Survivor Trees: Bahrain’s Tree of Life

By stevevoght

Calling All Survivor Tree Links! This blog is hosting the Festival of the Trees on July 1st. Please submit any related posts, articles or photos about resilient, determined or inspirational trees!

So far, the Survivor Tree series has highlighted trees that recovered from bombings– Hiroshima and Oklahoma City. But a tree does not have to survive man-made tragedies to be impressive. It could just merely survive.

Take the case of the Tree of Life (Shajarat al-Hayah), located in the Middle East’s Bahrain. With only 3% of the country’s land arable, a vast majority of the landscape is desert. The environment is harsh to say the least– extreme temperatures, no fresh water, few nutrients. A great deal of the land is barren of any vegetation at all. And then… in the middle of the desert… with no visible water source… stands a single tree. A 400 year old tree at that.

Tree of Life in the Middle of the Desert (Photo by swamibu)

To really appreciate the Tree of Life’s uniqueness and isolation, view it from above (Hat Tip, Ten Thousand Trees). The satellite images in Google Earth capture just how far the tree is from other vegetation and water.

Tree of Life captured by GeoEye Satellites.

Zoom in and out for yourself.

How the tree managed to flourish for four centuries remains a mystery, particularly that pesky question about water. One thing’s for sure. It’s definitely a survivor!

P.S. The Tree of Life is one of the contenders for the New 7 Wonders of Nature. You can vote for your favorite nominees through July 7.