In West Pomerania stand trees that are talked about more than many a historic monument. Their age is usually given according to legend, while dendrologists and authors of studies on monumental trees tend to be more cautious. Here we set one against the other, always naming the source.

The Linden of St Otto in Płonia

The large-leaved linden grows by the Church of the Holy Family in the Szczecin district of Płonia. According to legend it was planted in 1124 by St Otto of Bamberg during his mission in Pomerania, which would make it more than 900 years old. Wikipedia also cites a second tradition: the linden was planted after the church was built, in 1274. The same mention of 1124 is contained in the entry on the Beech Forest.

For the age, the figures are more modest. Wikipedia writes that the legendary 900 years is unlikely, and that the age of the tree is now estimated at 300-400 years. The trunk is short, covered with thickenings and leaning towards the wall of the former cemetery, which makes measuring difficult.

The girths also differ. According to Wikipedia, in 2013 the linden measured 858 cm, measured according to the rules of dendrometry, that is at the narrowest point of the trunk up to a height of 1.3 m. The entry on the Beech Forest gives 920 cm without describing the method. Wikipedia notes that a crooked trunk easily leads to an inflated result, and according to the Register of Polish Monumental Trees it is the second thickest large-leaved linden in Poland. The tree is a natural monument. German literature called it Ottonlinde, that is Otto's Linden, and Heilige Linde, the Holy Linden. In Szadzko in Stargard County there is another linden of St Otto, but according to Wikipedia it is a small-leaved linden.

The Krzywousty oaks in Klęskowo

Two pedunculate oaks stand in Szczecin's Klęskowo on Chłopska Street, on a private property, a little over 100 metres from the motorway viaduct. According to the legend given by Wikipedia in the entry on the Beech Forest, they remember the year 1121, when on the fields between Klęskowo and Zdunowo Bolesław Krzywousty (Wrymouth) defeated the Pomeranian forces.

The age and girths again differ between the studies. The entry on the Beech Forest gives girths of 690 and 640 cm. The entry on Klęskowo, citing a Szczecin dendrological guide from 2000, speaks of oaks about 400 years old, with girths of 633 and 696 cm and a height of 20 m. An age of 400 years therefore does not reach back to the time of the battle of 1121 that the legend tells of. By the oaks begins the yellow Bolesław Krzywousty Trail, which ends in Płonia, at the linden of St Otto.

The Bogusław X Oak in the Wkrzańska Forest

The pedunculate oak by the road from Warszewo to Leśno Górne is a natural monument. According to Wikipedia it has a trunk girth of 7.89 m, a height of 28 m and a crown diameter of 24 m, and its age is estimated at about 600 years. The name is linked to a legend according to which Duke Bogusław X rested under the oak during his travels and hunts. A plaque by the tree says, on the other hand, that it was named in view of the duke's services to the development of the Pomeranian duchy. Next to it once grew a second oak with a girth of about 640 cm, destroyed by a gale in 1983.

The Warcisław Oak near Kołobrzeg

A pedunculate oak grows in the Kołobrzeg Forest by national road no. 11 in the municipality of Ustronie Morskie, about 15 km from Kołobrzeg. It has been a natural monument since 1972. According to Wikipedia it has a girth of 720 cm and a height of 37 m, and its age is 640 years, which gives it fifth place in the ranking of the oldest oaks in Poland. The name commemorates Duke Warcisław III, thanks to whom Kołobrzeg received town rights in 1255. The entry does not say how the age was established.

The neighbouring Bolesław Oak shows how carefully such figures should be treated. It was given its name in 2000, and the State Forests wrote of 800 years. According to Wikipedia, the authors of the 2016 book Drzewa Polski (Trees of Poland) state that this age was not measured by dendrochronological methods, and estimate the oak at about 400 years, among other things because of the fertile habitat.

The Linden of the Seven Brothers in Choszczno

On a mound at the junction of Piastowska and Władysława Jagiełły streets in Choszczno stand fused small-leaved lindens with girths of 760 and 460 cm and a height of 22 m, which are natural monuments. One of the legends, according to Wikipedia, says that seven lindens once grew here, and the place was called the lindens of the seven brothers.