Eclectic Perambulations in the Noosphere
"Located in the French farming village of Allouville-Bellefosse, this amazing oak tree is home to more than just woodland flora and fauna: its hollow, thousand-year-old trunk serves as the base for two small chapels accessible via spiral staircases that surround the tree."
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"Pando (Latin for "I spread", also known as The Trembling Giant) is a clonal colony of a single male Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) located in the U.S. state of Utah, all determined to be part of a single living organism by identical genetic markers and one massive underground root system. The plant is estimated to weigh collectively 6,000,000 kg (6,600 short tons), making it the heaviest known organism.[4] The root system of Pando is estimated to be among the oldest known living organisms in existence at 80,000 years of age.
Pando is located in the Fishlake National Forest, near Fish Lake on the Fish Lake Plateau located at the western edge of the Colorado Plateau in South-central Utah."
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: January 20, 2012
"LONGWOOD, Fla. — Back, way back, before King Tut was born and Alexander the Great roamed his empire, the Senator sprouted in a swamp here in central Florida.
So on Monday, when word got out that the huge, 3,500-year-old bald cypress had burned and collapsed, people from the area who thought that nothing — not hurricanes, not loggers, not disease — could fell the Senator, sank into disbelief.
Investigators for the Division of Forestry are still trying to figure out how the tree burned down early Monday morning. Arson remains a possibility, although it had been initially discounted. Two other possible theories are being considered: the tree was struck by lightning long before Monday (maybe as long as two weeks) and slowly smoldered from the inside, or friction from the wind caused it to combust."
"Although the Taos Pueblo is open to the public and has been studied extensively, much of the history of the Pueblo remains a mystery. According to Taos Indian custom, oral history is not divulged outside of the community, which has kept many of the secrets of the Taos Pueblo safe within the minds of the Taos Indians who still live there.
Despite the lack of an accurate record, most anthropologists place a settlement in the Taos Valley at 1000 CE, and the Taos Pueblo between 1000-1450 CE. Since that time, the sun-dried structure has continuously housed Taos Indians, and 150 people live there today full-time. Since it was built, the Pueblo has always been a residential complex, filled with multiple residences, connected by wall but not by door or window."
"This Mother Grain of the Incas has been grown in the Andes of South America for centuries. Quinoa is a small seed about the size of millet. It is very high in protein and is closer to the United Nation's FAO ideal balance for amino acids than any other common cereal grain. Quinoa is high in essential amino acids: lysine, methionine, and cystine, which are particularly important for vegetarian diets and in correcting deficiencies in legume diets. Quinoa is high in calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin E and some of the B vitamins. Colorado-grown Quinoa has a rich, delicate, nutty taste and can be substituted for nearly any grain in almost any recipe."
Angel Oak (John's Island, South Carolina)
"Reportedly the oldest thing -- living or man-made -- east of the Rockies, Angel Oak is a live oak tree aged approximately 1,500 years. Some locals simply call it The Tree. It stands in a wooded area along Bohicket Road of John's Island outside Charleston, South Carolina.
Angel Oak is a live oak (Quercus virginiana). It is native to the low country and is not very tall but has a wide spread canopy. Lumber from the live oak forests in the sea islands was highly valued for shipbuilding in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Angel Oak stands on part of Abraham Waight's 1717 land grant. The City of Charleston now owns Angel Oak. There is no charge to view the tree and is a must see when visiting Charleston, South Carolina
Towering over 65 feet high, the Angel Oak has shaded John's Island, South Carolina, for over 1400 years, and would have sprouted 1000 years before Columbus' arrival in the New World. Recorded history traces the ownership of the live oak and surrounding land, back to the year 1717 when Abraham Waight received it as part of a small land grant. The tree stayed in the Waight family for four generations, and was part of a Marriage Settlement to Justus Angel and Martha Waight Tucker Angel. In modern times, the Angel Oak has become the focal point of a public park. Today the live oak has a diameter of spread reaching 160 feet, a circumference of nearly 25 feet, and covers 17,100 square feet of ground" angel oak tree.org/
