Oldest tree in Versailles pulled down

[Hardbopjazz]

Sad to read this story.

Oldest tree in Versailles pulled down after 324 years

VERSAILLES, France (AFP) - The oldest tree in the grounds of the palace of Versailles -- Marie-Antoinette's oak -- was pulled down more than 320 years after it was planted.

Measuring 35 metres (115 feet) high and 5.5 metres (18 feet) in circumference, the tree died of dehydration in the heatwave of 2003 after being deprived of surrounding cover in the devastating storms of December 1999.

Planted in 1681, the oak was named after the ill-fated wife of King Louis XVI who reputedly liked to enjoy its shade. It is to replaced by another of the same species.

Two tractors took less than two minutes to topple the giant to the ground.

"There is a lot of sadness because our job is to manage the trees and look after their health. I can't help thinking of all the generations of gardeners who watched it grow," said head-gardener Alain Baraton.

[Guy Berger]

I think the oldest living tree is somewhere in the southwestern United States and is about 5 or 6 MILLENNIA old. That's older than Egyptian civilization, for chrissakes.

edit: Whoops, the Bristlecone Pine I'm thinking about is only 4,767 years old. So it doesn't predate Egyptian civilization, though it is older than the first pyramids.

Guy

Edited February 9, 2005 by Guy Berger

[brownie]

A very sad story. That December 1999 freak storm caused extensive damage on the grounds of the Chateau de Versailles.

There is a splendid and very old willow tree near my place in central Paris that also suffered extensive damage during that storm. It is slowly recovering its former beauty now.

[Guest ariceffron]

WHAT IS THE OLDEST TREE IN SW US YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT? ARE THEY SEQUOIA IN YOSEMETIE? IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE REFERRING TOO?

[catesta]

WHAT IS THE OLDEST TREE IN SW US YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT? ARE THEY SEQUOIA IN YOSEMETIE? IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE REFERRING TOO?

CLICK ON GUY'S LINK.

[catesta]

I think the oldest living tree is somewhere in the southwestern United States and is about 5 or 6 MILLENNIA old. That's older than Egyptian civilization, for chrissakes.

edit: Whoops, the Bristlecone Pine I'm thinking about is only 4,767 years old. So it doesn't predate Egyptian civilization, though it is older than the first pyramids.

Guy

I remember watching a documentary on these trees.

Pretty amazing stuff.

They cut the oldest one (4,900 years) down in the 60's for research purposes.

[catesta]

Here it is.

Prometheus

[Hardbopjazz]

Just wonder how the tree died of dehydration. Don't they water the trees? Could this have saved the tree?

[catesta]

Just wonder how the tree died of dehydration. Don't they water the trees? Could this have saved the tree?

Sometimes they just give up.

Supplemental watering was probably not much of an option and may not have not have helped anyways.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Geez, that's a nice chunk of oak. I'm surprised it survived the period immediately following The Seven Years War when France went into mad scramble mode trying to replace 90% of the fleet that had been sent to the bottom. Even at 100 years old in 1780, they could have used it to make a few timbers here....maybe a few casks for booze there.....whatever. You can never have too many casks lying around.....just ask the guys who brought Admiral Nelson's body back from Trafalgar in one.

[brownie]

France may have been in need of wood at certain times but the area where that tree was planted inside the Chateau de Versailles was a preserved haven. It was turned into a national property.

Visiting the Chateau and missing Marie-Antoinette's farm is tantamount to crime.

The place (and its trees and gardens) is a small paradise.

I remember my wife and I taking our kid to the area a long time ago on weekdays when the Chateau was not invaded by hordes of tourists. Magic!

A damn shame that the tree which barely survived the 1999 storm was a victim of the 2003 heat wave that also killed some 15,000 people in France and as many in neighboring countries.