MWP Quiz 25 - Large Tree

Post by **MWP admin** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 6:15 pm

Instead of a herbaceous plant, I am posting a tree, and what a tree!

greenhorn · Post by **greenhorn** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:23 pm

"Next door" in Zebbug we have such a grandpa ( Carob Tree ) too.
Is Yours also a Ceratonia?

IL-PINE · Post by **IL-PINE** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 7:55 am

Heh, an old one indeed.

Post by **MWP admin** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:10 pm

The trunk size is like a carob, but it is not a Carob. I took the photo becasue it was the largest trunk I ever seen of this species. Of course it might be nothing special for experts, but we see the outcome...

Big Hint : - it is a common tree!

greenhorn · Post by **greenhorn** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:39 pm

The way, it grows, is like an Olea europaea, but I don`t know, if they can be so large.

Sdravko · Post by **Sdravko** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:25 pm

admini, you forgot to take away the leaves. that spoils all the fun.
in Malta they reach trunk diameters of about 1.80 m and rootstock diameters which are even bigger. the maximum age in Malta should be about 2000 years. in Italy ive seen such trees over 3 m thick.

Post by **MWP admin** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:32 pm

Exactly! I am posting it maybe I am reporting something important for forresters and botansist. The base of the trunk was perhaps half a metre wide or even more. The fruit where also large, as if it was a cultivar, but could cultivars be so old ??? Or does old trees make bigger fruit?

Post by **MWP admin** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:31 pm

I made the mistake that I did not measure exactly the trunk! The base (rootstock) could really be around 200cm The Oxalis pes-caprae leaves are usually 4cm wide for a rough estimate on the pic
ref: http://www.maltawildplants.com/OXIL/Oxa ... s.html#PIC

Are the fruits so large in old species?

Sdravko · Post by **Sdravko** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:44 pm

there are some trees like some Olea or Phytolaca which make that giant rootstock. there is a very big one at st Anton. i dont know how much time it takes since it could consist of single roots fused together. your tree might be anything between 80 and 150 years old. probably not 150 since that was not a good time for olives in Malta. because of the american civil war britain got no cotton from the US.
being british Malta had to destroy its olive plantations to grow cotton. a severe blow to the Maltese countryside and biodiversity.

IL-PINE · Post by **IL-PINE** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:09 pm

Well, there are some large olives at Bidnija I have read somewhere though I have never seen them.

Sdravko · Post by **Sdravko** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:35 pm

these are the trres i am talking about.

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MWP Quiz 25 - Large Tree

MWP Quiz 25 - Large Tree

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