We talk a lot about trees in our Canadian backyard at CLC Tree Services, like oaks, maples, birch and pine, but we recently had amyloufaust at Encountering Urbanization offer an interesting link on trees in India. Loving all trees, we had to go and check it out.
Bodhi tree
India has familiar trees like pines and mulberries, but they also support some other very interesting species like banyans, mangoes and teaks. Many trees in India are turned into temples, shrines or just revered as sacred trees, like the Bodhi tree (sacred fig) at Bodh Gaya – the world’s oldest planted tree, acclaimed to be the site where Buddha attained enlightenment. That is a pretty impressive claim to fame for a tree!
That got us to thinking about trees in Canada naturally. Canada is home to more than 180 species of trees. Right here in the Forest City of London, Ontario, we can boast 120 different tree species alone. Makes me proud to call London home.
While we may not have the Bodhi Tree, we do have some pretty special trees of our own right here in Canada. Canada’s tallest tree is located in the Carmanah Valley in British Columbia. The “Carmanah Giant” is a 95-metre Sitka spruce that towers over everything else in the forest. BC is also home to the 800-year-old Eik Cedar Tree (western red cedar), and the Stanley Park Hollow Tree ( a hollow 130-foot cedar tree with a circumference of 40 feet), as well as many other ancient giants in Cathedral Grove.
In Ontario, our official tree is the White Pine, which anyone familiar with the famous Group of Seven will recognize compliments of A. J. Casson‘s painting “White Pine”. Ontario is also world-renowned for our blazing Autumn displays, compliments of the many trees that bring tourists pouring into places like Algonquin park each fall. The draw of maple syrup cannot be ignored either, which comes from the numerous maple trees that are spread across our country (and which Quebec can pride itself on being the world’s largest producer!).
Ah, trees! With over 100,000 tree species in the world, how can you pick just one to love though? Do you have a favourite?
At CLC Tree Services, we love them all!