In fruit
Roughly 1,000 to 1,500 years old.
Photo: Oberlausitzerin64 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Ancient trees in Poland
Poland names some of its oldest trees after people, not always the ones you might expect. We map 139 trees in 30 cities here. The oldest of them is Cis Henrykowski (the Henryków Yew) in Henryków Lubański, at roughly 1,300 years.
Krakow's Henryk Oak is named for a man who lived beside it from 1923 to 2010 and saved it from a wartime felling order, though the tree predates him by a century, the last survivor of a forest the village grew up around. Warsaw's oldest carries a grander name and an honest gap: Dab Mieszko I, six hundred to six hundred forty years old, is named for the ruler who brought Poland into recorded history, though it began growing centuries after his death. It survived a 2019 arson attack and stands propped and cabled, one of the last fragments of wild forest inside the city. Beyond the five original cities, a dozen national and continental champion trees each stand as their own destination, from a disputed 800-year-old yew at Ksiaz castle to Lodz's 2023 European Tree of the Year. Seventeen places are mapped so far, running centuries younger than equivalents further west, less for lack of old ground than a twentieth century that spared little of it.
Every place we map in Poland
1
Warsaw39 trees · oldest 600-640 years2
Krakow38 trees · oldest 240-250 years3
Gdansk12 trees · oldest 350-400 years4Poznan10 trees · oldest 275 years5
Miedzyzdroje5 trees · oldest 350-400 years6
Wroclaw5 trees · oldest 440-460 years7
Brzoza3 trees8
Sulechów3 trees · oldest 160-170 years9Rogalin2 trees · oldest 800 years10
Rudy2 trees · oldest 450-500 years11
Będomin1 tree · oldest 400 years12Cielętniki1 tree · oldest 500-700 years13Dębina1 tree · oldest 400-450 years14Deblin1 tree · oldest 500 years15
Gliniak1 tree · oldest 370 years16
Hel1 tree · oldest 220 years17Henryków Lubański1 tree · oldest 1,300 years18Hniszów1 tree · oldest 500-650 years19Kozy1 tree · oldest 200 years20
Krasnystaw1 tree · oldest 65 years21
Książ1 tree · oldest 600 years22
Łódź1 tree · oldest 150-200 years23
Pisz Forest1 tree · oldest 600-800 years24Poleski National Park1 tree25
Przybudki1 tree · oldest 400 years26Radomsko1 tree · oldest 165 years27Wiśniowa1 tree · oldest 450-650 years28Wojslawice1 tree · oldest 200 years29Zarzecze1 tree · oldest 200-300 years30Żywiec1 tree · oldest 370 years
Warsaw39 trees · oldest 600-640 years2Krakow38 trees · oldest 240-250 years3Gdansk12 trees · oldest 350-400 years4Poznan10 trees · oldest 275 years5Miedzyzdroje5 trees · oldest 350-400 years6Wroclaw5 trees · oldest 440-460 years7Brzoza3 trees8Sulechów3 trees · oldest 160-170 years9Rogalin2 trees · oldest 800 years10Rudy2 trees · oldest 450-500 years11Będomin1 tree · oldest 400 years12Cielętniki1 tree · oldest 500-700 years13Dębina1 tree · oldest 400-450 years14Deblin1 tree · oldest 500 years15Gliniak1 tree · oldest 370 years16Hel1 tree · oldest 220 years17Henryków Lubański1 tree · oldest 1,300 years18Hniszów1 tree · oldest 500-650 years19Kozy1 tree · oldest 200 years20Krasnystaw1 tree · oldest 65 years21Książ1 tree · oldest 600 years22Łódź1 tree · oldest 150-200 years23Pisz Forest1 tree · oldest 600-800 years24Poleski National Park1 tree25Przybudki1 tree · oldest 400 years26Radomsko1 tree · oldest 165 years27Wiśniowa1 tree · oldest 450-650 years28Wojslawice1 tree · oldest 200 years29Zarzecze1 tree · oldest 200-300 years30Żywiec1 tree · oldest 370 years46 species grow in Poland
Oaks Pedunculate Oak 39 · Sessile Oak 4 · Hungarian Oak 2 · Northern Red Oak 1
Beeches Copper Beech 2 · European Beech 1
Elms and zelkovas European White Elm 3 · Wych Elm 1
Planes London Plane 12
Limes Small-leaved Lime 9 · Silver Lime 2 · Large-leaved Lime 1
Maples Silver Maple 4 · Box Elder 1 · Field Maple 1 · Montpellier Maple 1 · Norway Maple 1 · Sycamore 1
Chestnuts, walnuts and hazels Black Walnut 2 · Horse Chestnut 2 · Turkish Hazel 1
Conifers Ginkgo 4 · European Yew 3 · Scots Pine 3 · Dawn Redwood 1 · Western Red Cedar 1
Palms Canary Island Date Palm 1
Fruit and blossom European Pear 2 · Pear 1
More broadleaf trees European Ash 7 · Black Poplar 3 · Black Locust 2 · Honey Locust 2 · White Poplar 2 · Canadian Poplar 1 · Cornelian Cherry 1 · Cucumber Tree Magnolia 1 · European Larch 1 · Gray Poplar 1 · Japanese Pagoda Tree 1 · Katsura 1 · Poplar 1 · Queen Sago 1 · Silver Birch 1 · Tree of Heaven 1 · White Willow 1
The 10 oldest trees we map in Poland
In fruit
Roughly 700 to 850 years old.
In fruit
Roughly 600 to 800 years old.
Photo: Marta Reszka (CC BY-SA 3.0)
In fruit
Roughly 600 to 640 years old.
Roughly 500 to 700 years old.
Roughly 500 to 650 years old.
In fruit
Roughly 450 to 650 years old.
Roughly 440 to 460 years old.
In fruit
Roughly 400 to 800 years old.
Photo: Pnapora (CC BY-SA 3.0)
In fruit
Roughly 400 to 800 years old.
Trees from Poland also appear in Autumn Worth the Trip · The Autumn Harvest · The Trees the World Has Written About. See every city on the map, or open the map to find what is near you.