"The Major Oak is a huge Oak tree near the village of Edwinstowe in the heart of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England. According to local folklore, it was Robin Hood's headquarters. It weighs an estimated 23 tons, has a waistline of 33 feet, and is about 800-1000 years old." --Wikipedia Article
A longtime resident of Sherwood, Oregon U.S.A. possesses two oak trees that have the DNA of this, the most famous oak tree in the world. He would like to donate them to Sherwood but so far, no one has raised their hand. Says he: "These are two English Oaks, grand-children of the famous Major Oak in Sherwood Forest in Nottingham UK. Currently, they sit in 12 gallon tubs, but I am feeling they should be planted this year. My first preference is for the City of Sherwood to get them."
[Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.]
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Here is a little more information on these oaks:
Major Oak is properly called an English Oak, with the scientific name Quercus robur. Major Oak is about 10' in diameter, which is large for an oak, but not unreasonable for a 1000 year old oak.
In about the year 1926, a professor from the State University of New York in Syracuse named N. C. Brown visited that oak tree in Nottingham, England and took acorns from it. One of his acorns is now a tree growing on the SUNY campus outside of Walters Hall called the Robin Hood Oak.
This is the tree that provided the acorns that became the oak saplings that are waiting here in Sherwood for a permanent home.
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