Wood Facts A Series Monday

[Dawie]

Lets talk fat trees today.

 The tree with the widest {diameter} tree trunk in the world is an African Baobab {Adansonia digitata} located in Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo, South Africa. Its trunk diameter is almost 49 foot, it has a circumference of 155 foot and is 72 foot tall. Oh, one other amazing fact, it is known as the Big Baobab Tree Pub. It is hollow inside, its trunk walls are 6 foot 6 inches thick and it can comfortably seat approximately 15 people. Some African Baobab trees can store as much as 32,000 gallons {in weight, approximately 133 tons} of water in their trunks.Here's a link to a pic, http://www.panoramio.com/photo/7810339

 The tree with the world's greatest recorded tree circumference {girth} is the Santa Maria del Tule, an Montezuma Cypress {Taxodium mucronatum}, in Santa Maria del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico. The town is named after the tree. Because the trunk of the tree is not circular in shape but in reality has a distorted and irregular shape, you can't multiply the diameter by 3.14159 {pi} and come up with its true approximate circumference {girth} which is in excess of 160 foot. It is approximately 141 foot tall and over 2000 years old.Link to this mighty gaint http://www.delange.org/Tule/Tule.htm

It was thought that the trunks of the tree were several different individual trees that had merged together. A test of DNA samples taken from the trunks of the tree in 1996 using the technique Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA indicated that the trunks came from a single tree.

 At one time, in the late 18th century the world's greatest recorded tree circumference {girth} was a European Chestnut {Castanea sativa) known as the Tree Of The Hundred Horses, located on Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy. At that time it had a circumference {girth} of almost 190 foot. Since then, it has separated into three parts {trees}. Here a link to this lovely tree http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Catania/Mascali/photo459127.htm

[julief]

I am really enjoying this series.  Keep us the good work, David.

[Russ C]

Very interesting information. By the time we get through with the series we will have a PHD in Tree.
    
 

[Mainewoods]

Not that I would cutting down any of these great trees, but, can you imagine the body of the grain in some of these trunks?  They are so twisted and distorted on the outside, the inside must be very interesting.

Great info David, keep it coming!!!

[marmoh]

Gorgeous trees........

[Marcellarius]

excellent facts David, I like it!