Centuryold Oaks inhabit the bois de Vincennes

In Corsica, on the heights of Carcheto, Jean-Claude Rogliano writer evokes the ochre mass with purple tints: "La Castagniccia is a particular area in a particular island." There is a civilization of chestnut by the Gênois with the vines and Mulberry. Here, it was born in cradles in chestnut and is dying in some kinds of stretchers in chestnut. Lifetime was chestnut cycle: the men ate the chestnut flour (fourteen different preparations with the dough) and pigs producing exquisite meats were fed to the chestnuts. The foundations of houses, roofs, floors, furniture, tools were in chestnut.

Portuguese of Buçaco forest unique in Europe, almost delivered to itself for four centuries, was able to leave free course to his exuberance. New introduced species (Cypress of the Mexico, Himalayan Cedars, the Chile araucarias, redwoods...) perfectly acclimated evoke the world of primary forest: giant tree ferns, invaded trees of foam forming a lace plant. In the Azores and the Canary Islands, the survival of the fossil forests of Lauraceae reflects a time where the whole of Europe was covered by a mantle of "laurasilva" twenty million years ago. Emblem of the islands of the Atlantic: the bamboo. This rare tree, strange shapes, produced a red resin, the "blood of the dragon", used since ancient times for the manufacture of lacquer and medicinal ointments. Purchased at price of gold, he blocked hemorrhages and treating ulcers. At Icod los Vinos on Tenerife Island, a venerable specimen is deemed having 1 500 years! In 1867, the great Explorer and man of German Science, Alexander Humboldt, studied the nearby bamboo of la Orotava, 15 metres from its trunk circumference, could have been the oldest tree in the world at 10,000 years!

The Louisiana bayous provide a special show with a plant duo, remnant of the tertiary era: Bald Cypress and her hair, the Spanish moss. Its phantasmagorical landscape discover on a boat in the Sun. The "Rain Forest" of the island of Maui, in the archipelago of Hawaïi, is subject to a record rainfall: 10 m/year. Sink in this bustling and disturbing universe where each plant species proliferates monstrously, offers spectacular images. A plant shroud covered trees are transformed into green spectra. The Pacific coast of North America is home to a remarkable ecosystem: a wealth of tree species of large, particularly on the Canadian island of Vancouver. Thus "Cathedral Cove" Douglas pine forest, which the immense nave rises to more than 50 m, broadcasts a diffraction light that appears to come from a huge stained glass. Near Tofino, at the entrance of the "Rain Forest", a sign indicates: "presence of bears, be careful! Wonder soon hunting the perplexity and decor, a lush and wild entrelacs, produces a magic of fairy tales. The art of the totem remains very present in the island. North America has a beautiful forest heritage that is often reduced to the famous Redwoods of California. The "Wellingtonia" are certainly among the most beautiful specimens of the plant world but the Appalachian forest presents an exceptional wealth with more species of trees (several thousands) that the whole of Europe.

Opposite, the New Zealand forests are home to giant kauris sacred to Mori. In Cyprus, after endless tracks, in the beautiful mountain region of the Troodos, you discover a forest of Cedars, the latest in Europe.

Although bamboo is not a tree, this Woody grass (1,500 species) can reach 40 m in height. "Friend of the people" for the Chinese, "brother" for the Vietnamese, the Japanese have identified 1 546 different uses of bamboo.

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TREES ACCUMULATE RECORDS

The tree remains enigmatic. How an oak "programmed" for a maximum of 500 years can live 1 200 How has an Italian chestnut developed a trunk of 57 m in diameter there where its congeners merely 3-4 metres Natural selection can provide rational explanations. Unreliable, the calculation of the longevity of venerable trees allows regions and villages to be records. The oak of Allouville, supposed to be the oldest French tree, cannot prove its 2 100 years. What do smile the Americans who feel to 4,700 years age "Methuselah", a brestlecone pine. Japanese cedar (cryptomeria) would be credited with a life span of 5 000 years. The "General Sherman", a Sequoia, is supposed to hold the record for height of conifers: 83 m but it is the "Paradox Tree" at 112,47 m, struck in the hardwood by Australian ashes near the 110 m. measured a eucalyptus uprooted in Tasmania: 132 m! A baobab tree can contain 100 000 litres of water in its trunk and a giant Banyan of Calcutta flourishes under an overhead of 20 000 m2. The belief that to see bamboo grow eye nu is almost saved by the growth of a variety growing to 1 m per day, or 0.6 mm per minute! In contrast, the Arctic Sitka pine grows only 30 cm per century and Australian grass tree beats all records: 10 cm per century.

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ARBOREAL IN PARIS AND ITS OUTSKIRTS CURIOSITIES

The capital contains rare or notable specimens: the Parisian ancestor is planted Viviani square black locust, in 1595. The garden of plants, in addition to its famous Cedar of Jussieu (1734), houses a rare curiosity: a metasequoia, fossil tree discovered in China in 1941. Buttes-Chaumont Park occupies a beautiful catalpa, at the foot of the artificial lake, and a surprising tormented tree that would be a weeping beech. The cemetery of Père-Lachaise (5,000 trees of 50 different species) hosts a purple beech whose roots are tackling the nearby tombs. Two plane trees are distinguished, in the 16th arrondissement, avenue Foch (42 m high) and the other in the Park Monceau (7.5 m circumference). The Park of the Butte of Hat-Red (19th) contains a huge weeping willow and Birch of high stature varieties. Boulogne, rare conifers inhabit the jardin Albert-Kahn and sequoias admirers will find beautiful specimens at Bagatelle Park. Century-old Oaks inhabit the bois de Vincennes.

Paris garden. Walks, conferences. Int. : 01 40 30 47 15. Visits to bike in the Woods. Int. : 01 40 71 75 60 (Mairie de Paris). Visits by District: