Top Five Strangest Trees In The World; Iroko Makes The List, See Others

Trees are perhaps the most underrated creatures in the world. Maybe because they are not particularly classified as living things (plants). However, they contribute a great deal to the world’s economy and general well being of humans and other living creatures. They provide food by producing fruits and shrubs, they serve as herbs, used for making fire and generally used as furniture to beautify homes.

While some of these trees have simple structures, some take on some rather stranger shape, size or look. Below are five top strangest trees in the world:

The Basket Tree (United States Of America)

The Basket Tree is the Park’s centrepiece and one of the most intricate of the Circus Trees. It was created from 6 American Sycamores. I was grafted by a man named Axel Erlandson, a horticulturist who loved to shape trees in unusual forms.

He started shaping trees after observing the natural process of bonding known as inosculation. To achieve the basket tree, He used a combination of bending and grafting to guide tree trunks into geometric forms. To create the basket tree, Erland planted 6 sycamore trees in one circle and then topped all of them at one foot and then approach-grafted together one to another to create diamond patterns. This tree is now a centrepiece of Gilroy Gardens.

The Wollemi Pine Tree or the “Dinosaur Tree” as it is popularly known as, is one of the biggest agricultural discoveries that were made in Sydney, Australia in 1994. These strange-looking tall trees were found in the Wollemi Natural Park, 150 km from Sydney. They can grow up to 40 meters in height and are a part of the conifer family. The trunk of this tree can reach about 1 meter in diameter and its branches may grow sideways or upright, and that depends on its origin. They are a rare species and thus efforts have been made to conserve them. They’re wonderful, unusual as well as strangest

trees.

Iroko tree (African teak) is a gigantic deciduous tree with a height of approximately 52 metres (162 ft) high and many short buttress roots formed at the base. The bark of the iroko tree is characteristically dark grey or pale in colour with thick texture and milky or yellowish latex if cut. The thick branches of the iroko tree shoot out horizontally thus giving an umbrella shape. The iroko leaves are ovate in appearance, greenish in colour with toothed edge and measure approximately 5 to 10 centimetres. When the iroko leaves become older, they tend to turn yellowish in colour while the young leaves remain greenish. The iroko leaves are also characterised by a rectangular mesh of easily conspicuous veins.

The iroko wood is usually yellowish in colour initially but tends to transform into dark brown colour as the tree matures. Interestingly, this dioecious iroko tree appears to be one of the highly priceless trees in the world due to its numerous beneficial potentials. The iroko seeds are usually dispersed by rainwater, wind or animals such as bats. Both the male and female iroko trees have unique distinguishing features e.g; the female iroko trees are characterised by greenish prominent flower spikes that are approximately 5 to 6 centimetres long by 2 cm wide, while the male trees are characterised by white catkins that measure approximately 15 to 20 centimetres extending from the twigs at the leaves axils.

Iroko tree is worshipped in some parts of Africa where it is believed to have been a man who angrily turned into a tree after being betrayed by his most trusted person.

Baobab is also called the teapot tree and they are found growing in Madagascar. There are nearly 9 species of Adansonia around the world. 6 of them are native to Madagascar and 2 belong to the Arabian Peninsula and mainland Africa. The 9th one is native to Australia. In Madagascar, you will be able to find Baobabs in different sizes and shapes and they are believed to be about 1000 years old. These trees can attain a height of 16 feet to 98 feet and their trunk’s diameter can go anywhere between 23 feet to 36 feet. The most unique thing about this tree is that they can be leafless almost throughout the year but their trunks have the capacity to store gallons of water.

, Asia)

Located in the Seam Ream Province, Cambodia, these silk-cotton trees have a few amazing features. The place where these trees are found growing have been untouched for hundreds of years and now it is named the Angokar Archeological Park. The trunks of this tree go upwards towards the sky and create a canopy and their countless roots stay coiled on the land. It’s one of the most amazing as well as strangest trees in the world.