The Tree of Tule (Largest Tree in World), Center of Santa, Oaxaca, Mexico

The Tree of Tule is a tree located in the church grounds in the town center of Santa María del Tule in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, approximately 9 km (6 mi) east of the city of Oaxaca on the road to Mitla. It is a Montezuma cypress, or ahuehuete. It has the stoutest tree trunk in the world. In 2001, it was placed on a UNESCO tentative list of World Heritage Sites.

 

It is also one of the largest tree in the world and believed to have the widest trunk. Measurements of its circumference, as reported by various sources, vary from 137 feet to over 170 feet. The trunk is so wide that as many as thirty people with arms outstretched, joining hands are needed to encircle it. However, the trunk is heavily buttressed, thereby appearing thicker and giving a higher reading than it actually is. When this is taken into account, the diameter of the 'smoothed out' trunk comes out to be 30.8 feet, which is still slightly larger than the next most stout tree known, a Giant Sequoia with a 29.5 feet diameter.

In 2005, its trunk had a circumference of 42.0 m (137.8 ft), equating to a diameter of 14.05 m (46.1 ft), an increase from a measurement of 11.42 m (37.5 ft) m in 1982. However, the trunk is heavily buttressed, giving a higher diameter reading than the true cross-sectional of the trunk represents; when this is taken into account, the diameter of the 'smoothed out' trunk is 9.38 m (30.8 ft). This is slightly wider than the next most stout tree known, a giant sequoia with a 8.90 m (29.2 ft) diameter.

The height is difficult to measure due to the very broad crown; the 2005 measurement, made by laser, is 35.4 m (116 ft), shorter than previous measurements of 41–43 m (135–141 ft). It is so large that it was originally thought to be multiple trees, but DNA tests have proven that it is only one tree. This does not rule out another hypothesis, which states that it comprises multiple trunks from a single individual.

 

The age is unknown, with estimates ranging between 1,200 and 3,000 years, and even one claim of 6,000 years; the best scientific estimate based on growth rates is 1,433-1,600 years. Local Zapotec legend holds that it was planted about 1,400 years ago by Pechocha, a priest of the god that the Aztecs would call Ehecatl, the Aztec wind god,(this is in broad agreement with the scientific estimate); its location on a sacred site (later taken over by the Roman Catholic Church) would also support this.

The tree is occasionally nicknamed the "Tree of Life" from the images of animals that are reputedly visible in the tree's gnarled trunk. As part of an official project local schoolchildren give tourists a tour of the tree and point out shapes of creatures on the trunk, including jaguars and elephants. 

 

The tree is over 130 feet high  so tall that it dwarfs the town’s main church and its spires. Its fame so wide that it overshadows everything the town stands for. In fact, the entire town appears to be built around this particularly large cypress tree with its crafts market, church and town plaza all next to it. All life and livelihood revolves around this tree.

Traditionally, the population of Tule made their living extracting and processing lime for sale in the city of Oaxaca. In the 20th century, much of the population became farmers, growing corn, beans, chickpeas and alfalfa. With industrialization, the economy of Santa María del Tule became diverse and the tree became the hub of tourism for the community. As many as three-fourth of the town’s population rely directly on the tree for their livelihoods.

Santa María del Tule used to be a lake surrounded by marshes which included many cypress trees. This marsh was also filled with bulrushes which accounts for part of the town’s name. Today, the lake has dried up and the marshes gone. More recently, increased urbanization and irrigated farming has lowered the water table, threatening the tree's survival.