DID YOU KNOW?

The world’s oldest cork oak, Quercus suber, is reputed to be the ‘Whistler Tree’ in Portugal. Planted in 1783, now over 14m tall with a trunk diameter of over 4m, it’s described online by Guinness World Records as “the largest cork tree”. Since 1820, at nine-year intervals, its outer bark has been harvested to provide cork for wine bottles.

A search of monumentaltrees.com shows a cork oak in the California State Capitol Museum park, Sacramento, that measured 24.6m high in 2018 with a trunk diameter of 2.98m. The largest cork oak in the NZ Notable Tree website (tree 0623) is in Te Awamutu Cemetery, Te Rahu Road, Waikato, planted around 1911. When measured in 2000 it was 26m high, with a trunk diameter of 2.2m and a spread of 26.3m. Check it out – hug a big tree.

– The NZ Tree Register