460 year old fig tree, Lambeth Palace

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Dave

Registered:1312388324
Posts: 1,482

Posted 1453922905	Reply with quote #1

This fig tree at Lambeth Palace was planted in 1556 by the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Pole. It's thought that he brought the tree from southern Italy, where he spent a lot of time. (Quote) Lambeth Palace Fig Tree Cutting The Ficus carica ‘White Marseilles’ fig tree was brought to Lambeth Palace by the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Reginald Pole in 1556. It probably came from southern Italy where Pole spent a lot of time. The fruits are white fleshed and very rich and sweet, they are ripe when the skins turn a chartreuse colour and start to split. At Lambeth Palace the huge trees grow against the east-facing walls of the Great Hall in the sheltered main court yard. We get two crops in a good year, firstly in early July from over-wintered embryo fruits and then a second crop in late September on the current season’s growth, the second crop being the best with their thicker skinned fruits that melt in the mouth! This cutting has been taken from the tree planted by the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury and thus it represents the common heritage of our two churches. Having been brought to Lambeth by Pole it is fitting that it now, finally, arrives in Rome so that the one tree will bear fruit in Lambeth and Rome as a visible sign of our own and our churches relationship growing and bearing fruit from the same source (Quote) Here's the link http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/5346/archbishop-justins-gifts-for-pope-francis __________________ Connecticut - Zone 6B Wish List - Bordissot negra rimada

Smyfigs

Registered:1443660141
Posts: 1,658

Posted 1453923374	Reply with quote #2

WOW! __________________ Meg-Hardiness Zone 10a Looking for... Socorro Blk Wuhan Jolly Tiger Lamperia Preta Herschtetten St. Jean Black Ischia "The best way to show my gratitude is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy." ~ Mother Teresa "Do not pass by a man in need for you may be the hand of God to him." ~Proverbs 3:27~ "He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." ~Job 5:4

Smyfigs

Registered:1443660141
Posts: 1,658

Posted 1453923537	Reply with quote #3

I meant to say more but I was impressed by this tree! So it's a White Marseilles. What a beautiful and meaningful fig tree "a visible sign of our own and our churches relationship growing and bearing fruit from the same source" __________________ Meg-Hardiness Zone 10a Looking for... Socorro Blk Wuhan Jolly Tiger Lamperia Preta Herschtetten St. Jean Black Ischia "The best way to show my gratitude is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy." ~ Mother Teresa "Do not pass by a man in need for you may be the hand of God to him." ~Proverbs 3:27~ "He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." ~Job 5:4

starch

Registered:1444492067
Posts: 123

Posted 1453924402	Reply with quote #4

WHOA! Man, all these old / unusual fig tree picture are just awesome. Thanks for sharing! __________________ Location: USDA Zone 9b / Sunset 13. Chandler, AZ Currently producing fruit and scions: Violette de Bordeaux, Panache, Black Mission, Black Jack, Smith, Col de Dame Gris, Marseilles Black VS, Red Lebanese (Bekaa) Small Trees / Currently rooting: lots Wish List: Ponte Tresa, Italian 258, Genovese Nero (not Rob's)

Fico

Registered:1423243850
Posts: 85

Posted 1453932249 · Edited	Reply with quote #5

I'm sorry to spoil the enthusiasm, but it's impossible that this tree is 460 years old. First, a fig tree doesn't live so long, secondly in winter 1683-84, Thames was completely frozen for three months, between 1608-95,Thames was frozen 12 times, and even up to 1814, last time. How can a fig tree pass all of these extreme weather events as well?

pacifica

Registered:1437258402
Posts: 274

Posted 1453933535	Reply with quote #6

Wow awesome and amazing! Thank you for sharing.

Dave

Registered:1312388324
Posts: 1,482

Posted 1453935030 · Edited	Reply with quote #7

Fico, How old would you say this fig tree is? in Dunwich England According to the owner it's roughly 300 years old http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/the-ship-inn-dunwich-suffolk-champion-fig-tree-6229173 __________________ Connecticut - Zone 6B Wish List - Bordissot negra rimada

elin

Registered:1360863025
Posts: 1,271

Posted 1453936237	Reply with quote #8

Did the chiswick fig collection ended because of the frosts? http://www.figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/england-–-chiswick-fig-collection-6224028 __________________ Eli ,Israel ,Zone 10? Too humid and hot, yada yada yada https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1298814119 Growing: Sbayi, Hmadi, Black Portugal, Black Brazil,Excell, Flanders, Hmari , RDB, Niagra Black,Natalina, CDDN,Maya, Preto Torres, Preto Arge

fignutty

Registered:1374034473
Posts: 580

Posted 1453943996	Reply with quote #9

Maybe the roots are 460 yrs old and the top has been frozen back to the ground at various intervals. The tree in England looks very old. The trunks of the tree at Lambeth palace don't look anywhere near that old. A 460 yr old fig should have a trunk 3-6ft diameter. __________________ Steve in Alpine TX 7b/8a Wish list: Sangue Dolce, Siblawi, Victoria, Emalyn's Purple, Colonel Littman's Black Cross

baust55

Registered:1240892043
Posts: 497

Posted 1453947292	Reply with quote #10

When I was in Peru there was supposed to be a 600 yr old fig planted buy Pazaro in the court yard of the original Presidential Palace . I thought it would be cooll to pinch a cutting . But The day we wer to go tour the palace there was a political demonstration and the square was closed . __________________ AUSTIN Read more mad non- scientist stuff ....check out my post on KITTY LITTER ! http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/kitty-litter-really-kitty-litter-7398708?pid=1287129765#post1287129765 "I grow fruit of the wine!" Zone 5 Fig trees I have : Hardy Chicago , Weeping Black , Ginoso , Excel , VEBT , and Genovese Nero . My Wish list: Panache, Florea,Desert King , RdB, Marseilles black vs, Vdb , Abruzzi, JH Adriatic , Nero 600 , MvsB, Malta Black,

