Plum of Hwaeomsa Temple, Gurye

This tree grows amid a bamboo grove on the steep slope in front of Gilsangam Hermitage of Hwaeomsa Temple. Originally there were four trees, but three died and only one remains. The plum tree is native to China, and most specimens cultivated in Korea are propagated by grafting varieties chosen for their pretty flowers. This tree, however, is known as a deulmaehwa (野梅), or wild plum, so called because it is presumed to have grown from a seed that sprouted after a person or animal ate the flesh of a plum and discarded the stone. Such wild plums have smaller flowers and fruit than cultivated varieties, but their blossoms are notably more fragrant, giving the tree great academic value; it is accordingly designated and protected as a natural monument. The red-blossomed plum stands 8.2 m tall with a trunk circumference at breast height of 1.6 m, making it large for a plum tree; its red flowers and its trunk and branches, which twist as they grow upward, form a distinctive shape that, together with Hwaeomsa Temple's Gakhwangjeon Hall, gives it great historical and scenic value. Plum of Hwaeomsa Temple, Gurye was designated because the vigour of the wild plum already registered as a natural monument within the temple had been generally declining; the red-blossomed plum around Gakhwangjeon Hall was therefore additionally designated so that this representative feature of the temple's vegetation and scenery could be stably preserved and managed. In February 2024 the designated name was changed from "Gurye Hwaeomsa Plum" to its current name, Plum of Hwaeomsa Temple, Gurye.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gurye, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물