Saw-leaf Zelkova of Hwangbang-ri, Yangju

The zelkova is found in warm regions including Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China. Its branches spread out in all directions, giving the tree a rounded form; it flowers in May and its disc-shaped fruit ripens in October. Because its trunk grows thick and it lives for a long time, it has often been kept as a jeongjanamu, a shade tree providing a resting place, or protected as a dangsannamu, a guardian tree believed to watch over a village. Growing in an open space by a stream at the entrance to the village, the zelkova of Nammyeon, Yangju is estimated to be about 850 years old, 24.5 m tall with a girth at breast height of 7.75 m. A large branch split from typhoon damage and had to be cut off, and the centre of the base had rotted, leaving the trunk hollow to a depth of about 3 m; the rotten part was cut away and filled with cement, though the tree still looks sturdy and sound on the outside. It is said to have been planted by ancestors of the Park clan of Miryang who lived in this village, and today it serves as a place where villagers gather beneath it to chat and rest. Having survived for centuries under the care and attention of past generations, the zelkova of Nammyeon, Yangju is of high value as cultural and biological material, and it is designated and protected as a natural monument.

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Where it is

Region

Yangju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물