Balderschwang Yew
The Old Yew of Balderschwang is in the Valley of Balderschwang in the district of Upper Allgäu region. It is possibly the oldest tree in Germany.
Description
In the old yew tree is a female specimen of the European yew ( Taxus baccata). For her age she has a very vibrant foliage. It forms on the trunks numerous Lammas shoots and bears abundant fruit every year.
The Old Yew consists of two stem parts that grow from one root. The fact that both parts of the stem belong to the same individual and are not the result of a coalescence of two trees, was confirmed by comparative morphological studies and genetic analysis. The yew tree has a height of 7 m. The master parts individually have a circumference of 2.4 and 2 m. Together with the missing middle section gives an imaginary total circumference of 8.1 m and a diameter of 2.6 m.
Location
The Old Yew is only a few kilometers north-east from the center of Balderschwang. It grows in an alpine meadow above the path to the Upper to the Lower Socheralpe and Balderschwanger Alpe at an altitude of 1150 m above sea level. NN.
The Old Yew increased to a nutrient-rich, but shallow soil over calcareous soil Nagelfluhgestein south-facing slope. Despite the low water holding capacity of the soil, they will have but rarely experienced drought stress because Balderschwang with 2,450 mm average annual rainfall is the rainiest community in Germany. In winter, the tree is protected by a snow cover of up to four meters. The altitude -related but a short growing season and low annual average temperature. That's why the old yew should have a lower growth rate than yews in the lowlands and, accordingly, with the same dimension have a greater age.
Age
The information on the age of old trees usually have a large margin because often make it impossible missing master parts a precise age determination by means of a tree-ring analysis. The age is then derived over the girth and the adopted annual ring widths. The width of the lack of growth rings is compared with other specimens of the same species that had similar growth conditions, estimated, which allows for greater potential.
Even with the old yew can not ring analysis can be performed. It is crucial for their age, whether it is in the two original parts around the remains of a common tribe, whose central part is rotted, or two independently grown coppice, which originate from a root. In the first case an age of well over 1,000 years, is certainly due to the large overall girth. But even in stock swings is probably due to the dimensions of the root and the stem parts of an age of about 800 years. To vary the ages of the Old Yew of Balderschwang of 600-1,000 years, more than 1,000 years until 2000-4000 years. Realistically, probably an age 800-1500 years.