In fruit
Roughly 2,500 to 3,000 years old.
Ancient trees in Portugal
Portugal has been putting individual trees on a legal register since 1938, and the habit shows. We map 129 trees in 15 cities here. The oldest of them is The Ancient Olive of Santa Iria de Azoia in Lisbon, at roughly 2,850 years.
A tree of public interest here comes with a file: species, girth, height, the year it was classified, and often the year it was last measured, all published by the forestry institute. That makes Portuguese ages more reliable than most, and it makes the disagreements visible when they happen. The trees themselves are a record of the voyages, as in Spain but more so: jacarandas from Brazil, dragon trees from Madeira, Moreton Bay figs whose aerial roots turn a Lisbon garden into something that looks borrowed from another continent. Lisbon holds more classified trees than any other municipality in the country, which is unusual for a capital and says something about what the city chose to keep.
Every place we map in Portugal
1
Lisbon36 trees · oldest 2,850 years2
Porto27 trees · oldest ~270 years3
Bucaco18 trees · oldest 380 years4
Madeira10 trees · oldest 200-600 years5
Setubal10 trees · oldest 117 years6
Guimaraes8 trees · oldest 195 years7Coimbra5 trees · oldest 165 years8
Sintra5 trees · oldest 300-370 years9
Braga4 trees · oldest 285 years10
Aguas de Moura1 tree · oldest 240 years11Azeitao1 tree · oldest 1500-2500 years12Calvos1 tree · oldest 500 years13
Portalegre1 tree · oldest ~190 years14Runa1 tree · oldest 75 years15Vales1 tree · oldest 1,000 years
Lisbon36 trees · oldest 2,850 years2Porto27 trees · oldest ~270 years3Bucaco18 trees · oldest 380 years4Madeira10 trees · oldest 200-600 years5Setubal10 trees · oldest 117 years6Guimaraes8 trees · oldest 195 years7Coimbra5 trees · oldest 165 years8Sintra5 trees · oldest 300-370 years9Braga4 trees · oldest 285 years10Aguas de Moura1 tree · oldest 240 years11Azeitao1 tree · oldest 1500-2500 years12Calvos1 tree · oldest 500 years13Portalegre1 tree · oldest ~190 years14Runa1 tree · oldest 75 years15Vales1 tree · oldest 1,000 years60 species grow in Portugal
Oaks Cork Oak 4 · Pedunculate Oak 4 · Holm Oak 2
Beeches Copper Beech 2 · Sweet Chestnut 1
Planes London Plane 9
Maples Box Elder 1 · Field Maple 1 · Sycamore 1
Chestnuts, walnuts and hazels Horse Chestnut 1
Figs and mulberries Moreton Bay Fig 4 · Rubber Fig 1 · Weeping Fig 1
Conifers Mexican Cypress 8 · Bunya Pine 4 · Coast Redwood 3 · Ginkgo 3 · Atlas Cedar 2 · Douglas Fir 2 · European Yew 2 · Himalayan Cedar 2 · Norfolk Island Pine 2 · Stone Pine 2 · Araucaria 1 · Mexican White Pine 1 · Monterey Cypress 1 · Montezuma Cypress 1 · Western Red Cedar 1
Palms Date Palm 1 · Mexican Fan Palm 1
Fruit and blossom Olive 5 · Texas Madrone 1
Southern hemisphere Pohutukawa 5 · Dragon Tree 4 · Ombu 4 · Tipu Tree 4 · Tasmanian Blue Gum 2 · Blue Jacaranda 1 · Cockspur Coral Tree 1 · Karri 1 · Mountain Ash 1 · Paineira 1 · Red-flowering Gum 1 · Silk Floss Tree 1
More broadleaf trees Tulip Tree 5 · Camphor Tree 3 · Common Camellia 3 · Southern Magnolia 3 · Til / Stinkwood 2 · Bishop Wood 1 · Black Poplar 1 · Bracelet Honey Myrtle 1 · Brazilian Pepper 1 · Magenta Cherry 1 · Mediterranean Hackberry 1 · Norfolk Island Hibiscus 1 · Peruvian Pepper 1 · Prickly Paperbark 1 · Silky Oak 1 · White Ash 1
The 10 oldest trees we map in Portugal
Roughly 1,500 to 2,500 years old.
Roughly 900 to 1,100 years old.
Roughly 500 to 700 years old.
In fruit
Roughly 450 to 465 years old.
Photo: Vampiregrave (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Roughly 376 to 398 years old.
Photo: Soniapampa, CC BY-SA 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Roughly 340 to 390 years old.
Roughly 300 to 370 years old.
Roughly 280 to 340 years old.
Roughly 280 to 340 years old.
Trees from Portugal also appear in Autumn Worth the Trip · The Autumn Harvest · Europe's Best Tree City Trips. See every city on the map, or open the map to find what is near you.