Showing posts with label dawn redwood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dawn redwood. Show all posts

Friday, November 13, 2009

The Most Beautiful Road in South Korea?

Forget the tree-lined path on Nami Island. Go to Damyang and look for an avenue flanked by the granddaddy of those deciduous conifers, also known as Dawn Redwoods. Almost 40 years ago, 600 metasequoias were planted along a 6.5 km stretch of road (including Routes 15 and 24 ) on the edge of this small town which is perhaps more famous for its bamboo groves.


It's been voted a number of times by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, no less, as the most beautiful road in Korea.  The trees have grown to a height of about 20 meters. In springtime and summer, they form a green canopy for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to admire. In winter, the bare branches are laced with snow and create a different romantic mood.

                                            Credit: Kiwistyle, dcinside

The road has now become a celebrity of sorts since it was featured in the hit movie, "Splendid Vacation" as well as in "Traces of Love". It's also appeared in many commercials. Small wonder then that it attracts more than 500 visitors daily. More recently, Yoon Eun-hye's character in the KBS drama, My Fair Lady, learnt to ride a bicycle along this road.



I went to Damyang in search of bamboo trees, not expecting this lovely, evocative avenue. Riding at the back of the police car along this stretch and seeing the dignified trees lined up like some official welcoming committee made me feel very much like a VIP treated to a special local delicacy.

 
BTW, if you still insist on going to Nami Island, check out this video.

Some Fascinating Facts About Dawn Redwoods ( (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) So Far:
A "living fossil", the redwood goes back to prehistoric times. There are fossils of the dawn redwood which are thought to be 200 million years old.


At first it was thought to be extinct but then was rediscovered in Hubei Province, central China in 1941. The find was described as the botanical equivalent of finding a living dinosaur.Seeds were collected and passed onto garden enthusiasts who grew them in their gardens. At one point it grew to such numbers that the trees were even axed to make pulp. More recently though, the specie has seen hard times again; this time the threats come from rice cultivation, over-logging and  "inbreeding depression" which makes it less hardy.

Photograph courtesy President and Fellows of Harvard College

Its slender leaves change  from green to gold to reddish-brown before falling off in the winter. The bark of its thick trunk can develop a brown or orange tint.


It's related to the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) found in North America and the lifespan of the oldest specimens are around 600 years.


Redwood bonsai

It's not simply eye candy. Scientists in Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon have found  extracts from the tree may be very useful in dealing with tumours.
Click here for an enthusiastic description of this tree.

Sources:

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