Argomenti trattati
Even if you’re not a botanist, but you happen to be in a faraway country, look around you. You may find beautiful trees that will leave you speechless. In particular, let’s discover together some of the most curious species. These types of trees are so special that they characterize the landscape – and sometimes even symbolize the country in which they grow.
The trees that make up this unique forest are not exactly lush. On the contrary, they are skeletal and ghostly. And yet they fit into the golden landscape of the Namibian desert in an extraordinary way. You can see them in the Namib-Naukluft Natural Park in Dead Vlei, whose literal meaning is Dead Swamp. The area has been literally burned by the blazing climate – as evidenced by the blackened skeletons of a hundred trees, all over a thousand years old.
In the local language this plant is called “Dragon Tree”, but its botanical name is Dracaena cinnabari. It has a characteristic upside-down umbrella shape. If you cut its bark or a leaf, it releases a dark red resin called “dragon blood“. This is commonly used by the local population as a medicine, as a scented essence and also as a dye.
They are so imposing and have such bizarre shapes that they become a real tourist attraction. They grow nearby and inside the ruins of the temple of Ta Phrom and can reach 70 meters in height and three meters in diameter. Some of these trees belong to the species Ficus magnolioides, while others belong to the species Tetrameles nudiflora. In both cases they are large deciduous plants, now at risk of extinction.
Its trunk has a bark that, instead of the usual brown, contains in itself all the shades of the rainbow. The tones are so intense and brilliant that the trunks are thought to have been painted – but they are not. The botanical name of this curious plant is Eucalyptus deglupta. It grows in Indonesia, the Flippines and Hawaii, and can reach 70 meters in height and two meters in diameter.
These curious plants have the trunk curved in the same direction and form a very bizarre forest, located in Western Poland. This small forest covers about thirty hectares, with about 400 trees. Scientists have not yet found a satisfactory answer to explain the reason for their particular shape. It is not excluded that it was caused by man, that in the early stage of the development of these plants (they are about eighty years old) shaped them while they were growing to obtain construction wood for ships.