Extraordinary Trees and Plants Around the World: Nature’s Most Amazing Wonders

Cork Oak primarily grows in Portugal. After a minimum of 20 years of growth, it starts to develop a protective bark around its trunk. Every 10 years, this bark renews itself and can be carefully removed from the tree. This bark is the cork we're familiar with, used to make wine bottle stoppers and bulletin boards.

Baobab Tree is native to Africa. Its trunk can store enough water to fill up 500 bathtubs. Its branches spread out interestingly, making the tree appear as though it's upside down, with roots reaching for the sky. Due to its massive trunk, some cultures have even hollowed them out to use as homes.

Weeping Willow was brought to Europe from China via the historical Silk Road caravans. The drooping branches of this unique tree appear as if they're crying, which is how it got its name. Some mistakenly associate the weeping willow with the plant mentioned in Psalms, in the song "By the rivers of Babylon," but the weeping willow made its way to Europe many centuries after the Babylonian exile, so they are not the same plant.

Doum Palm resembles the date palm, but its fruits are brown nuts consumed by monkeys and, in some places around the world, by humans too. The doum palm's leaves look like a hand's shape and are primarily found in the southern hemisphere, like Kenya, but they also grow in Israel, in Eilat and the doum palm reserve north of Eilat. This is the northernmost group of doum palms in the world.

Sequoia Tree in the USA is also known as "Redwood" due to its reddish trunk. These are the largest plants in the world; a sequoia can grow almost up to 100 meters tall, and its trunk's diameter can reach up to seven meters. Many sequoias can be found in California's "Sequoia Park," and among them is the tree considered the largest in the world.

Island Eucalyptus, also known as "Rainbow Eucalyptus," grows in the northern part of the earth. It earned its interesting name due to the multitude of colors on its trunk. At the beginning of the year, its trunk starts green, but as the year progresses, parts of its bark peel away to reveal more colors like blue, pink, orange, and brown.

Bamboo grows in various regions worldwide and has a remarkable growth rate: in just one day, it can grow a full meter, and within one season, it can reach up to 30 meters in height. Bamboo is incredibly resilient, and as a raw material, it has thousands of uses across the globe: paper production, musical instruments, fuel production, and in some parts of the world, it's even used in construction for houses or scaffolding.