Yucca brevifolia

• The famous Sycamore Gap tree was felled last week, prompting global expressions of sorrow, anger and horror.
• But for many, the tree felt profoundly important.
• That is, they contribute to ontological security – our sense of trust that the world and our selves are stable and predictable.

What makes a tree iconic?

• This sacred fig would become known as the Bodhi Tree.
• U2’s hit 1987 album The Joshua Tree has inspired fans to seek out the tree on the cover in the United States’ arid southwest – a potentially dangerous trip.
• The location of the world’s tallest tree – a 115-metre high redwood known as Hyperion – is kept secret for its protection.
• The death of the enormous tree – 87 metres tall, with a 19 metre girth – drew “national and international” media attention.

What is it to lose a tree?

• If your favourite tree in your street or garden dies, you mourn it – and what it gave you.
• But we mourn at a distance too – the Sycamore Gap tree was world-famous, even if you never saw it in real life.
• As one interviewee, Leon, told me:
  These places should be left alone, because in 10,000 years they could still be there.
• Read more:
  Sycamore Gap: what the long life of a single tree can tell us about centuries of change

Loss of connection

• It’s more than okay to talk about what this does to us – about how the loss of this thread of connection makes us grieve.
• It is useful to talk about this - and to remember the many other beautiful and important trees that live on.
• Read more:
  Photos from the field: capturing the grandeur and heartbreak of Tasmania's giant trees