Montezuma Cypress or Tule

Description:

This is the incredible Tule Tree of Oaxaca, Mexico, a Montezuma Cypress that is believed to be more than 2000 years old and has the 2nd greatest trunk diameter of any tree in the world. It is listed as one of the 7 most amazing trees in the world. It is breathtakingly beautiful, located in front of the Church of Santa Maria del Tule in the center of the town (visible in the 3rd & 6th pictures). It was once speculated that the Tule Tree was actually several fused trees, but DNA testing has shown it to be a single individual. It is not a very tall tree but the crown is wider than it's height. The name in nahautl for the tree is "āhuēhuētl" meaning "Old Man of the Water".

Notes:

In 1990, the Tule Tree was declared dying from drought, pollution and the passage of thousands of cars on the highway close to the tree. Mexico doesn't have a lot of environmental success stories, but this is one. The government rerouted the highway traffic away from the tree, constructed a large protective park around the tree and the church and began to water it continuously. Today, 13 years later, the tree is thriving, bursting with new growth as well as reproductive structures (pictures 4 & 5). It was full of hundreds of singing birds, mainly sparrows. I have never seen it so healthy and happy. (The tree with the largest trunk diameter in the world is a baobab in Africa). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Árbol_del_T.... http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wildern....