Eucalyptus: The Giants of Spain & Portugal

Karri Knight, Grandpa & other Giant Eucalyptus in the Iberian Peninsula

Gustavo Iglesias Trabado
GIT Forestry Consulting - Consultoría y Servicios de Ingeniería Agroforestal - www.git-forestry.com - EUCALYPTOLOGICS

By 1866 in the neighbourhood of Coimbra (Portugal) the first cultivated forests of Eucalyptus in Iberia were established with the planting of thirty five thousand trees besides the Mondego river and at Mata de Choupal. It was an attempt to tame the stream and control devastating soil erosion caused by floods. Until then, the Australian trees were botanical rarities and relatively uncommon even as ornamental plants in public and private gardens. It was also a long time before they became a paramount timber crop for Northwestern Iberia, but this protective afforestation can be considered the beginning of such an era.

Fig 1: The giant Grandfather of Chavín (Eucalyptus globulus, Spain) and Karri Knight of Vale de Canas (Eucalyptus diversicolor, Portugal), examples of monumental Eucalyptus trees in Europe

In the neighbourhood of Coimbra stands today an eucalypt tree that witnessed those times and that has grown straight and tall from the bottom of a foggy deep gorge in search of light to become the tallest Eucalyptus in Europe. It is the Karri Knight, an Eucalyptus diversicolor from Western Australia.

Four hundred kilometers to the North and twentyfive years later, a small valley in the Northern Coast of Galicia (NW Spain) was subject to works of hydraulic engineering. Its steep slopes and narrow bottom made it suitable for the taming of a rivulet in the Landro-Loureiro basin, which was dammed. Soon a primitive electricity generation plant ("fábrica da luz") brought light to the nights of the foggy coast. A network of channels to divert excess water flow was also built in order to avoid catastrophic floods to the rich agricultural fields down the stream. And here, by the 1890's, the first Eucalyptus were planted in order to, as also happened near Coimbra, stabilize soils.

Fig 2: Natural Monument Eucalyptus globulus grove at Souto da Retorta (Chavín, Viveiro, Lugo, Galicia, Spain)

More than a century later, the six hundred 95 to 115 years old Eucalyptus globulus of Chavín grow towering above the steep slopes, their roots drinking directly from channels and rivulet, to become the tallest Eucalyptus grove in Europe. The living Natural Monument at Souto da Retorta is one of the Cathedrals of the Cantabrian Coast, its pillars made of Tasmanian Blue Gums. Sheltered by the giants, a rich understorey of chestnuts, oaks, laurels and ferns grows happily in an unique microclimate.

Several of these trees are special. But tradition marks one of them, O Avó de Chavín (The Grandfather) as the main shrine of this magical place. Towering at 67 meters above that forest floor and with a perimeter at the base of more than 10 meters, Grandpa receives the hugs of countless visitors. In groups of seven!

Fig. 3: Coastal Eucalyptus globulus rainforest in the Northern Coast of Galicia (Spain)

More than a century later, coastal cultivated and feral forests of Tasmanian Blue Gum dominate the non agricultural landscape of the foggy and narrow "Eucalyptus timberbelt", stretching for miles of intricate ranges near the seashore. Among them, other Eucalyptus Giants. Considering several dimensions!

If anytime you think a visit is worthwhile, and you need a guide talking endlessly on these types of trees, do not hesitate contacting us!

Interesting links

• Cold hardy Eucalyptus timber production in Galicia (I)
• Eucalyptus Highland Forests in Northwestern Spain and Portugal (II)
• Eucalyptus globulus. Blue Gum Eucalypt Coastal Forests in Northwestern Iberia
• Eucalyptus nitens. Shining Gum Eucalypt Highland Forests in Northwestern Iberia
• Eucalyptus macarthurii. Camden Woollybutt Highland Forests in Northwestern Iberia
• Eucalyptus delegatensis. Tasmanian Oak Highland Forests in Northwestern Iberia
• Eucalyptus dalrympleana. Mountain White Gum Highland Forests in Northwestern Iberia

(more to come, we are hunting them all!)

Have you seen the Giant Eucalyptus Movie?

GIT's Eucalyptology Topics

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© 2007 Gustavo Iglesias Trabado. Please contact us if you want to use all or part of this text and photography elsewhere. We like to share, but we do not like rudeness.