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A fascinating tree in Scotland - the iron-eating tree

From The Telegraph:

Plea to protect 'unique iron-eating tree'
Villagers are calling for a preservation order to be issued to protect a tree that has enveloped pieces of metal, including a bicycle, a ship's anchor and chain, and a bridle bit.

The sycamore tree, dating from the 1800s, stands in the yard of an old smithy in Brig o'Turk, in the Trossachs, now part of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park. As it grew, the expanding trunk engulfed the blacksmith's scrap heap around it.

When a local boy, who had left his bicycle against the tree, failed to return from the First World War the tree grew around it. Parts remain visible, sticking out of the trunk. But hundreds of other pieces of metal are hidden inside.

Posted by DaveH at May 28, 2007 10:50 PM | TrackBack