are eucalyptus trees. For example, one report from 1873 mentions a fallen eucalyptus tree, the height of which was more than 150 meters!

The most unusual trees on our planet:

10. Bottle Tree

Location: Namibia
The Namibian bottle tree is one of the deadliest trees on Earth. The milky sap of the plant is highly poisonous and was used in the past by the Bushmen as a poison for arrowheads. The bottle tree was so named because of the shape of its trunk, and the tree is commonly found in the mountainous desert regions of Namibia, making its resemblance to a bottle uncanny. The flowers of the Bottle Tree have been described as "beautiful". The flowers are usually pink or white, fading to dark red towards the center.

9. Wawona Tree


Location: USA
The Wawona tree is a former Sequoia tree that grew in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, USA. After its fall, the tree was converted into a tunnel. A passage was carved into the tree in 1881 and it has been a popular tourist attraction ever since. The Wawona tree fell in 1969 due to a large mass of snow accumulating on its top. The estimated age of this sequoia is 2,300 years.

8. Baobab


Location: Madagascar
These magnificent trees, endemic to Madagascar, are over 1000 years old. Baobab is an endangered tree species. Many trees of this species reach more than 80 meters in height, and their trunks grow up to 25 meters in girth. The swollen trunks of baobab trees are a source of water, supplying it during the dry season. Baobab flowers only bloom for 24 hours. These flowers are depicted on the Madagascar 100 franc banknote.

7. Bombaxes (Silk Cotton Trees) Ta Prohm (Ta Prohm)


Location: Cambodia
These trees are very difficult to find and there is only a certain place where you can see them when traveling in Southeast Asia. The trees are the most distinctive feature of the Ta Prokhm Temple. The roots of Bombaxes entwine the ancient temple, and the trees themselves grow to impressive heights. No less stunning Ficus Stranglers can also be found near the temple. The temple itself is included in the UNESCO list as one of the World Heritage Sites.

6. Hyperion


Location: California, USA
Hyperion is a California sequoia and the tallest tree in the world. Trees typically live for about 1200-1800 years. Hyperion reaches 115.5 meters in height and almost 9 meters in diameter. This means that Hyperion is 5 stories taller than the Statue of Liberty. It is estimated that about 95% of all redwoods have been cut down, and the giant trees are now protected as “vulnerable.”

5. Peach Palm (Pejibaye Palm)

Location: Costa Rica and Nicaragua
This tree is native to Central and South America, although its homeland is Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The peach palm is armed with rows of black, sharp thorns that are arranged in rings along the entire trunk from the roots to the top of the tree. Typically this palm tree grows to about 20 meters. The leaves reach 3 meters in length. Native Americans typically ate the fruits of this palm after they had fermented, and it formed a large part of their diet. The fermented fruit of the peach palm remains a popular delicacy to this day.

4. Crooked forest of the city of Gryfino


Location: Poland
In Western Poland, near the town of Gryfino, you can find about 400 of these strange trees. It is believed that these trees were twisted by human intervention, although their purpose remains a mystery. Some believe that they were intended for making bent wooden furniture, ribs for boat hulls, or used to make yokes for ploughs, pulled by oxen. Be that as it may, the outbreak of World War II forced those who grew them to abandon these trees and now they are a mystery.

3. Baobab Sunland


Location: South Africa
The Sunland Baobab is a tree located near Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo Province, South Africa, that has been turned into a bar. The tree is naturally hollow and in 1933, a small bar was opened in it, capable of seating 15-20 people. This is one of the tallest baobab trees in South Africa, and apparently the widest tree in all of Africa. The tree reaches 4 meters in girth and 20 meters in height. It is also one of the oldest trees in the world, as it is over 6,000 years old!

2. Burmis tree


Location: Canada
The Burmis tree is a soft pine tree native to Alberta, Canada. The tree is unusual in that it died in the 1970s but is still standing without any signs of rot. It is estimated that he was 600-750 years old at the time of his death. The tree was blown down in 1998, but local residents put it back up. A few years later, vandals broke one of the branches, and local residents again came to the rescue, reattaching the branch. The Burmis tree is one of the most photographed trees in the world.

1. Tree of Life


Location: Bahrain
This tree, 9.75 meters high, is approximately 400 years old. The tree is unusual in that it is located in the desert and is the only growing tree for miles around, and it has no access to water. The mesquite tree's root system extends deep underground. It is believed that this is how the tree obtains water, however, it still remains a mystery. If you search for this tree on Google Earth, you can see how remote it is. The tree is a major tourist attraction and is visited by 50,000 people annually. Local residents believe that the Garden of Eden was located here. The Tree of Life is protected by UNESCO and is included in the list of World Heritage Sites.