The Robinia Pair by the Old Hötting Church

Innsbruck protects these two black locusts as one natural monument. They were listed together in 1978, under a single entry, and they stand in a small public park beside the cemetery of the old Hötting church. The larger is about 23 metres tall, with a trunk more than a metre across at the base, and the survey records it as covered in ivy. A metre across works out to more than three metres round if the trunk were a perfect circle, which trunks never quite are, so take that as a floor rather than a measurement. Black locust came to Europe from North America. The survey calls these two old and says no more: no planting date, no age, nothing that ties them to the church's own history. Nobody has dated them. If you know when they went in, tell us. The park is tiny, which makes them easy to find: two tall trees side by side by the cemetery wall, north of the Hötting cemetery on the Steinbruchstrasse. Black locusts flower in early summer, hanging white and strongly scented, and June is when to come if you want them at their best. The very old oak on the Schulgasse is a short walk away, so one trip to Hötting covers both. Entry to the park is free.