Chinese Catawba of Hongwon-ri, Cheongsong

The Chinese catawba is widely planted as an ornamental tree. Its leaves are broadly egg-shaped, and it bears pale yellow flowers in summer; the fruit is divided inside into several chambers, each containing numerous seeds, and ripens in October. The Chinese Catawba of Hongwon-ri, Cheongsong consists of three trees growing beside the road at the entrance to Hongwon-ri village, estimated to be about 300 years old. The largest of the three, standing at the western edge of the designated area, is 10.0 m tall with a girth at breast height of 2.0 m. The oldest of the three, the middle tree, splits into two trunks near its base; another tree, standing about 1.5 m away, has a single trunk. No particular legend is attached to these trees, but the village has long regarded them as guardians that protect the community, holding a ceremony every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to pray for the village's peace and a good harvest. The Chinese Catawba of Hongwon-ri, Cheongsong is remarkable for its size and age, giving it great biological value; as a dangsan tree — a village guardian tree honoured in communal rites — it also holds folkloric value, and it is accordingly designated and protected as a natural monument.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongsong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물