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Università di Torino THE TREES OF HISTORY Protection and exploitation of veteran trees Proceedings of the International Congress Torino, Italy, April 1st-2nd, 2004 Edited by Giovanni NICOLOTTI University of Torino DI.VA.P.R.A. Plant Pathology Paolo GONTHIER University of Torino DI.VA.P.R.A. Plant Pathology Regione Piemonte Università di Torino THE TREES OF HISTORY Protection and exploitation of veteran trees Proceedings of the International Congress Torino, Italy, April 1st-2nd, 2004 Edited by Giovanni NICOLOTTI University of Torino DI.VA.P.R.A. Plant Pathology Paolo GONTHIER University of Torino DI.VA.P.R.A. Plant Pathology ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Prof. G. Nicolotti Dr. M. Palenzona Dr. P. Gonthier Dr. R. Martinis Dr. F. Grisoni Dr. L. Persio Ms. S. Ghirardi Dr. B. Camusso MAF Servizi (Secretary) SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Prof. G.P. Cellerino Prof. F. Ferrini Dr. P. Gonthier Dr. D. Lonsdale Prof. G. Nicolotti Dr. D. Nowak Dr. G. Watson Printed by Centro Stampa - Regione Piemonte Speakers Torino, April 1st - 2 nd, 2004 3 MONUMENTAL TREES IN HISTORICAL PARKS AND GARDENS AND MONUMENTALITY SIGNIFICANCE R. Caramiello1 and P. Grossoni 2 1 Università di Torino Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale - Torino 2 Università di Firenze, Dipartimento di Biologia vegetale - Firenze Reference to trees is present in all cultures and in all ages as a cosmic symbol and one of regeneration and resurrection and more in general of life, in its various stages: from the biblical tree of knowledge of good and evil to that of the garden of Hesperides, from the tree of liberty to that of fevers which summed up medical knowledge in the first half of the eighteenth century on the fever which afflicts mankind in a wide range of diseases. Despite these cultural values the protection of trees and woods in general has undergone over time periods of more or less marked decline. These have been linked both to a variety of reasons: a diminished sense of the sacred, reduced control over royal and community forests, changes in the use of the various species, and finally, to the different importance given to the question of the landscape. However, the might of a tree has always caught mans attention and the species which could more easily reach considerable dimensions or age often acquired a religious meaning or a social role (for example, the oaks dedicated to Jupiter or Yggdrasil, the huge ash tree which according to Germanic-Scandinavian cosmogony had given rise to the universe and from which, after the disappearance of the world and gods, a new universe would be born or, to cite other examples, the cypress trees linked to the cult of St. Francis, the lime trees of mediaeval central Europe were often the place where justice was administered, etc.). Conservation and protection in the past were therefore derived essentially from the respect of beliefs and traditions which saw in certain trees the symbol of a guarantee, including a supernatural one, of the daily activities of survival but which, often, were also a fundamental moment in human activity (trees for fruit production for food and/or for propagation, trees for shelter, trees as signs or boundary markers and so forth). A first sign of defence of the territory and tree heritage can be found, for unified Italy, in the forestry law of 1877 and in 1939 tree heritage was finally considered in several laws which regarded historical and artistic heritage, at least as far as gardens and parks are concerned and the whole aspect of panoramic beauty spots considered as natural pictures without better defining the characteristics. In the last few decades the cultural debate has led to the drawing up of national and regional legislation which include trees in programmes which promote the knowledge and protection of such assets. Furthermore, many of the trees which at present are indicated as monuments are part of historical parks and gardens, although the practice of safeguarding and allowing trees to grow in gardens is a relatively recent cultivation technique. In the mediaeval garden and in formal gardens (in so-called Italian and French gardens) trees of particular size were not envisaged (it is sufficient to read the theories of Alberti, Colonna, Serlio, Del Riccio, Ferrari or Dezallier DArgenville, etc.) although the presence of a majestic tree could form an unusual and striking architectural motif such as Castellos and Pratolinos oak ( una Quercia di smisurata grandezza nella cui cima si sale per due scalle coperte dalle foglie ove sopra vi è uno spatio di 16 braccia di circuito cinto di lochi da sedere con una tavola nel cui mezzo sgorga un fonte chiarissimo [ ... an Oak of huge size to the top of which one can go up by two stairways cloaked by leaves where above there is a space of 16 braccio in circumference, about 10 m, surrounded by places to sit with a table in the middle of which gurgles the lightest of fountains.]