
"If
you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed. If you are thinking 10 years ahead,
plant a tree. If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, educate children".
Chinese Poet, 500 BC
Willows
Pines
The trees that last
long
The species Pinus longevae are the oldest known living trees on earth.It's
hard enough to accept that a tree that was a seedling before the Egyptian
Pyramids went up is still alive today, as is the case with the Methuselah
Tree, a bristlecone pine more than 46 centuries old. But it's truly baffling
to learn under what conditions it has accomplished this extraordinary feat.
Strong
and flexible
Druids in Celtic Britain believed that the oak was sacred, and gathered
mistletoe from it for their ceremonies.
Oak is so strong that until iron tools were developed it could not be
cut down.
The wood is strong and durable and can be grown into the curved shapes
needed for ships and houses.