Trees are the biggest land plants stunning us with their variety and unusual adaptation skills, even in the most extreme conditions. Some of them prefer lonely vegetation while others grow in larger clusters. Meet some of the most astonishing trees to have ever grown on our planet.
#1 Mangroves are evergreen tropical trees with the roots permanently immersed in water. They protect the lands against floods.
#2 Caddo Lake, Texas, USA. This is where wonderful cypress forests grow with trees of chalice-shaped stems.
#3 Rainbow eucalyptus trees stun with their colorful bark. They come from New Guinea, the Philippines and Indonesia, where in their natural habitat they grow up to 60 meters tall.
FUN FACT
There are no two eucalyptus trees of the same color. Each tree is different. This bears some similarity to mankind as there are no two people of the same fingerprints. The trees gradually lose their bark and this is how they show their fantastic color.
#4 The drago grows in the Canary Islands (and that’s why it is also called the Canary Islands dragon tree) and Cape Verde. Its crown looks like a gigantic umbrella.
FUN FACT
In the Sokotra island (Yemen) there is a true dragon forest. According to one of local legends, a long time ago a dragon defeated an elephant there. Their blood soaked into the land and this is how the tree called drago was created. The tree grows up to 400 years and its wood has got no grains.
#5 Mimosas are also called sensitive plants. In fact these plants are really shy. Once you touch it, the plant quickly folds its leaves.
#6 Shoots of wisterias form garlands than stun you with the vast array of shades of violet, blue and pink flowers. Their original habitat is Japan.
#7 Baobabs grow on African plains and savannas. They can be even 25 meters tall.
FUN FACT
Baobabs use their stem to store water. They can hold up to 120,000 liters. Their bark is used for making fabric, baskets, ropes and caps.
#8 The quiver tree belongs to the aloe family. It grows in Namibia and RSA. Its leaves look like stars.
#9 Rhododendrons are long-living plants resistant to severe frost. This wonderful, over 120 years old specimen, can be admired in Canada
#10 Dendrosenecio kilimanjari
On the way to Kilimanjaro you can come across plants that look like some creatures out of this world. These are gigantic Dendrosenecio kilimanjari, belonging to the aster family. They grow on altitudes of approximately 4,000 meters above the sea level. Their dead leaves provide very good insulation protecting the plants against subzero temperatures.
#11 Bottle tree is an endemic species growing in the Socotra Island being part of Yemen. Its distinguishing features are thick trunk and a small crown
#12 The bristlecone pine is a long-living trees resistant to extreme weather conditions. They grow very slowly and their cone are ripe only 18 months after pollination.
#13 Taxodium
The taxodium growing in the Mexican town of Santa Maria del Tule is the one with the largest circumferences in the world. Measured at its base it is 58 meters long! To embrace it you would need to have 30 people stretching their arms. The tree is estimated to be 2,000 years old.
#14 Palmate apple is a decorative plant. It comes from Japan and South Korea.
#15 Potted fig tree
Fig trees are not only popular potted plants. In natural environment the plant grows up to 35 meters high. Its original habitat is tropical Asia.
#16 Redwood trees
In the Redwood National Park (north California) there is the highest tree in the world. This redwood tree is called Hyperion and it’s 115.5 meters tall.