Garoé
The Garoé was the sacred tree ( Arbol Santo ) Aboriginal ( Bimbaches ) of about Spain belonging Canary Island of El Hierro . El Hierro's coat of arms shows it as a tree with clouds in its crown.
history
Due to its high location in the mountains, exposed to the northeast trade wind, the Garoé constantly condenses humidity from the low-hanging clouds on the leaves and branches, as do many other trees on the island ( fog condensation ). The original tree is said to have been very tall and its leafy crown very large. He ensured the survival of the indigenous people, called Bimbaches on El Hierro , as he was still able to supply water even in times of drought. He is said to have rained down a lot of liters of water a day. Tradition has it that he stood in a pool he had created himself. At that time the whole island could be supplied with water that condensed in trees.
The original tree was uprooted by a storm in 1610. The monk Abreu y Galindo claims to have seen him with his own eyes. In 1945, a stink laurel tree was planted in place of the original tree. It is now overgrown with moss and lichen and stands in a rock niche. The water is still condensing on the seven-meter-high tree and it actually seems to be raining a bit when the fog is thick.
According to one of the many legends, when the enemy Castilians invaded the tree, it drained its water into a pit near its roots, where it was collected by the inhabitants and thus able to withstand the siege much longer than expected. Had they not been betrayed by Agarfe , a young bimba , they might have repulsed the thirsty invaders.
However the legends may have happened, St. Garoé remained alive in the minds of the islanders as a source of miracles and a symbol of salvation in need.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d LA Bruijnzeel, FN Scatena, LS Hamilton: Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. Cambridge University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-521-76035-5 , p. 354.
- ^ A b c Lawrence S. Hamilton: Forest and Tree Conservation Through Metaphysical Constraints. ( Online ; PDF; 205 kB)
- ^ A b G. Martel, B. Peñate: Canarias: agua e innovación para la sostenibilidad. ( Online ; PDF; 807 kB)