Albania – Olive
Argentina – ceibo
Belize – mahogany
Brazil – ipê-amarelo, Tecoma chrysostricha
Canada – Maple
Costa Rica: Guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) - Native to Costa Rica, was designated the National Tree on August 31, 1959. The Guanacaste belongs to the leguminous family and the subfamily of the Mimosas.
Czech Republic – lime
Denmark – beech
England – oak - The Oak held a place of special importance with the English later as the whole edifice of their Empire rested ultimately on this majestic tree; nearly all of the ships that made them such a great naval power were constructed of Oak wood.
Since historical times the Oak tree has been celebrated in popular literature as a symbol of strength and endurance. The poet Alfred Tennyson wrote -
"Live thy life,
Young and old,
Like yon oak,
Bright in spring,
Living gold."
The writer Shirley Ann Grau wrote - "Oak trees come out of acorns, no matter how unlikely that seems. An acorn is just a tree's way back into the ground. For another try. Another trip through. One life for another".
And, according to E. F. Schumacher - "Our ordinary mind always tries to persuade us that we are nothing but acorns and that our greatest happiness will be to become bigger, fatter, shinier acorns; but that is of interest only to pigs. Our faith gives us knowledge of something better: that we can become oak trees".
There are over 600 varieties of Oaks
Estonia – oak
Finland – birch, Silver Birch
France: Yew - this is a very litle known fact, that the Yew, more commonly seen in England's churchyards, is actually the national tree of France.
The life of a Yew, the length of an Age
"The lives of three wattles, the life of a hound;
The lives of three hounds, the life of a steed;
The lives of three steeds, the life of a man;
The lives of three eagles, the life of a yew;
The life of a yew, the length of an age;
Seven ages from Creation to Doom.
Nennius (9th century historian), "Seven Ages"
Germany – oak
Guatemala – ceiba
India: The Banyan Tree - A huge tree which covers several acres through it's incredible root system, sending off new shoots from it's roots. The banyan tree regenerates and lives for a very great length of time--thus it is thought of as the immortal tree.
Jamaica: The Blue Mahoe - A tree of primary economic value as timber, reafforestaion and valued for it's colour and quality in cabinet making.
Japan: Amazingly, for a country that is 70% forested, Japan has no national tree, though it does have a tree selected as representative of each prefecture, instigated in 1996 by the Mainichi Newspaper;
The most popular official tree is the Japanese red cedar, which represents six prefectures. The camphor tree represents four prefectures. Trees that represent three prefectures include the Japanese red pine, Japanese maple, Japanese zelkova and ginkgo. And trees that represent two prefectures each include the Japanese black pine, Japanese yew, Japanese apricot and hiba arborvitae. Two prefectures apparently adopted a generic “pine.”
The other prefectural trees are the Yeddo spruce, Ryukyu pine, Japanese false cypress, Japanese red maple, Japanese horse chestnut, paper birch, snow camellia, chrysanthemum, Chinese bayberry, olive, sweet osmanthus, cherry, ubame oak, azalea and Canary Island date palm.
Lebanon – Lebanon Cedar
Madagascar – baobab - Colloquially these are sometimes known as "monkey-bread trees". A genus of eight species of trees, being native to Madagascar (the centre of diversity, with six species), and Africa and Australia (one species in each).
Reaches heights of between 5-25 m (exceptionally 30 m) tall, and up to 7 m (exceptionally 11 m) in girth. Noted for storing water inside the swollen trunk. All occur in seasonally arid areas, are deciduous, shedding their leaves during the dry season. Some are believed to be many thousands of years old, however, the wood does not produce annual growth rings, so it's impossible to verify; few botanists give any credence to these claims of extreme age.
Maldives – Coconut palm
Malta – Għargħar
New Zealand -Kowhai Tree (thanks skip2468)
Pakistan – Deodar Cedar
Panama – Panama tree
Paraguay – lapacho
Philippines: Nara Tree - A very large and shady tree is the national tree, the Narra trees grows all over the islands, abundant in Bicol, Mindanao and the Cagayan Valley forests. Good for furniture making.
Saudi Arabia – Phoenix palm
Scotland – Scots Pine - In the British Isles it is now native only in Scotland, but historically, records reveal that it also occurred in Ireland, Wales and England, until about 300-400 years ago, sadly becoming extinct due to over-exploitation; it has been successfully re-introduced in these countries. Similar historical extinction and re-introduction applies to Denmark and the Netherlands.
It formed a major part of the Caledonian Forest which once covered much of the Scottish Highlands. Timber overcutting, demand, fire, overgrazing by sheep and deer...even deliberate clearance to deter wolves have all been factors in it's decline. Nowadays comparatively small areas of this ancient forest remain, the last significant surviving remnants being Glen Affric, Rothiemurchus, and the Black Wood of Rannoch. Plans are currently afoot to restore at least some areas.
Senegal – baobab
Slovenia – lime
South Africa: Real Yellowwood Podocarpus latifolius - The Yellowwood family is primeval and has been present in the south of Africa for more than 100 million years. The species is widespread and in forests can grow to 40 metres in height with the base of the trunk up to 3 metres in diameter.
South Korea: Three-quarters of South Korea is forested, and after old-growth forest clearance, the country is now seeing reafforestation. I cannot however find a national tree of Sth Korea, despite the pine being it's foremost tree.
Thailand: The Golden Shower (Cassia fistula linn also known as Laburnum) shows brilliant yellow blossoms during February and May, cascading beautifully from the branches, during the hot and dry season.
USA: Oak - Individual oaks can be seen as important in many key moments of US history, such as Abraham Lincoln's use of the Salt River Ford Oak, marking a crossing in the river near Homer, Illinois through to Andrew Jackson sheltering beneath Lousiana's Sunnybrooks Oaks en route to battle at New Orleans. In American history, "Old Ironsides", the USS Constitution, took it's nickname from the strength found in it's live oak hull, which was famous for repelling the British cannonballs.
Venezuela – the aragüaney
by lauren6
***If you know of any more, do let me know, please!!
