That Wānaka Tree, also known as the That Wānaka Willow, is the
nickname
A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
of a
willow tree
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
located at the southern end of
Lake Wānaka
Lake Wānaka is New Zealand's List of lakes in New Zealand#Largest lakes, fourth-largest lake and the seat of the town of Wānaka in the Otago region. The lake is 278 meters above sea level, covers , and is more than deep.
"Wānaka" is the So ...
in the
Otago
Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
region of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. The tree grows alone in the water and is a popular destination for tourists to take
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
photos. It was planted by Tim Scur as a fence post and unexpectedly grew. The Wānaka Tree can be seen on postcards and in paintings across the world especially in relation to New Zealand.
Popularity
The tree derives its nickname from the
hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag operator that is prefaced by the hash symbol, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services–especially Twitter and Tumblr–as a form of user-generated tagging that enable ...
"#ThatWanakaTree", which is used on
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
to identify photos of it.
The tree has been described as "New Zealand's most famous tree" and called "one of the most photographed trees in all New Zealand."
A photograph of the tree by Dennis Radermacher won the 2014 ''
New Zealand Geographic
''New Zealand Geographic'' is a bi-monthly magazine founded in 1989 and published by Kōwhai Media of Auckland, New Zealand. In the format popularised by ''National Geographic,'' it focuses on the biodiversity, geography, and culture of New Zea ...
'' photo of the year award.
Human impact
As a result of its popularity, the tree has been damaged on several occasions, both intentionally and unintentionally. A branch came off in late 2017 because tourists had climbed it, which led to the local
tourism board
A destination marketing organization (DMO) is an organisation which promotes a location as an attractive travel destination. DMOs are known as tourist boards, tourism authorities or "Convention and Visitors Bureaus". They primarily exist to provide ...
installing signs discouraging the practice.
The tree was vandalised on 18 March 2020, with multiple limbs being sawn off and left on the shore. Reports noted that the cold water the roots are submerged in would retard the limbs' regrowth.
The human impact on the tree has been compared to that at other tourist attractions like
Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located in southeastern California, straddling north-central Riverside County, California, Riverside County and part of southern San Bernardino County, ...
and
Uluru
Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...
.
See also
*
List of individual trees
The following is a list of individual trees. Trees listed here are regarded as important or specific by their historical, national, locational, natural or mythological context. The list includes actual trees located throughout the world, as we ...
References
{{reflist
Individual trees in New Zealand
Wānaka
Tourist attractions in Otago