The Hawthorn of Vallonica
not documentedCommon Hawthorn
Which one is it? A low, wide, many-stemmed hawthorn on the open mountaintop about 500m south of the old Rifugio di Vallonica building, spreading wider than it is tall.
Hawthorn is a hedge plant. This one is on Italy's national register of monumental trees, standing at 1,075 metres on the open top of Monte Subasio, and reaching it is a climb rather than a stroll. The register credits it with 480 centimetres of girth, which is a figure that needs explaining rather than repeating. The ministry measures every tree at a standard 1.3 metres from the ground, and by that height this hawthorn has already split into several stems, so 480 is the girth of a fork. Drop to 50 centimetres and the trunk below the split measures 260. That is still enormous for the species and it describes the tree far better: low, broad and many-limbed, six metres tall with a crown spreading eight and a half, the shape of something that grew up in wind. The walk is the honest part. From Porta Cappuccini it runs about five kilometres on the CAI 350 and 351 trails, past the Eremo delle Carceri and on up to the old Rifugio di Vallonica, climbing roughly 600 metres. No road, no bus, several hours there and back, on open park land the whole way. Time it for May, when the crown turns white and scented and the top of the mountain smells of it. Nobody has dated the tree. If you know, tell us.
The button above opens directions in your maps app. No public transport and no road for casual access; reached on foot via the CAI 350/351 trail from Porta Cappuccini through the Eremo delle Carceri (about 3.3km) and on up to Rifugio Vallonica (about 4.9km total), then a further c.500m to the tree itself
- Species
- Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
- Age estimate
- not documented
- Location
- Monte Subasio, about 500m south of the old Rifugio di Vallonica building, Assisi (High on Monte Subasio (1,075m altitude), well beyond the Eremo delle Carceri)
- Access
- Free and on open park land (Parco del Monte Subasio), but NOT a casual walk: it sits on a marked hiking trail (CAI 350/351) roughly 5km from Porta Cappuccini, past the Eremo delle Carceri, climbing from about 475m to 1,075m altitude. Treat this as a proper hike of several hours round trip, not an afternoon stroll, and say so plainly on the page.
- Getting there
- No public transport and no road for casual access; reached on foot via the CAI 350/351 trail from Porta Cappuccini through the Eremo delle Carceri (about 3.3km) and on up to Rifugio Vallonica (about 4.9km total), then a further c.500m to the tree itself
Trees nearby
Ticking this one off, walks past several more, and your collection growing city by city: that is the Ancient Trees app.
Get the appThis page was researched from a distance. If you know this tree, you know things we do not: the species, the age, the size, whether the photo shows the right tree, or that it is gone. Every field on this page can be corrected.
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