Lonely trees

 

Sitka spruce on Campbell Island in Southern Ocean holds the Guinness World Record for being the ‘remotest tree’ on the planet. The loneliest tree is 250 km away from its nearest companion. It’s named Ranfurly tree after Lord Ro, then New Zealand governor, who planted it in the early 1900s.

Tenere tree is, rather was, also one of the most lonely trees on the earth. It was a landmark on the caravan route in Sahara desert in northeast Niger. This and the Arbre Pendu (Lost Tree) to its north were the only trees shown on a map of 1:4,000,000. Tenere tree stood for 300 years before being knocked by a drunk Libyan truck driver in 1973. Even earlier it had been badly mauled due to vehicle hits even though there was all the space all around for a vehicle to pass. Its roots reached 108 feet to draw moisture of life. The camels didn’t eat its leaves. The Azalai caravans didn’t cut its branches to make tea. It was a kind of tribal custom mixing superstition and reverence for something so rare in the cruel desert. The caravaniers gathered around it before crossing it, so it served as a type of lighthouse in the sea of sand. A traveler said about it: ‘An acacia with sickly trunk but nice green leaves and yellow flowers.’ Then the vehicles started and it was badly mauled. There is a metal sculpture and pavilion housing its remains as a commemorative shrine.

Asia’s lone redwood tree stands at CSIR Yarikha Tangmarg, Baramulla. It’s primarily found in North America. The tree is 150 years old. It’s in the shape of a huge mushroom, evergreen but the birds avoid it. In fact, no bird is seen sitting or nesting on this exotic tree. The CSIR has declared it a heritage tree. All efforts to create its progeny through cuttings in open fields, polyhouses, greenhouses and laboratories have failed. Even the seeds injected with growth hormones have failed to germinate.