Retusa Fringe Tree of Sinjeon-ri, Yangsan

The retusa fringe tree, called ipapnamu in Korean, is said to take its name either from the way the whole tree is covered in white blossom at flowering time, resembling ipap (cooked white rice), or from the fact that it flowers around ipha, the start of summer, so that it was first called ipamok ("ipha tree") before becoming ipapnamu. The retusa fringe tree at Sinjeon-ri, Yangsan, is about 300 years old, 12.0 m tall, with a girth at chest height of 4.5 m. It once stood in the middle of a rice paddy near where the Yangsan Stream meets a valley stream flowing down from Yeongchwisan Mountain, past Tongdosa Temple, though the surrounding area is now laid out as a park. The tree is split into two from its base, so that it looks like two separate trees. Villagers regard it as a guardian deity protecting the village, and hold a rite every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, praying for peace throughout the year. The retusa fringe tree of Sinjeon-ri, Yangsan, is not only an exceptionally large and old example of its kind, but also a tree that reveals the cultural life of our ancestors, and is designated and protected as a natural monument for its value as a biological and folkloric resource.

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Where it is

Region

Yangsan, Gyeongnam

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물