Árbol del Tule

El Árbol del Tule (Spanish for "the Tule Tree") is a tree located in the church grounds in the town center of Santa María del Tule in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, approximately 9 km east of the city of Oaxaca on the road to Mitla. It is a Montezuma Cypress ("Taxodium mucronatum"), or "Ahuehuete" in the Nahuatl language. It has the est trunk of any tree in the world.

Dimensions and age

In 2005, its trunk had a circumference of 36.2 m, equating to diameter of 11.62 m,Gymnosperm Database: [http://www.conifers.org/cu/tax/mucronatum.htm "Taxodium mucronatum"] ] a slight increase from a measurement of 11.42 m in 1982.Mitchell, A. (1983). Trees in Mexico. "Int. Dendrol. Soc. Yearbook" 1983: 88–95.] However, the trunk is heavily buttressed, giving a higher diameter reading than the true cross-sectional of the trunk represents; when this is taken into account, the diameter of the 'smoothed out' trunk is 9.38 m. This is still slightly larger than the next most stout tree known, a Giant Sequoia 8.98 m diameter.Gymnosperm Database: [http://www.conifers.org/cu/se2/index.htm "Sequoiadendron giganteum"] ]

The height is difficult to measure due to the very broad crown; the 2005 measurement, made by laser, is 35.4 m, shorter than previous measurements of 41–43 m. According to the signboard by the tree (see gallery, below), it has a total volume of 816,829 m³ and a weight of 636.107 tonnes; these figures are however not independently verified, and given the same signboard's claim of a girth of 58 m, must be treated with suspicion.

It is so large that it was originally thought to be multiple trees, but DNA tests have proven that it is only one tree.Dorado, O., Avila, G., Arias, D. M., Ramirez, R., Salinas, D., & Valladares, G. (1996). The arbol del Tule (Taxodium mucronatum Ten.) is a single genetic individual. "Madroño" 43 (4): 445-452.] This does not rule out another hypothesis, which states that it comprises multiple trunks from a single individual.Debreczy, Z., & Racz, I. (1998). El Arbol del Tule: The Ancient Giant of Oaxaca. "Arnoldia" 57 (4): 2–11. Available [http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/475.pdf online (pdf file).] ]

The age is unknown, with estimates ranging between 1,200 and 3,000 years, and even one claim of 6,000 years;Pakenham, T. (2002). "Remarkable trees of the world". Weidenfeld & Nicolson.] the best scientific estimate based on growth rates is 1,433-1,600 years.Conzatti, C. (1921). Monograph on the Tree of Santa Maria del Tule, tr. Ralph Summers. Mexico: Imprenta Mundial (cited by Debreczy & Racz 1998).] Local Zapotec legend holds that it was planted about 1,400 years ago by Pechocha, a priest of Ehecatl, the Aztec storm-god, in broad agreement with the scientific estimate; its location on a sacred site (later taken over by the Roman Catholic Church) would also support this.

Trivia

The tree is occasionally nicknamed the "Tree of Life" from all the images of animals that are reputedly visible in the tree's gnarled trunk. As part of an official project local schoolchildren give tourists a tour of the tree and show all manners of creatures that the tree trunk's features form including jaguars and elephantsFact|date=October 2007.

References