Monday, May 03, 2010

Resurrection

It appears that reports of the Hachimangu Ginkgo tree's death were greatly exaggerated. After it blew down a couple of months ago, it was mostly chopped up and taken away, but a chunk of root mass was left in place and a section of the main trunk was erected nearby (along with a book of condolences for people to sign), and people have been praying in front of it - and photographing it - ever since.

To the right is the site where the tree originally grew, where there is now a small mound with green shoots of recovery. More surprisingly, the section of trunk which was set up at the left is greening up too! Fresh leaves can clearly be seen on several twigs. I don't think that bit had any roots attached - it looked like it was cut straight across at both ends. I don't know what chance there is of it re-rooting - obviously some trees can grow from cuttings but this seems an extreme case.

5 comments:

Steve Bloom said...

People want to know
Where does the ginkgo when dead?
Forth, but back again

James Annan said...

Very good!

skanky said...

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/hiroshima.htm

Steve Bloom said...

Thanks, James!

Thanks for the link, Skanky. Ginkgos seem to be able to put up with a lot.

Also, notice the counter at the end. I've never seen it before. Neat.

James Annan said...

Yes, thanks Skanky. Very interesting.