Purple Beech - Fagus sylvatica Purpurea

There is a Purple beech tree in Madrid with bright reddish-purple color. The color is especially beautiful when the sunlight shines through the tree giving the leaves an almost glowing effect. It is easy to see why this particular variant of beech has been given its name.

Beech trees are not native to central and southern Spain although they can be found in a wide swath across the north of Spain. This particular tree is located in the "Fuente del Berro" park just of the M-30 circular freeway.

Candler Oak - Live Oak (Quercus virginiana)

The Candler Oak is a large old "Live Oak" (species: Quercus virginiana) located in Savannah, Georgia.

The newspaper image below is from Harper´s Weekly, January 14, 1865 when General Sherman captured Savannah. I´m not sure but I believe that the tree in the images is the Candler Oak.

The History of the Chandler Oak tree

• 1730 Candler Live oak starts to grow (approx. date)
• 1791 Georgia State Legislature grants land surrounding the mighty oak to be used for a seaman’s hospital
• 1803 hospital constructed and and remains in use until 1818.
• 1819 construction of the Savannah Poor House and Hospital on the land
• 1854 Hospital converted into the headquarters for the Medical College of Georgia.
  
• 1861 the hospital was used by the Confederacy during the Civil War.
• 1864 General Sherman captures Savannah and uses the hospital to treat his own soldiers and constructed a barricade around the tree to house wounded Confederate prisoners.
• 1930 site returned to service as the Warren A. Candler Hospital.
• 1980 Huntingdon II, Ltd. purchased the building where community health care organizations continued to operate until 2000.
• 1982 first preservation project of Savannah Tree Foundation initiated to save this historic tree which was under considerable stress and was not expected to survive more than another 20 years.
• 1984 A 6,804 square foot easement was established to protect the Candler Oak, which made history by being the first conservation easement on a single tree in the nation.
• 1985 asphalt was removed from the root area to revive the tree and a comprehensive schedule of maintenance.
• 2001 Candler Oak designated a Georgia Landmark and Historic Tree by the Georgia Urban Forest Council.
• 2004 Candler Oak nominated to the National Register of Historic Trees by American Forests
  

(information taken from http://www.savannahoffthebeatenpath.com/Tours/candler_oak.htm)

According to the sign at the site of the tree the Candler Oak is estimated to be 270 years old, have a spread of 107 feet, a circumference of 16 feet and a height of 50 feet.

New Poll about the world´s most valued tree species

I have posted a new poll in the right column about the world´s most valued tree species. In this new poll I left out some of the options from the previous poll and more importantly I added two new options that should have been included in the first poll. In case anyone is interested the initial results of the previous poll had the Olive tree with a slight lead over the rest and then a close tie between four other trees; Apple, Coffee, Oak and Cedar of Lebanon.

In this new poll I have included these five tree species and then added the Sacred fig/bodhi and the Maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba).

I have based the selection of these seven trees on their historical popularity as well as their current popularity as illustrated by how much information there is about them on the internet. It stands to reason that the more information there is about any given tree on the internet the more highly valued it is by the general public. Take into consideration that my evaluation has been done in the English language and that in other languages there may be differences in which are the most valued trees. In fact I believe that the two tree species that I have added to this new poll are in fact much more valued in Asia then there are in other parts of the globe.

So, the seven options for this poll are...

Sacred Fig-Bodhi (Ficus religiosa)

Maidenhair (Ginkgo biloba)

Apple tree (Malus domestica)

Coffee tree (Caffea arabica)

Olive tree (Olea europaea)

Oak tree (Quercus robur)

Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani)

What to you think is the most valued tree species in the world all factors included? Give us your opinion? -->

Olive tree tuberculosis

Olive tree tuberculosis is a disease found on Olive trees in Spain that is caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae. When this bacteria is introduced into a wound on the tree caused by hail, pruning or by the beating of the branches to harvest the Olives it results in the formation of a gall like formation that starts off round and light brown and then grows into an irregular wart shaped canker that ends up with a dark brown color and very hard.

There is no cure for Olive tree tuberculosis other than careful pruning with clean tools. Most often however the condition is not treated as it does limited harm to the tree. An infected tree can often continue producing for a number of years after becoming infected. The best prevention seems to be to use clean tools to avoid spreading the bacteria in the process of pruning and to try to avoid excessive damage to younger branches during harvest.

The dark objects in the tree below are not olives but rather cankers caused by the Pseudomonas syringae bacteria.