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wonders to reveal in the way of ancient trees, it is not likely that 
any tree, or indeed any living organism exists that is older than the 
Big Tree of Tule. This tree is a near relative of Taxodium distichum, 
the we own “Deciduous” or “Swamp” Cypress of the 
Southern United States. It is known to botanists as T'axodium 
mucronatum, Tenore, and is a native of Mexico, where it is widely 
spread. The Big Tree of Tule grows in the churchyard of Santa 
Maria de Tule, which is about 18 miles south-east of Oaxaca 
and 250 miles from the City of Mexico. Its height is about 
150 feet and the diameter of the trunk 50 feet ; therefore, although 
of much shorter stature than the Sequoias or Mammoth trees 
of California, its trunk is considerably wider than that of the 
largest of them. There seems to be little doubt, too, that it is 
considerably older. 
though a calculation of the age of such a tree as this must 
be largely conjectural, there are data on which an estimate can 
be based. On other and younger trees of T’axodium mucronatum 
the annual rings have been counted and found to number about 
two hundred in a section twelve inches wide. The annual rings 
on young trees are normally thicker than on very old ones of the 
same species. It seems safe, therefore, in the case of the Taxodium 
of Tule, with its diameter of 50 feet (that is 25 feet from centre 
to circumference), to calculate its annual rings at 200 to the foot 
and to put its age at 5000 years. In spite of its age it appears 
to be still in perfect health. Mr. C. J. Chamberlain of the 
University of Chicago, who gives an interesting account of this 
tree in “School Science and Mathematics,’ Nov. 1921, states 
that in 1908, when he saw it, there was not a dead twig in sight. 
He goes on to say :—‘ Resting under the shade of the Big Tree 
and remembering its great age, one can hardly avoid thinking of 
events which have occurred during its lifetime. Before the 
Pyramids of Egypt were built it was a sturdy tree; and before 
Moses led the children of Israel out of the wilderness, it must 
have reached the usual size of the species; when Rome was 
founded, it must have been known as a big tree; in the days of 
King Arthur and his table round, its reputation as a giant among 
its kind must have been established; and ever since there have 
been Mexican traditions, Indians have made pious pilgrimages 
to the Big Tree of Tule. It must have been a familiar object 
to the pre-historic men who built the Pyramids on the nearby 
Monte Alban, and who erected the wonderful buildings now 
known as the Ruins of Mitla.”’ 
Taxodium mucronatum is represented at Kew at present by 
three trees, one of which is in the Temperate House, a second is 
growing at the edge of the Water-lily pond, and the third on the 
margin of the Lake. These trees were presented by Mr. H. J. 
Elwes in 1908 and are now 7 feet to 9 feet high. Although they 
grow slowly they are quite healthy and the two planted out-of- 
doors have not suffered very much through winter cold as yet. 
In habit and foliage they strongly resemble 7’. distichum but at 
