TEN THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT...TREES

1. Trees are the longest-living organisms on Earth.

2. More than five times as many people are injured by falling from coconut palms in the Solomon Islands than are hit by coconuts falling from the trees.

3. The world record for the longest game of Monopoly played in a treehouse is 240 hours.

4. A spruce tree in Sweden was carbon-dated last year to be 9,555 years old, making it the oldest tree on Earth.

5. “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my axe.” – Abraham Lincoln

6. In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the name of the giant ash tree that links and shelters all the worlds and cosmologies.

7. In one year, an acre of trees can absorb as much carbon as is produced by a car driven 8,700 miles.

8. In 2004, according to official figures, there were 141 species of trees lining the roads of Barcelona and 355,671 trees in all.

9. According to legend, the plane tree was made evergreen as a reward for providing shelter under which Zeus made love to Europa.

10. In Spain, the name of Popeye’s girlfriend Olive Oyl was seen as an insult to the olive tree so she was renamed Rosario.