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Belgium: the Tree of Freedom of the Waret Citizens
Age: 223-year-old.
Species: horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum).
Location: Waret-la-Chaussee, Wallonia. The tree symbolises the defence of the Waret citizens’ rural character. It was planted in 1796 to celebrate the fall of Louis XVI.Photograph: Quentin Noel/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Bulgaria: the Venerable Oak in Novo Selo village
Age: 500-year-old.
Species: common oak (Quercus robur).
Location: Novo Selo, Veliko Tarnovo province. The oak’s bark has kept and carried through the centuries the story of the Novo Selo, built in 1750. In 2010, for the celebrations of the village’s 260th anniversary, locals planted a small oak near the old tree.Photograph: Hristo Hristov/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Croatia: Ginkgo in Love from Daruvar
Age: 242-year-old.
Species: Gingko (Gingko biloba).
Location: Daruvar, Bjelovar-Bilogora county. For centuries, the gingko, named Adam by the locals, has been growing by the castle together with the town of Daruvar. Next to it grows a tree called Eve.Photograph: 2020 European Tree of the Year
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Czech republic: the Guardian of the Flooded Village
Age: 350-year-old.
Species: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris).
Location: Chudobin, Vysocina region. The pine’s name relates to the village of Chudobin, which was flooded during the construction of the Vir dam. According to a loca legend, a devil sat under the pine in the night and played the violin.Photograph: Marek Olbrzymek/2020 European Tree of the Year
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France: the Multisecular Beech of Saint-Jammes
Age: 450-year-old.
Species: European beech (Fagus Sylvatica).
Location: Soreze, Occitania region. The colossal beech overlooking the ruins of the pre-Romanesque chapel of St-Jammes is the oldest tree in the Black Mountain having survived strong local winds and the French Revolution.Photograph: Emmanuel Boitier/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Hungary: the Freedom Tree in Kaposvar
Age: 93-year-old.
Species: common oak (Quercus robur).
Location: Kaposvar, Somogy county. The oak standing in a schoolyard in Kaposvar was planted in 1929 to mark the major milestones in Hungarian history.Photograph: Dr. Pinter Romeo/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Ireland: Witch’s Yew Tree
Age: 600-year-old.
Species: yew (Taxus baccata).
Location: Blarney, Cork. The ancient Witch’s Yew Tree, situated in the Mythical Rock Close on the grounds of Blarney Castle Estate in Southern Ireland, has been estimated by experts to be over 600 years old. It sits atop an outcrop of limestone rock, that houses the Witch’s Kitchen, an 18th century folly that’s said to be home of the Witch of Blarney.Photograph: Blarney Castle Estate/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Italy: Oak Vallonea of Tricase
Age: 700-year-old.
Species: valonia oak (Quercus ithaburensis macrolepis).
Location: Tricase, Puglia. The oldest tree of its species in Salento, with an age of 700 years and a crown of 700 square metres. In 2000 the WWF elected it the Apulian symbol tree. In many legends, it is thought to be the “oak of the hundred knights” because it is said that Frederick II met his army under it.Photograph: Daniela Radovan/2020 European Tree of the Year
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The Netherlands: the Witch Tree
Age: 130-year-old.
Species: beech (Fagus sylvatica).
Location: Bladel, North Brabant. This tree provides the perfect setting as the last resting place of Black Kate, a woman that once led an infamous gang of robbers and smugglers.Photograph: Rob Visser/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Poland: Elderberry Tree
Age: 200-year-old
Species: elderberry (Sambucus nigra).
Location: Rzeszow, Podkarpackie province. This 200-year-old elderberry tree growing in the centre of Rzeszow is quite peculiar because usually elder is a shrub, so its tree-like form is a unique phenomenon.Photograph: Halina Sikora/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Portugal: the Chestnut Tree from Vales
Age: 1,000-year-old.
Species: chestnut tree (Castanea sativa).
Location: Tresminas, Vila Pouca de Aguiar, Vila Real. With a 4.5-metre wide trunk this tree is one of the largest trees in Portugal.Photograph: Raquel Lopes/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Romania: Multisecular Fir Tree – Guardian of Cibin
Age: 500-year-old.
Species: silver fir (Abies Alba).
Location: Sibiu, Transylvania. The fir tree is connected to the story of a shepherd with 10 sheep, who after losing them while sleeping under it, he prayed to find them only to see the fir grow high and thick, climb on top of it and spot his missing sheep.Photograph: Paul Bordas/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Russia: Lonely Poplar
Age: 103-year-old.
Species: laurel-leaved poplar (Populus laurifolia).
Location: village Har-Buluk, Tselinny district, Kalmykia. According to legend, this poplar was planted in the early 20th century by a Buddhist monk. Travellers stopped here to rest and appealed to the poplar with wishes, which were then fulfilled. The Lonely Poplar is regarded as a shrine in Kalmykia.Photograph: Nikolay Boshev/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Slovakia: Precious Sorb Tree
Age: 250-year-old.
Species: sorb tree (Sorbus domestica).
Location: Uzovska Panica, Rimavska Sobota District. This sorb tree was planted during the reign of Maria Theresa. The tree still bears large pink-yellow pear-shaped fruits but sorbs are rare in this region of Slovakia.Photograph: Martin Babarik/2020 European Tree of the Year
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UK: the Allerton Oak
Age: over 500-years-old.
Species: sessile oak (Quercus petraea).
Location: Liverpool. According to legend, judges in medieval times would meet under the branches of the tree, as they lacked a courthouse. Legend also states that the crack in the tree appeared in 1864 when a ship carrying gunpowder on the Mersey exploded.Photograph: Jill Jennings/2020 European Tree of the Year
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Spain: the Three-Legged Spanish Oak
Age: 1,200-year-old.
Species: holm oak (Quercus ilex).
Location: Mendaza, Navarre. The tree is one of the oldest oaks in all of the Iberian peninsula. Its trunk is completely hollow on the inside and supported only by three large legs.Photograph: Javier Senosiain/2020 European Tree of the Year
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