In Orne, five giant trees recognized as remarkable

You have undoubtedly already seen them in Bagnoles (Orne), in this castle park Town Hall of 18 hectares with its 180 recorded species and its incredible natural wealth. They look like Hollywood actors: tall, handsome, photogenic… and from California.

Well, you will still notice them, and maybe more: here they are labeled.

Since Sunday morning June 2, 2024, three sequoiadendron giganteum and two sempervirens from the arboretum are now “remarkable trees”an honorary distinction awarded by the ARBRES association, acronym for “Trees, remarkable, assessment, research, studies and safeguarding” and its local correspondent, Jean-François Dewilde.

50 and 54 m high

“The association, created in 1994, identifies and labels remarkable trees throughout the national territory,” explains Jean-François Dewilde. We also hope to award the thousandth label before the end of the year. Here, in Bagnoles, what makes the remarkable side of these redwoods is their size: respectively 50 meters high for 7 meters in circumference for the largest giganteum, and 54 meters high for 10 meters in circumference for the largest sempervirens. In France, the largest sequoia is found in Alsace, in Ribeauvillé and measures 58 meters. In the United States, they can live up to 4,000 years and reach a circumference of 24 meters.

More curiously, these trees, which take their name from a Cherokee Native American, have a 30 cm thick spongy bark, which protects them from fires. And these fires are also the only way for the sequoia to release its seeds and spread.

No fire yet for the Bagnolais redwoods, but majestic sizes, which are coupled with rare specificities.

“Very close to the town hall, we can notice an unusual phenomenon among redwoods: layering. Branches of the oldest redwoods touched the ground, took root and, over time, allowed ten more to grow.

Ten children, in a way, who have grown up themselves.

Planted in the 19th century

“These trees were planted in 1856,” recalls Jean-François Belliard, deputy mayor for flowers and green spaces, at the time of Victor Hugo or Claude Monet. They are part of our historical and forest heritage.

Four sequoias will be 170 years old in 2026. Unfortunately, another was struck by lightning in 2016. Which, at 160 years old, will already have been a good age to leave the world of the living.

This Sunday labeling follows a “report from the Fauna and Flora association,” says Jean-Pierre Louvet, member of the association and mycologist. We had already listed these trees, and passed the information back to the municipality that it could obtain a label. Then, the town hall contacted the ARBRES association in 2023 and Jean-François Dewilde collated all the data from the Park.

With obtaining this label, it is a further step “towards the park project, its ambition: namely, classification as a remarkable park”, points out Mayor Olivier Petitjean.

“A restructuring of the information leaflets is also underway, with common names and scholarly names for the different species.” A park inherited from the Goupil family and which can be visited in the presence of Jean-Pierre Bernier, greeter of the arboretum and author, with his father, of some notable plantations.

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