Haya de Herguijuela

The Haya de Herguijuela is one of the last relics of the former Atlantic climate in the western Sistema Central in Spain. It is one of the most southern specimens of the European beech tree, surpassed only by another similar tree in Cáceres province and by a grove at the base of Mt. Etna in Sicily. It is a colossal tree located on a mountainside of the Sierra de Gata in southeastern Salamanca province about 1 km north-west of the town of Herguijuela de la Sierra.

The European beech used to be fairly common in southern Salamanca province evidenced by herbal vegetation in the area that is characteristic of beech forests. However, because beeches make excellent charcoal, the entirety of the forests in the area was wiped out during the beginning of the 1900s and the Age of Industry, save only the two mentioned examples. Because of the heavy deforesting of this as well as other species in the western-central Spain, the trend has been for temperatures to be increasing and for yearly precipitation to be declining; presently, the Mediterranean climate is well-established in the area.

It is located at 40°27'2.77"N 6° 4'45.19"W

ee also

*Salamanca province
*Cáceres province
*European beech
*Climate

References

*Guía de Árboles y Arbustos de Castilla y León (Oria de Rueda, Diez)