Jodi

Registered:1443230258
Posts: 343

Posted 1453950645	Reply with quote #11

Oh my both of these trees are truly old garden earth spirits. Wow oh wow what a legacy their old gnarly trunks represent. Wonderful to see the pictures of these ancient ones. Bravo to those who have cared for them all these centuries and to the trees for surviving how ever long they have. It is inspiring to see. Go figs. __________________ In the book the "The Meaning of Trees" it is said the fig regulates the heart and that the true essence of Figs is...food for the soul. Daisy's IBT cuttings will be available in January/February along with a few Lampeira Parda. Wishes for Martinenca Rimada, Black Ischia, I258, CddRoja, Jolly Tiger, Your favorite Figgy! Zone 8a Camp Verde AZ

jdsfrance

Registered:1376988473
Posts: 2,591

Posted 1453984076	Reply with quote #12

Hi, In post1, the trunks are too thin too be that old. There could be an hidden trunk in the background though. Remember that this tree is not in an open field, but in a yard of a house in town. Each time that the cold sets in, the human beings will heat the house a bit more, and the house will act as an heat sink. Nearby river will make the temps milder too. So in a cold climate, a fig tree in such a spot is in the best place you can dream of. The elusive "white Marseilles" ... It never made it to my eastern France nurseries ... Funny, ain't it ? In post9, that tree is definitively older than us ... :) __________________ ------------------------ Climate from -25°C to + 35°C Only cold hardy figtrees can make it here

Fico

Registered:1423243850
Posts: 85

Posted 1454064860	Reply with quote #13

I do not doubt that this plant is very old, but in Europe end north America, in past centuries, there was the "Little Ice Age", and i assure you that in north Italy also died apple, plum, cherry and pear trees sometimes. You think that sometimes are also frozen harbors, like Marseilles and Genoa in 1709, end even the mouth of the Tagus in Lisbon!

greenman62

Registered:1442342031
Posts: 45

Posted 1454104869 · Edited	Reply with quote #14

i wonder if they could spare a few cuttings ? FYI.... i want a cutting from this one LOL... --------------------------------------------------- One of the most famous species of Banyan, called the Sacred Fig [wiki] or Bo tree, is the Sri Maha Bodhi [wiki] tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is said that the tree was grown from a cutting from the original tree under which Buddha became enlightened in the 6th century BC. Planted in 288 BC, it is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world, with a definitive planting date! http://www.neatorama.com/2007/03/21/10-most-magnificent-trees-in-the-world/ List of famous fig trees Ashvattha – the world tree of Hinduism, held to be a supernatural F. religiosa Bodhi tree – a F. religiosa Charybdis Fig Tree of the Odyssey, presumably a F. carica Curtain Fig Tree – a F. virens Ficus Ruminalis – a F. carica Plaksa – another supernatural fig in Hinduism; usually identified as F. religiosa but probably F. infectoria Santa Barbara's Moreton Bay Fig Tree – a F. macrophylla Sri Maha Bodhi – another F. religiosa, planted in 288 BCE, the oldest human-planted tree on record The Great Banyan – a F. benghalensis, a clonal colony and once the largest organism known Vidurashwatha – "Vidura's Sacred Fig tree", a village in India named after a famous F. religiosa that until recently stood there Wonderboom - the largest fig tree, in Pretoria, South Africa The well-known Wonderboom is a dense grove of parent and daughter trees of the species Ficus salicifolia, that descended from a central bole of about a thousand years old.^[1]^[2] It is named after the Wonderboom grove inPretoria, that has spread from a central bole that was carbon dated to about 1,000 years old.^[1]^[2] The Wonderboom is an extraordinary specimen for its size and structure, and its drooping branches are continuing to root and form new trees.^[2] http://us.wow.com/wiki/Ficus_salicifolia __________________ New Orleans La. zone 9 growing subtropical food-forest figs = Black Mission, Celeste, 2 un-named, and 4 cuttings started guava, papaya, mango, fig, mulberry, jujube......., white, black, and mamey sapote...., Cherimoya, lychee, longan, several psidium/guava relatives, Jaboticaba, citrus, Jamun, natal plum, and about 100 more...

pino

Registered:1383190021
Posts: 2,117

Posted 1454110745	Reply with quote #15

That is an awesome photo of the fig tree in Dunwich England! Does it still produce figs? I would love to go see it and eat some fig. __________________ Pino, zone 6, Niagara, JCJ Acres Wish; Peace on earth and more figs Italian 258, Galicia Negra, Luv, trade suggestions welcome.

johnjay7491

Registered:1427833258
Posts: 74

Posted 1454118170	Reply with quote #16

Pino Apparently it produces plenty of figs that never ripen, probably not enough heat. Follow the link in post #9. __________________ John NH Z5

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