The Haya de Herguijuela (Spanish for ''beech of Herguijela'') is a large, solitary specimen of

European beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though mor ...

growing on an east-facing slope of the

Sierra de Francia The Sierra de Francia is a mountain range located in Sierra de Francia Comarca at the southern end of Salamanca Province, Castile and León, Spain. It is located about 70 km from Salamanca city. The region is sparsely inhabited and its few ...

, near the town of

Herguijuela de la Sierra Herguijuela de la Sierra is a village and municipality in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It is located from the provincial capital city of Salamanca and has a population of 299 peopl ...

. One of the last relicts of the beech forests that used to exist in the

Sistema Central The Central System, Spanish and pt, Sistema Central, is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula. The 2,592 m high Pico Almanzor is its highest summit. The Central System is located just north of the 40th parallel an ...

region of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, it is also nearly the southernmost specimen of the

in Iberia, surpassed only by a similar tree in nearby

Cáceres province Cáceres is a Spanish surname and placename and may refer to: * Province of Cáceres, in Spain ** Cáceres (Spanish Congress Electoral District), which covers the province * Cáceres, Spain, the capital of Cáceres Province, not a bishopric * Cáce ...

. The

used to be fairly common in the western Sistema Central, evidenced by local flora that is characteristic of beech forests. However, the forests were decimated by energy demands after the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

as beechwood makes excellent

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

. Coupled with shifting climate patterns, the species has not made a recovery in the area even with the elimination of wood as an energy source. Apart from the haya de Herguijuela and its twin, the last remaining beech stand in central Spain is a forest in the northern reaches of the

Sierra de Guadarrama The Sierra de Guadarrama (Guadarrama Mountains) is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges along the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the systems Sierra de G ...

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 (INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial population. ...

References

*''Guía de Árboles y Arbustos de Castilla y León'' (Oria de Rueda, Diez) {{coord, 40, 27, 04.7, N, 6, 04, 45.1, W, region:ES_type:landmark, display=title Individual trees in Spain Flora of Spain Individual beech trees

See also

References