Hundreds of modified trees described as national treasure
November 10, 2024 9:03 PM Subscribe
Hundreds of modified trees on outback property in outback New South Wales described as a national treasure. You may have heard of scar trees, but how about trees-in-trees? These different types of modified trees tell a story about Indigenous culture, if you know how to read them.
It was Gamilaroi elder Allan Tighe who would first point out what Jane calls a "tree-in-tree" on one of their regular musters.
"Uncle Allan said when someone was born, they planted a tree and it was that person's tree," she said.
"And when that person died they planted another tree in the dead part of that tree – or in a crotch that had been created."
"Trees-in-trees" are tree species growing out of another tree species, often with stone-axe cut marks visible around the guest tree's graft.
What makes them unusual is that neither species is an epiphyte: the type of plant that grows on another plant but is sustained by airborne nutrients.
It was Gamilaroi elder Allan Tighe who would first point out what Jane calls a "tree-in-tree" on one of their regular musters.
"Uncle Allan said when someone was born, they planted a tree and it was that person's tree," she said.
"And when that person died they planted another tree in the dead part of that tree – or in a crotch that had been created."
"Trees-in-trees" are tree species growing out of another tree species, often with stone-axe cut marks visible around the guest tree's graft.
What makes them unusual is that neither species is an epiphyte: the type of plant that grows on another plant but is sustained by airborne nutrients.
That’s a lot of trees!
posted by Captaintripps at 5:01 AM on November 11
posted by Captaintripps at 5:01 AM on November 11
Thanks for posting this - I wasn't even aware this was a thing.
posted by dg at 9:29 PM on November 11
posted by dg at 9:29 PM on November 11
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Once upon a time I read Songlines by Chatwin. I can't attest to how the people whom its about feel about it. But it certainly exposed me to another way of being in this diverse human experience. And I'm always looking for more. Thank you for the FPP, and adding one more waypoint in the geography of my mind.
We had trees planted when we were born in the United States. My mother and I were devastated when mine, a maple grown almost 15 meters tall, was cut down by the city.
posted by rubatan at 11:30 PM on November 10