The Hackberry of San Michele, Diano Borello

A hackberry five metres round is a big one: this species is planted in squares and by churches all over the Mediterranean, and most never come close. Italy's national list of monumental trees measures this one at 5.1 metres round and 15 metres tall, at the parish church of San Michele Arcangelo in Diano Borello. The church stands on a promontory above the Diano valley, on a cobbled churchyard. Over its door a fresco of Saint Michael between Saint Peter and Saint John the Baptist carries the date 11 June 1485 in Roman numerals, and the stone balls on the facade are, by local tradition, the remains of a temple to Diana that gave the valley its name. The hackberry is the classic shade tree of Mediterranean squares, with smooth grey bark like an elephant's skin, leaves with a long pointed tip, and small dark berries that birds love. Nobody has published how old this one is. If you know, tell us. Our pin is the register's point. It costs nothing to see, and the view over the valley from the churchyard is worth the stop as well.