As more environmental activists endeavor to prevent trees from becoming victims to development, few residents might be aware of the rare and superannuated trees in their communities.
For example, Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) serves as an ecological haven for older trees, including what is thought to be the city’s only wild vitex (Vitex quinata), data from the Taipei City Government’s Department of Civil Affairs shows.
According to a recent survey, 1,654 trees are safeguarded by the city government, of which 61 grow in community parks.
Of the city’s 12 districts, Neihu has the largest distribution of these protected old trees, with its Gangqian Park sheltering 11 trees from five species — the monkey-bread tree (Adansonia digitata); the large-leaf banyan (Ficus subpisocarpa); the bishopwood, known locally as red cedar (Bischofia javanica); Ardisia sieboldii; and wild vitex, Civil Affairs Department Local Governance Division head Cheng Chao-yuan (鄭朝元) said.
Gangdu Borough (港都) Warden Chiang Shui-lung (江水龍) said the park’s 11 protected trees are all native to Taiwan, adding that the wild vitex is at least 90 years old.
He said that wild vitexes used to be uprooted in large numbers because the species is used for medicinal purposes, but thanks to the gigantic bedrock upon which the park is built — a structure considered sacrosanct in feng shui — that particular wild vitex in Gangqian Park escaped excavation.
Cheng said there are many interesting stories about these old trees. For instance, the monkey-bread tree is nicknamed the “upside-down tree” by locals, because during arid periods, the barren treetop and the large trunk look like a tree plunged head-first into the ground, with its roots on top.
The large-leaf banyan is another example: The tree is nicknamed the “bird banyan” by locals because it often attracts a range of bird species which feed on its fruit, especially sparrows and bulbuls, he said.
The department said other precious old trees in the city include a 17m-tall monkey-bread tree in Zhongzheng District’s (中正) Yong Chang Park; an India-rubber fig (Ficus elastica) estimated to be 80 years old, in the district’s Guling Park; and a 109-year-old orange jessamine (Murraya paniculata) in Wenshan District’s (文山) Wanyo No. 2 Park.
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