Near the tiny little town of Lizarraga near Pamplona, Spain there is a stand of great old Oak trees the largest of which is called "the Great Oak of Lizarraga". This stand of trees belong to the "white oak" section of the genus are are called "Downy Oaks" or "Pubescent Oaks" (Quercus pubescens).
There are only about 30-40 of the very large old oaks left in this stand and the largest of them is the one in the picture above. The sign below is located right in front of the tree. One curios piece of trivia about these trees is that according to the sign the land used to belong to Saint Fransis Xavier. Another interesting detail is that these oaks stand around the site of the ruins of a midieval town by the name of "Santa Constanza".
The trunk of the great Oak at Lizarraga has a circumferance of 7.54 metes and stands 17 meters tall. It is still quite healthy and does not have a hollow trunk like many other old oaks.
The picture below shows part of the stand of old oaks as seen from the ruins of Santa Constanza.
The image below is of the little town of Lizarraga (a Basque name that means "place where the Ash trees grow" which is somewhat odd since I only saw one Ash tree but the whole hillside is covered with oaks). The trail from this little town to the stand of old oaks is pretty will marked and takes about 20-25 minutes to walk. The whole trial is a loop which takes over an hour. Lizarraga is about a 20 minute drive south of Pamplona which itself is located in northern Spain.
Near the tiny little town of Lizarraga near Pamplona, Spain there is a stand of great old Oak trees the largest of which is called "the Great Oak of Lizarraga". This stand of trees belong to the "white oak" section of the genus are are called "Downy Oaks" or "Pubescent Oaks" (Quercus pubescens).
There are only about 30-40 of the very large old oaks left in this stand and the largest of them is the one in the picture above. The sign below is located right in front of the tree. One curios piece of trivia about these trees is that according to the sign the land used to belong to Saint Fransis Xavier. Another interesting detail is that these oaks stand around the site of the ruins of a midieval town by the name of "Santa Constanza".
The trunk of the great Oak at Lizarraga has a circumferance of 7.54 metes and stands 17 meters tall. It is still quite healthy and does not have a hollow trunk like many other old oaks.
The picture below shows part of the stand of old oaks as seen from the ruins of Santa Constanza.
The image below is of the little town of Lizarraga (a Basque name that means "place where the Ash trees grow" which is somewhat odd since I only saw one Ash tree but the whole hillside is covered with oaks). The trail from this little town to the stand of old oaks is pretty will marked and takes about 20-25 minutes to walk. The whole trial is a loop which takes over an hour. Lizarraga is about a 20 minute drive south of Pamplona which itself is located in northern Spain.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI can see that you are expert in trees. Please
help me to identify one tree that I found in Dominican Republic. I have a seed from it. You can see the photo here http://www.box.net/shared/hz4j3jcyrd
Will appreciate you help.
Anna
Hi,
ReplyDeleteAsh trees were probably very common in the past, growing up on the deep and seasonally humid soils of the lower areas you can see behind the little town. Nowadays, Ash trees are common only in the stream banks.
Hope you enjoyed this place.