The Hawthorn of Vallonica

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.