Árbol del Tule

The Árbol del Tule (The Tule Tree), is the tree with the largest diameter of any tree in the world. The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. ...

It is a Montezuma Cypress (Ahuehuete in the Nahuatl language) and has a diameter of 11.42 m (circumference 35.87 m), and a height of 43 meters. Species Taxodium ascendens - Pond Cypress Conservation status: Secure Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress Conservation status: Secure Taxodium mucronatum - Montezuma Cypress Conservation status: Data Deficient Taxodium is a genus of one to three species (depending on taxonomic opinion) of extremely flood-tolerant conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae, one of several genera... Nahuatl is a native language of central Mexico. ...

It is located in the church grounds in the town center of Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico, approximately 13 km from the city of Oaxaca, on the road to Mitla. Oaxaca is the name of a city and a state in Mexico. ... The United Mexican States or Mexico (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or México; regarding the use of the variant spelling Méjico, see section The name below) is a country located in North America, bordered to the north by the United States of America, to the southeast by Guatemala and Belize, to... Mitla is a town in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, famous for its pre-Columbian Mesoamerican buildings. ...

Its age is unknown, with estimates ranging between 1200-3000 years. Local Zapotec legend holds that it was planted about 1400 years ago by Pechocha, a priest of Ehecatl, the Aztec storm-god; its position on a sacred site (later taken over by the Roman Catholic church) would tend to support this. Zapotec refers to a native people of Mexico, their language family consisting of more than 15 languages, and their historic culture and traditions. ... In Aztec mythology, Ehecatl (wind) was the god of wind, an aspect of Quetzalcoatl. ... The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

For additional descriptions and photographs see:

• WorldExperience.com  (http://worldexperience.com/ps_2000-02-18_arbol_del_tule.html)
• Our Beautiful World (http://www.vulkaner.no/n/latinam/arboltule.html)
• Tule Tree Pictures (http://www.delange.org/Tule/Tule.htm)