The Japanese Pagoda Tree of Parc de Gerland

Gerland is one of Lyon's newer large parks by name, built out on former industrial and marshland south of the city centre and reworked repeatedly through the 20th century, so a tree old enough to carry a national remarkable-tree label stands out by contrast with almost everything else growing around it. In 2024 the A.R.B.R.E.S. association added this Japanese pagoda tree to its national list, formally measuring it at 16 metres tall with an 18 metre crown spread and a trunk 302 centimetres around at chest height, figures precise enough to track any future growth or decline against. Despite the common name, the species is native to China rather than Japan, introduced to Europe in the 18th century and prized since for flowering late in summer when few other large trees are still blooming, a trait that makes it valuable to bees and other pollinators after the main spring flush has finished. No individual planting date is documented, so the tree's age is estimated here from its measured size rather than a verified record, but the label recognition alone marks it as one of the more significant individual trees in a 40 hectare park built mainly for sport and recreation rather than horticulture.