Three exotic trees each reckoned to be a thousand years old have
been found in Youtian Town of Ji'an County in
Jiangxi
Province, Xinhua, China's official news agency, has reported
recently. These remarkable discoveries were made by the local
forestry department.
One has turned out to be the oldest white cassia-bark tree
(artocarpus hypargyrea hance) in China. The other two are a camphor
tree (cinnamomum camphora) and a podocarpus tree (podocarpus
macrophyllus).
The white cassia-bark tree is a particularly precious find. The
species is very rare in China and has been listed as endangered.
This ancient tree has a girth of 4.6 meters and a height of 21
meters. Black and brown wild glossy ganodermas have been found
growing by its roots.
The thousand-year-old camphor tree is 11 meters in girth. Its
foliage extends to shade an area of no less than 3,900 square
metres. It is the largest of its kind in Jiangxi Province, quite
filling the field it grows in. It has a symmetry that gives it the
appearance of a giant mushroom when viewed from a distance.
The ancient podocarpus has a girth of 3.4 metres and is 10 meters
high. According to the local forestry department, this podocarpus
has reached an age seldom found in China.
(china.org.cn translated by Zhang Tingting, August 29, 2002)