Friday, November 9, 2007

Rain Trees




This magnificent tree is a Rain Tree. In this area there are a number of wonderful specimens.

This particular tree is located on an old War War II Japanese airfield. There were four of them that formed the shape of an arrow-head from the air. Allied aircraft used them as a marker for their bombing raids.

One has gone but the Papauan New Guinea gentleman who owns the land is now the guardian of the three remaining trees and has protected them from damage (people often light fires under them). He said they are historical monuments and must be cared for.

12 comments:

Donna said...

My Father was in New Guinea during WWII...I remember him talking about the rain trees. Thanks Jules for that memory....

Annie said...

Wow, what a tree. Is it also known as a monkey pod tree or is that a different variety?

photowannabe said...

What a wonderful monument. I can see why they are called rain trees. nice picture.

Tom said...

Beautifully strange tree, so glad to hear they are being look after.. I'm now off to google to read up on them.. Cheers Jules

dive said...

Those are awesome, Jules. And I'm glad they are being well cared for.
After your last post revealed that chocolate grows on trees there, I wonder what grows on these? There must be a tree there where I can pick latte and croissants.

Jules said...

When I find one Dive I 'll let you know and book your ticket!!!

M.Benaut said...

Jules, we are all trying to get Dive to the antipodes.
There must be something that we can tell him that grows on trees down under; besides latte and croissants.
I can think of a few things but they are a bit unpublishable.
As I have said some time ago, we should all hold our first DP Bloggers convention in Rabaul. Then nobody would ever leave. At 4 kb/s, who cares, our dreams would have all come troooooo.

Yep,- my uncle carved me some toys, as a baby from under these trees during the war. He wrote saying he thought he might never return. Luckily, he did and is now in his 87th year. You have brought back some sentimental memories, my dear.

Anonymous said...

I am happy for the remaining trees that someone is watching out for them. These trees have a hellofa time making ends me as it is and can't pick up and run away. So, being rooted in one spot, it is nice to read somebody cares.

Excellent post.

oldmanlincoln

Chuckeroon said...

....interesting post. Interesting that the Jpanese didn't cotton on and cut them down. Perhaps too late by then.

A good ending to the story. It's for these insights that I like Rabaul DP.

imac said...

I like these photos, Thr trees are different and look great.

david mcmahon said...

G'day Jules,

I'd never heard of rain trees. Are you posting a Photo Hunt shot?

I've provided the link to Photo Hunt on my post today, for anyone who wants to join.

Have a great weekend

David

quintarantino said...

Those are really big and beuatiful trees. I guess they really must be preserved.