Trees From Around The World That Are True Freaks Of Nature

Mother Nature is a mad scientist. For every adorable shrub or flowery field, a troop of poisonous mushrooms springs up, or the color of a lake mysteriously changes from green to pink overnight. But when it comes to the most bizarre sights in the plant world, you're often more likely to be looking up than along the ground to see them. Though you've surely spotted your fair share of odd-looking trees over the years, these petrifying plants have undoubtedly earned the right to be called true freaks of nature.

1. The Chapel Oak

Known as "Le Chêne Chapelle" to the people of France, this Harry Potter-esque attraction is some 800 years old, making it the oldest tree in the country. Transformed into a shrine to the Virgin Mary during the 1600s, the tree features a chapel at its peak, as well as a winding staircase.

2. Rainbow Eucalyptus

These eucalyptus trees native to Oceania might seem like some kind of art installation, but there's a pretty simple explanation behind their unique color. The lime-green sections are actually fresh bark, and as the older tree tissue ages, it turns to dark green, then blue-purple, then pink-orange, and finally, brownish-maroon.

3. Angel Oak

Located on Johns Island near Charleston, South Carolina, the Angel Oak has been steadily growing upward and outward for nearly 500 years. Though it derives its name from the estate of Justus and Martha Waight Tucker Angel, local legend has it that ghosts of former slaves would appear around the tree as angels.

4. The Lone Cypress

Hailed as one of the most photographed trees in North America, the Lone Cypress has stood along the coast of Pebble Beach, California, for 250 years — though not without a little help. For the last half-century, the tree has been supported by a series of cables, and in 2019 it actually lost its leftmost branch during a storm. Poor lonely guy.