Ash Tree of Mugeon-ri, Paju

The ash tree (mulpure-namu) takes its Korean name from the fact that when its bark is peeled and soaked in water, it turns the water blue. Ash trees grow mainly in warm regions, and are found in Korea, Japan, China, Manchuria and the southern part of the Russian Far East. The flowers, which have no petals, bloom in April and May, and the fruit ripens brown in September. Unlike many other trees, ash does not respond well to pruning. The Ash Tree of Mugeon-ri, Paju, was the first ash tree to be designated a natural monument, and its trunk grows upward in a way that gives the impression of two storeys. The tree is estimated to be about 150 years old, standing 12.4 m tall with a girth at breast height of 3.8 m; its trunk is especially thick. It stands on a hillock at a place with the old name 'Sujak-gol'. In the past, standing in the middle of farmland, it served as a pavilion tree where villagers could rest, but the houses nearby have since disappeared and the area has become a military firing range. The Ash Tree of Mugeon-ri, Paju, is unusually large for an ash tree, a species long put to practical everyday use, and, having also served as a pavilion tree, it is of high biological and folk-cultural conservation value, and is designated and protected as a natural monument.

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Where it is

Region

Paju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물