"The Octopus"—And Not an Animal...

 

"The Octopus"—And Not an Animal... 

A story for a light pastime. 

With pictures!!

Have you ever gone on a tour to see a tree? 

Until yesterday, I hadn't. I've dreamt of going to see the redwoods (not too far, accessible, but it needs organizing, finding someone to go with, etc.), so that hasn't happened yet. But then...

I'm visiting my daughter in Portland, Oregon.

And my daughter took me to a tree.

And I should mention that this tree in Oregon is a local (and I suspect, not only local) landmark. The tree even has a name: "The Octopus Tree."

There are many big trees in Oregon; this isn't my first visit to my daughter, and we've walked in parks and hiked in forests. She even has a giant sequoia on her front lawn, and yet that tree surprised me. It's huge! And you immediately understand why it's called the "octopus"... (The tree is on the right in the photo, and it's one tree, not several.)

Although, I would have called it a candlestick. Or no, more grandly, it's a "candelabrum." (I just looked it up online, and I'm not the only one who gave the tree the name "candelabrum"; many people before me have.) After all, an octopus should have eight legs, or rather, arms, but this one has six. As it turned out, there were seven branches, but one was torn off by a hurricane sometime in the 1990s. Well, they didn't count the arms-legs-tentacles-branches, accuracy wasn't required; they named it figuratively: "The Octopus!"

The tree is protected; it's fenced off, so you can't go up, hug it, and feel its size. So I'll give you some facts from the internet to help you imagine it beyond the photos.

The circumference at the base is about fourteen meters, and the diameter of the base is more than four meters. The height is thirty-two meters. The tree is estimated to be between two hundred fifty and three hundred years old, meaning it appeared even before the state of Oregon was founded. To help you feel how long ago that was, to visualize it more clearly, the year 1725 was the year Peter I died; that's when this seed could have sprouted. The tree is older than Pushkin; it was growing here during the lives of Lermontov, Gogol, Tolstoy (all three Tolstoys!), and so on down the list... And it stands, and it grows. And we (I'm not comparing myself to the great, of course, but just talking about people, human beings, so to speak), we came and went. Well, you'll say, it's a tree, so it's not eternal either. I agree, but I'd like to live for five hundred to eight hundred years, like trees of this species—"Sitka spruce"—do.

(Did you read "Sitka spruce"? "Sitkinskaya" or "sikhtinskaya"—both variations circulate on the internet in Russian. Did you notice the difference in spelling?! Or did you read it the way Word did when I checked the spelling: "sikstinskaya"? Word asked me if I wanted to correct it... The adjective is formed from Sitka, a city in Alaska. By the way, the spruce, this very Sitka spruce, is a symbol of Alaska, along with the moose, the alpine forget-me-not, and the Alaskan Malamute dog breed...)

For those who want accuracy-and-science: Picea Sitchensis, Sitka spruce. Lord, who gave names to trees, you'll break your tongue, whether with the Latin or the Russian name! 

Conifers of this species are not a rarity here.

The Sitka spruce grows in a narrow band along the Pacific coast of North America, from Alaska to Northern California.

The Sitka spruce grows along rocky coasts, with strong winds and frequent storms, in poor soils; each tree clings with strong roots, trying to anchor itself in a thin layer of soil, in the cracks of rocks.

This is the largest species of spruce in the world and one of the largest conifers in the world; some specimens reach heights of over ninety meters.

The "Octopus" isn't the biggest spruce of this species in the park. Not far from it grows the "Cape Meares Big Spruce," a massive and ancient Sitka spruce that was for a time considered the largest and oldest Sitka spruce in Oregon, but we didn't go to it, so I have no photos. The age of that spruce is estimated at 750–800 years. Despite its broken top, its height is about 44 meters, and its circumference is about 14.5 meters.

These spruces were lucky: they were not cut down. The fact is that Sitka spruce is highly valued for its wood, which is known for its excellent strength-to-weight ratio. This makes it ideal for a variety of purposes, including construction, pulp production, and "special" products (I couldn't find a better term), such as the soundboards for musical instruments (pianos and guitars), boat paddles, ladders... The wood from these same trees was used in World War II to make parts for the British de Havilland Mosquito bomber. Known as the "Wooden Wonder," it was primarily made of a composite material of Sitka spruce and birch plywood. This wooden construction was very effective—it made the plane fast, difficult to detect on radar, and easy to repair. The wood of this spruce is light, flexible, and its long, strong fibers were less likely to shatter when hit by bullets. In Vancouver, there was a huge wartime production of wood for bombers during the war. It's a good thing these trees survived. (True, they grow outside the industrial logging zone. Still, it's good that they weren't cut down, that they weren't broken by the numerous storms...)

But there are many Sitka spruces, they grow all along the coast, there are taller ones, and there are older ones, so why do people come specifically to this one?

Well, everyone who looks at it asks a question: all spruces are spruces, slender and tall, so why does this one have such a shape? Some believe the tree formed naturally under the influence of extreme weather conditions or was trampled when it was still a sapling... (Like someone walked through the forest three hundred years ago, didn't notice the tiny sprout, and with all their weight! With their whole foot! Or paw... broke the top...)

But then the question arises: how likely is it that the side branches, replacing the leader—the main trunk—would grow so symmetrically, almost at an equal distance from each other, forming a nearly perfect circle at the base? —Unlikely.

The most common theory is that the local Tillamook tribes deliberately shaped this tree for ceremonial purposes. These "culturally modified trees" were created by training young branches to grow in a certain way, possibly for use as sacred tribal gathering places or even for burials.

They write that a canoe with the deceased was placed in the middle of the tree, but there is no confirmation.

The internet says that the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest used this tree, I mean the Sitka spruce in general, not just for ceremonial purposes; they included it in their food and made weaving materials. The resin and the inner layer of the tree's bark were used for a variety of purposes: from waterproofing canoes to treating illnesses.

There are also a theory about aliens and some others, but the theory that the tree was shaped by Native American tribes is supported by historians and the descendants of the tribes.

And the Sitka spruce also grows wonderfully in the cool, humid, and wet conditions of the coastal "fog belt" and is rarely found far from saltwater. And the "Octopus" is no exception.

Would anyone refuse to visit this tree if just a hundred meters from it there was a view of the ocean?

This is the view of the ocean!

So if someone invites you to go see a tree, say yes! Even if it's not on the ocean shore, even if it's not of such a size... you'll walk through the forest and talk with a friend!

P.S. This is for my memory, so I don't have to search through a mass of photos.