. AVR, Cod. Barb. lat., n. 5341, c. 210 r., 1588. In Zangheri, 1979). For romantics, beauty is not closed in perfection: beautiful is any subject where it is possible to read the free flow of nature and history. Thus wonder for the unusualness of a tree (for size, shape, blossom, rarity, location, etc.) becomes a typical artifice of the romantic garden which is amply recommended by the theoreticians of the period because it exalts the very meaning of Nature, permanence and resistance: A tree, alone and isolated, may be noteworthy for its own nature: it can attract attention with its immense stature, with its fine canopy, and also with its branches, and with its leaves and fruits. The more isolated the tree is, the less the eye is distracted However the gardener artist will not offer too frequently a solitary tree, unless it merits particular regard (Silva, 1813). Certainly sustained and fostered by Romantic aesthetic reasons, admiration for the unusual tree rapidly acquires momentum, as a motif of exceptionalness, whether the tree is unusual in itself, or in habit, in colour, in growth. In the woods of our continent, where, in certain zones, mans action has been uninterrupted for thousands of years, the monumental tree is 4 International Congress on The Trees of History not so much one which reaches the maximum dimensions as such but rather one which, for the reasons mentioned above, has been able to exceed the time limits (generally reduced) which man puts on the life of trees and thus it appears to be outsize compared to the standards of our cultural models. It is the tree which lives longer than normal which surprises us for its dimensions and already Horace Walpole in 1771 wrote that one does not often see a really old tree because the sense of landscape and government inspectors are two incompatible things. Walpole was certainly not what we would call today an angry environmentalist, so much so that shortly later he also wrote that in a garden, at Petworth, there are several two-hundred- year-old oaks. According to him, if there is a shortcoming in such a noble, skilfully improved fragment of nature, it is that the large size of the trees is out of proportion to shrubs and bushes. Factors Which Influence The Monumentality A tree which for age, habit, size, rarity, cultural, historical or geographical value or for a specific connection with decorative or structural features (buildings, statues, fountains, etc.) has an intrinsic value which may be defined as a very noticeable plant (Grossoni, 2002). The monumentality of a tree brings immediately to mind the idea of exceptional dimensions (correctly speaking, monumentality qualifies the very grandeur of a specific monument); in this sense it is strictly connected to the definition of noticeable plant and it refers both to specimens of species which, potentially, may reach particular values regarding height, width of canopy and/or trunk diameter and to trees which are exceptionally outside the norm for species which are usually of modest size. The factors which can foster a monumental habit of a determined tree are multiple. They may be intrinsic (in the genome), correlated to cultivation methods or to environmental conditions. 1) Genotype. Given that a tree which reaches exceptional dimensions for its species is a clear expression of diversity, obviously the first condition is represented by the characteristics of that determined genome. The information contained in a genome is seen not only as a cause/effect relationship (i.e. genes that regulate a superior phenotype) but also as genes which induce the potentiality to grow very old by determining resistance to otherwise fatal diseases. 2) Age. It would seem obvious to state that the more a tree ages the greater it can grow in dimensions until it reaches a monumental value. Actually cultivation practices (in the woods) and maintenance, restoration or restructuring works (in an urban environment or in gardens) tend to sharply reduce the life expectancy of a tree. 3) Economic value. For centuries (and, in the Mediterranean area, for thousands of years) the woods of most of Europe (especially western Europe) have seen constant use, a fact which necessarily has limited the life of their trees and which defines periods of growth that are lower or much lower than their biological lifespan. The life expectancy of these trees has always been tied to the economics of felling. There are several examples but they regard essentially (more or less sporadic) species whose felling, until the advent of suitable tools (chain-saws), was particularly difficult and expensive (for example, juniper, yew and Cornelian cherry) or species whose wood is in little demand (e.g. Pinus heldreichii on Monte Pollino) or, finally, individual trees or clusters of trees growing in areas which are difficult to exploit (for example, the beech wood of the Riserva Integrale di Sasso Fratino in the Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi).

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