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Beth Moon

Rilke’s Bayon, Tetrameles nudiflora, in Ta Prohm, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia Today, the late 12th-century Buddhist temple of Ta Prohm stands in a semiruined state among forests and farmland. The structure is straddled by immense Tetrameles whose serpentine roots pry apart the ancient stones in a desperate journey to find soil. The temple provides a striking example of what the untamed tropical forest will do to even the mightiest monument when human hands are withdrawn.

Quiver tree, Aloe dichotoma, Keetmanshoop, Namibia. The Quiver Tree Forest in southern Namibia is home to a spectacular collection of some of Earth’s most unusual trees, some of which are three centuries old. Strictly speaking, they are actually succulent aloe plants that can grow up to 33 feet high. The Bushman and Hottentot tribes use the hollow branches of this plant to make quivers for their arrows. The forest was made a Namibian national monument in 1995.

The Ifaty Teapot, Adansonia za, in Toliara, Madagascar Growing on a small preserve in Ifaty, on the west coast of Madagascar, this baobab bears an uncanny resemblance to a teapot, which is what the locals have nicknamed it. Thought to be 1,200 years old, the Iftay Teapot’s trunk is approximately 45 feet in circumference and has the ability to store more than 31,000 gallons of water.

Kapok tree, Ceiba pentandra, in Palm Beach, Florida “Kapoks of this size usually inhabit the rain forest, but I found this one on a private estate in Florida. “I first saw a picture of it in a book from the 1940s, with a caption locating it in Palm Beach. Comparing the current tree with that old photo, I could see that the trunk had filled out tremendously in 60 years; the roots now rise more than 12 feet above the ground.” (The bench on the left provides a sense of scale.)

The Crowhurst Yew, Taxus baccata, in Surrey, England Among the tombstones of a churchyard in Crowhurst stands an ancient yew with a girth of 31 feet. The tree is estimated to be more than 1,500 years old. When the villagers hollowed out the trunk in 1820, they found a cannonball embedded there, a relic of the English Civil War. The farm across from the church may have been the intended target because of its owner’s staunch Royalist beliefs.

Avenue of the Baobabs, Adansonia grandidieri, in Morondava, Madagascar These baobabs, which rise to heights of nearly a hundred feet, are found only on the island of Madagascar, where they’re known as renala, Malagasy for “mother of the forest.” The trees in this grove are approximately 800 years old. Sadly, these 20-some baobabs are the only survivors of what was once a dense tropical forest. In 2007, the avenue was granted temporary protected status.

Majesty, English oak, Quercus robur, in Nonington, Kent, England One of the largest maiden, or unpruned, oaks in all of Europe grows on a private estate in Kent. Thought to be more than 400 years old, this aristocratic tree boasts a girth of more than 40 feet. At one point, a large branch broke off the north side of the tree, leaving a hole that reveals the cavernous space of the hollow trunk.

Desert rose, Adenium obesum, in Socotra, Yemen Socotra’s ”bottle trees,” are among the most astonishing sights in the alienlike landscape. Leathery and bulbous, they look somewhat like small baobabs, with inflated trunks and huge tuberous roots that apparently requite little soil, as they sink into the bare rock. Their blossoms have earned them their more poetic name: desert rose.

beth moon trees