There are so many trees of myth and legend, the Joshua tree, the lightning tree, the Major Oak of Sherwood Forest, and of course, on a more modest scale there is the climbing tree in ‘Night Vision’. The Joshua tree apparently is a type of Yucca, but was given its English name by the first Mormons who saw it and were reminded of Joshua at prayer. I’m not sure what a lightning tree is except for the obvious! The Major Oak, which I stood in and climbed over as a child, is England’s most famous tree, associated forever with the stories of Robin Hood. In my own novel, ‘Night Vision’ the main character Beulah climbs a tree at the beginning of the story and strange things happen from there!
Down here in Somerset, particularly this year, we seem to have our own special species of tree, the lichen tree… you see them everywhere, and this winter despite of or because of the rain, they have been magnificent!
Lois Elsden 