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World Map

Elm
Beech
Birch
Cedar
Ginkgo
Maple
Oak
Sequoia
Willow
Yew
 

Global Tree > National Tree of Italy: Elm

You are situated in front of an elm. The tree names listed on the left are all part of the tree network. It is a selection which can be extended at any time.

Click on the tree names, to learn more about the trees and the combinations of trees and countries.

You can reach the location of each tree by following the links on the world map. Click on the appropriate countries there. You can also reach them using the head navigation.

You can contribute towards the building up the Global Tree network by becoming a sponsor.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of Great Britain: Beech

Today, in some regions in Great Britain the custom of Yule still remains. During the twelve holy nights at Christmas time a big Yule log, often of beech wood, is burned piece by piece in a stove or fireplace.

Often the Yule log is decorated with twigs of holly, ivy and mistletoe. Sometimes it has cider or beer poured over it, or it is sprinkled with wheat or wheaten flour. In the springtime its ashes are mixed with the seed to increase the ground fertility, or it is stored for a year.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of Russia: Birch

The Tatars and the Khakasses, living in the republics Khakassija and Tuva, venerate the birch as a tree of the world. The Buryat shamans living in Siberia use the birch for initiation. After the shaman has fallen into ecstasy, he travels to the heavens and at the same time he ascends a birch which has nine notches. The notches symbolize the nine levels of heaven that the shaman has to walk through before he can get into contact with Bay Ulgen, the god of the highest level.

In a Russian proverb four possible ways of using the birch are praised: torches of birch wood, grease from birch tar, tea of birch leaves, and birch switches to clean the body.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of Lebanon: Cedar

Some of the 400 cedars in Lebanon are as much as 1,500 years old. A few of them are supposed to stem from the time of King Solomon. He let had part of the cedar wood cleared to build the Temple and the Royal Palace.

The Bible says that King Solomon started to build the temple in the fourth year of his reign over Israel. The stones were hewn in advance in order to reduce noise while building the walls. Beams and panels of cedar wood were used to build the roof. The walls, the choir, and the sanctuary inside the temple were covered with cedar wood, and even the altar was constructed of cedar wood. The building took seven years to complete.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of Italy: Elm

The elm populations are threatened throughout Europe by the elm disease. It is caused by a fungus which was imported from Asia at the beginning of our century. The fungus spreads with the aid of the elm bark beetle which absorbs the spores of the fungus as a young beetle, later transmitting the spores to other intact elms. The fungus excretes a poison which induces the elm to close its tubes. Normally in July or August, an infected elm shows yellow leaves which wither up in a very short time and are shed too early.

The Romans planted elms in their winegrowing area to prop up their vines. A favourite topos of the Roman poetry is the marriage of the vine and the elm: if one of them dies, the other one dies too, of grief.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of China: Ginkgo

The ginkgo belongs to the family of Ginkgoaceae. Fossil finds of the ginkgo have an estimated age of 270 million years. Because of this the paleo-botanist Albert Steward calls it "a tree of the world which keeps the mysteries of an immense past". The first reference to the Ginkgo is found in an eighth century Chinese book on agriculture.

Since the antiquity the ginkgo has been planted in Chinese Buddhist temple-grounds and monastic gardens. It was venerated as a holy tree. For a long time botanists thought that the ginkgo has only survived because it had a religious function. But in the meantime wild ginkgos have been discovered in some remote areas of Western China.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of Canada: Maple

Long before the white man came to Canada the Red Indians are said to have produced maple syrup from the sap of the maple trees.

A Red Indian legend tells about Glooskap, the master of the Wawaniki Indians, who once found members of his tribe lying under maple trees and letting maple syrup drip into theirs mouths. They didn't want to work any more. This he couldn't tolerate, and so he poured water into the maple trees to take the sweetness away from the syrup. From that time on the Wawaniki Indians had to work hard for maple syrup by gathering and cooking the sap.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of Germany: Oak

Until the beginning of modern times its fruits served mainly as food. Acorn flour, together with other ingredients, was baked to bread. Acorns were also used for pig fattening. It is said that the Teutons produced ham for the Romans. Some time later the oak's robust wood became indispensable for shipbuilding and trade.

The Teutons consecrated the oak to Donar, the god of vegetation. The Donar Oak near Geismar in Hessen which is the most important Teutonic tree-sanctuary, bore a statue of this god. In the year 723 during Christianization the Donar Oak was felled by St. Bonifatius. In the 18th century Klopstock chose the oak as the symbol of German patriotism.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of USA: Sequoia

Apart from a small region in Central China, the sequoia now grows wild only in the United States. In Oregon and California there are two species: the Sequoiadendron Giganteum on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, and the Redwood or Sequoia Sempervirens along the Pazific coast.

The scientific name Sequoia was chosen in honour of the Red Indian 'Sequoyah', the son of a Cherokee-Indian woman and a British immigrant. Sequoyah is very significant to the Iroquois because in the years between 1809 and 1821 he created a written language for the Cherokee, which is part of the Iroquois language. This made it possible for them to publish books and newspapers in their own language.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of Israel: Willow

The Jews celebrate the annual Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which starts five days after the Day of Reconciliation (Jom Kippur), in memory of the exodus from Egypt: while walking through the desert, the Israelites built huts out of leaves. At the same time this feast is the Jewish harvest festival. For eight days all meals are taken in the Tabernacle, which is specially built for this feast.

A short time before the feast starts the people buy the "Four Sorts": one palm branch, three myrtle and two willow branches, and one citrus fruit. They tie the palm branch, the myrtle and the willow branches together and flourish this bunch and the citrus fruit throughout thanksgiving rituals.
 

Global Tree > National Tree of France: Yew

As long ago as 150,000 years yew wood was used for making weapons: bows and arrows, cross-bows and lances were made out of it because it is both hard and elastic. Gallic tribes used lances poisoned with yew sap.

In the Celtic tradition the yew was worshipped as a holy tree. In Brittany and Normandy there are still existing thousand-year-old yews which bear wittness to Celtic cults. In the Brittany of the Middle Ages burial places were planted with yews. They symbolized the eternal peace of the dead and offered protection from witches.