What is the oldest tree in Paris?
The oldest tree in Paris is the Robinier of Square Rene-Viviani, a black locust planted in 1601 by the royal herbalist Jean Robin, now around 425 years old. It stands in the Latin Quarter directly opposite Notre-Dame, three minutes on foot from Saint-Michel Notre-Dame station.
Paris is unusual among capitals in that its oldest tree has a name, a planting date and a planter. Jean Robin, herbalist to Henri IV, raised the black locust from American seed and set it in the ground in 1601, nineteen years before the Mayflower sailed. It still stands in Square Rene-Viviani opposite Notre-Dame, propped by concrete and partly hidden by ivy, and it still flowers every spring. The runner-up is its own son: in 1636 Robin's son Vespasien took a cutting and planted it in the new royal medicinal garden, now the Jardin des Plantes, where it also survives. That makes the two oldest trees in Paris a documented parent and child, four centuries old and two kilometres apart. Both are black locusts, an American species that reached Europe as a handful of seeds and was named Robinia after the family. For age with grandeur rather than paperwork, the Cedar of Jussieu from 1734 is the city's third elder. Getting there: Saint-Michel Notre-Dame station, then a three minute walk along the Seine.
One of Paris's trees also appears in Europe's 10 Most Remarkable Ancient Trees, a themed collection spanning several cities.