Grasping Trees

[schneefink]

Things I learned today: Israel has weird, but very impressive trees. Friends of mine came back from two weeks in Israel and showed me pictures and just, wow. MSZ and I both agreed that it is very disappointing that we have not seen trees like that in fantasy movies before. Some of my favorites are we think Bengal ficus: google them and look at them and then imagine the dryads. The trees look like they are fighting with themselves. (I also found articles (1, 2) about special trees in Tel Aviv, sadly not with many pictures.)
The Israeli native was very confused by our enthusiasm over trees, but trees in Austria are very boring.

Comments

[goss]

Bengal ficus

We have these in Trinidad, but call it a Banyan tree. Very awesome for playing under as kids. :)

[schneefink]

I can imagine! Are they sturdy enough for kids to climb?

(According to Wikipedia Banyan tree is the more common name, but I really like the look/sound of the word "ficus" for some reason. "Banyan" is also pretty nice though.)

[goss]

Are they sturdy enough for kids to climb?

I don't recall climbing up the branches, but they do seem sturdy enough for climbing if you wanted to. :)

[merit]

a dryad war! that would be pretty interesting. I always liked seeing less used fantasy/fairytale creatures used.

nature always seem more interesting in new locales.

[schneefink]

Imagine these trees' ents :)

[strangelyjonathan]

I'm familiar with photos of those trees. They are amazing! I wish I could see them in person. I have a special fondness for unusual trees.