The Hackberries of Place de l'Université

A fungus is eating these three from the inside, and the city said so itself. In 2020 Geneva's arborist told the Tribune de Genève that the micocouliers de Provence on the Place de l'Université are being hollowed out and risk coming down, which is a candid thing for a municipality to volunteer about trees it has listed as remarkable. The canton's inventory then recorded good vitality at its last field visit in 2024. Both readings can be true of a hollowing tree, which is why these are watched rather than felled. There are three of them, standing together facing the entrance of Uni Bastions, close enough to read as one destination and collected here as one; the pin marks the group rather than a particular trunk. At this spot the register measures 3.3 metres of girth and 18 metres of height. They went in during the early 20th century, and the exact year is not recoverable from the record. Mediterranean hackberry is a southern species living at the cool edge of its range in Geneva, which is part of why a set of them at this size is worth the canton's attention. In Provence its wood was the standard material for pitchforks, whip handles and walking sticks, chosen because it bends a long way before it breaks. These three have shaded a century of students crossing the square, and are now being tested from the inside instead.