A Tree Grows in Tule

The widest one in the world, in fact

The massive trunk of El Árbol del Tule, with some humans thrown in for perspective.

Yes, it's springtime and I'm writing about trees. At least this particular tree is so wide you can't reasonably accuse me of hugging it.

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Within the gates of El Templo de Santa María de la Asunción in the town of Santa María del Tule in the state of Oaxaca in the country of Mexico on planet earth, grows a 1,500ish year old tree called El Árbol del Tule.

First, let's dispense with the cold, hard facts: El Árbol del Tule is a Montezuma Cypress (in the Nahuatl language of the indigenous Zapotec people, ahuehuete). These trees grow in parts of Texas, New Mexico, Guatemala and, predominantly, in Mexico. They typically grow at elevations between 1,000 and 8,000 feet (305 - 2,440 meters). The Montezuma cypress is the national tree of Mexico. They are known for being stout trees, but this one in Santa Maria del Tule is the stoutest of the stout. El Árbol del Tule - which stands at a height of approximately 116 feet (~35.5 meters) - has a diameter of 30 feet (~9 meters). This makes it the widest tree in the world. Take that, giant sequoia.

Its precise age is not known (the tree itself, when asked, remains silent on the subject), but it is estimated to be between 1,400 and 1,600 years old (with some claiming it is over 2,000 years old). For many years, scientists believed that El Árbol del Tule was in fact multiple trees that had merged together; but recent DNA analysis has demonstrated that it is indeed a single tree. Zapotec legend states that the tree was planted 1,400 years ago on sacred ground by a priest named Pechocha, which would seem to be in alignment with the fact that the grounds are now a Catholic church (many indigenous sacred sites became Catholic places of worship during Spanish colonization).

El Árbol del Tule is sometimes colloquially called the "Tree of Life", because of the many animal likenesses that the knurled bark of the tree seemingly holds - elephants, jaguars, coyotes, etc.

My last direct interaction with El Árbol del Tule was about 12 years ago - but I do recall it being rather awe-inspiring. Not like the Grand Canyon or the Canadian Rockies - the tree's scale is far more accessible than those vast and dramatic landscapes; but it's complex bark and variegated trunk and massive canopy do leave a lasting (12 years and counting, apparently) impression. And it is somewhat comforting to know that this thing that was alive back when the Hagia Sophia was being built in Constantinople is still living and breathing and providing a welcome perch for many a weary bird today.

A photograph taken by a short-tailed hawk - or perhaps a drone - showing the enormous canopy of El Árbol del Tule sheltering the grounds of El Templo de Santa María de la Asunción.

And yet, there is something missing. I feel like someone should write a poem about El Árbol del Tule. It deserves one. If Keats can write 500 words about a nightingale, surely a few dozen metered and rhyming words about the widest tree in the world seem in order.