Researchers have discovered a beech tree in the Czech part of the Ore Mountains that is more than 470 years old. This was the result of counting the annual rings, scientists from the Czech Agricultural University in Prague announced on Wednesday. This makes it the oldest known beech tree in the Czech Republic to date. For the investigation, a wood sample was taken from the trunk at a height of half a meter using a special drill.
The beech tree is located on the slope of Jansky Vrch (Johannesberg) not far from Jezeri Castle. "When our oldest beech tree began to grow, a castle had just been rebuilt into a Renaissance chateau on the site of today's Baroque castle," the researchers noted. The Saxon spa town of Seiffen is only around ten kilometers away.
The beech tree looks quite inconspicuous, according to the information. On closer inspection, however, the signs of a long life can be seen, such as thick branches in the crown. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a strong growth phase in which the deciduous tree produced a lot of wood and thus also stored a lot of carbon from the atmosphere - at least 350 years old. This shows how irreplaceable old trees are, they said.
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