The existence of humans and trees is as intertwined as the gnarled roots of the thousand-year-old wild fig tree, a giant called the Wonderboom.
Those who sit peacefully watching the hypnotic swaying of the kelp forests in Cape Town’s Two Oceans Aquarium or those who have watched the mist rise over the Knysna forest can attest to the healing, and humbling experience of being in the presence of the ancient guardians of the planet.
Trees have also been the inspiration of storytellers and painters and are the stuff good legends are made of. South African born author, JJR Tolkien, created Withywindle, the centre of the ominously strange Old Forest in his Lord of the Rings.
South Africa boasts some of the largest baobabs in the world. It’s also the baobab fruits that hold the magic ingredient to curing infertility, some believe. It’s also believed that an infusion of baobab seeds will create a potent potion to ward off crocodiles.
Another legend centres on a Borassus Palm that grew along the road between Tzaneen and Leydsdorp in Mpumalanga. Here, trapped inside the trunk of the tree, was believed to be the spirit of Chief Magoeba, the last chief of the Batlou tribe. The tribe believed that when Magoeba was slain by the Swazis his spirit had been swallowed up and trapped inside the palm. Only when the tree died did the locals believe that his spirit was finally set free.
Martin Luther King summed up this connection when he said: “If I knew I was going to die tomorrow I would plant a tree today”.