Roughly 800 to 1,200 years old.
Photo: Mortier.Daniel (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Ancient trees in Belgium
Belgium keeps a national champion for each species, and one small Antwerp park hemmed in by three streets holds two of them: the thickest black locust recorded in the country at 4.10 metres, and a black mulberry at 1.28 metres, which is what a record looks like for a tree that never grows stout. We map 82 trees in 20 cities here. The oldest of them is The Gros Chene of Liernu in Liernu, at roughly 1,000 years.
Brussels runs an inventory of its own, and the first entry in it was a squat evergreen oak in the Parc d'Egmont that most people walk straight past. Six of the trees mapped here stand in that one park, within a couple of minutes of each other. The largest tree in Brussels by girth is not European at all: a giant sequoia in the Parc de Woluwe, measured at 8.66 metres around in 2017. 16 cities so far, 75 trees.
Every place we map in Belgium
1
Brussels35 trees · oldest 350-420 years2
Antwerp10 trees · oldest 196-237 years3
Ghent8 trees · oldest 400 years4
Ypres5 trees · oldest 105 years5Bruges4 trees · oldest 250 years6Leuven4 trees · oldest 230-250 years7
Jalhay2 trees · oldest 300 years8Liernu2 trees · oldest 1,000 years9's-Gravenvoeren1 tree10
Bioul1 tree · oldest 400 years11Bonnerue1 tree12
Herchies1 tree · oldest 70 years13Lo1 tree · oldest 250 years14Longlou1 tree · oldest 250 years15Macon1 tree · oldest 310 years16Sankt Vith1 tree17Waremme1 tree · oldest 230 years18
Westerlo1 tree · oldest 400 years19Weywertz1 tree · oldest 350 years20
Xhoris1 tree · oldest 150-300 years
Brussels35 trees · oldest 350-420 years2Antwerp10 trees · oldest 196-237 years3Ghent8 trees · oldest 400 years4Ypres5 trees · oldest 105 years5Bruges4 trees · oldest 250 years6Leuven4 trees · oldest 230-250 years7Jalhay2 trees · oldest 300 years8Liernu2 trees · oldest 1,000 years9's-Gravenvoeren1 tree10Bioul1 tree · oldest 400 years11Bonnerue1 tree12Herchies1 tree · oldest 70 years13Lo1 tree · oldest 250 years14Longlou1 tree · oldest 250 years15Macon1 tree · oldest 310 years16Sankt Vith1 tree17Waremme1 tree · oldest 230 years18Westerlo1 tree · oldest 400 years19Weywertz1 tree · oldest 350 years20Xhoris1 tree · oldest 150-300 years41 species grow in Belgium
Oaks Pedunculate Oak 7 · Northern Red Oak 2 · Turner's Oak 2 · Oak 1
Beeches European Beech 5 · Copper Beech 3 · Sweet Chestnut 1
Planes London Plane 4 · Oriental Plane 3
Limes Lime 7 · Large-leaved Lime 4 · Common Lime 2 · Silver Lime 1 · Small-leaved Lime 1 · Weeping Silver Lime 1
Maples Silver Maple 1 · Sycamore 1
Chestnuts, walnuts and hazels Horse Chestnut 4 · Caucasian Wingnut 1 · Cut-Leaved Horse Chestnut 1 · Turkish Hazel 1
Figs and mulberries Black Mulberry 3 · White Mulberry 1
Conifers Ginkgo 3 · Cedar of Lebanon 1 · Douglas Fir 1 · European Yew 1 · Giant Sequoia 1
More broadleaf trees Tree of Heaven 3 · Japanese Pagoda Tree 2 · Mixed species 2 · Black Locust 1 · Black Poplar 1 · Canadian Poplar 1 · European Ash 1 · Kentucky Coffeetree 1 · Pyramidal Holly 1 · species not established 1 · Thornless Honey Locust 1 · Tulip Tree 1 · Weeping Ash 1
The 10 oldest trees we map in Belgium
Roughly 400 to 600 years old.
Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT (CC BY 2.5)
Roughly 380 to 420 years old.
Photo: Koen Berwaerts (CC BY 4.0)
Roughly 378 to 440 years old.
Photo: Roel Jacobs, Hugo Baeyens, Benedicte Vispoel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
In fruit
Roughly 350 to 420 years old.
Roughly 350 to 400 years old.
In fruit
Roughly 300 to 400 years old.
Roughly 300 to 320 years old.
Roughly 250 to 350 years old.
Roughly 225 to 235 years old.
Trees from Belgium also appear in Europe's Ancient Oaks You Can Actually Visit · Autumn Worth the Trip · The Autumn Harvest. See every city on the map, or open the map to find what is near you.