Opera Verde: WOWnature’s TV series about superforests on Rai 3
11 September 2024
Oak
Secular tree par excellence, emblem of strength for Indo-Europeans and sacred tree for Romans and Celts. The Oak is one of the species most loved by the common imagination. Long-lived and resistant, this majestic-looking tree also has healing, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.
Curiously enough, some species of oak, while encountering the phenomenon of foliage, do not lose their leaves until the arrival of summer, when they replace them with others. A legend wants this characteristic to have a supernatural origin. It is said the devil asked the Lord to grant him at least one forest on which to reign. He was granted on one condition: he would have power only during the period in which all the leaves had fallen. The wise oak agreed to hold back its foliage, so the devil never became master of the forest.
Ash wood
According to legends Odin, main deity of Nordic mythology, created the first man with a piece of Ash wood. Not a bad choice if you think that the wood of this tree is among the best woods of our lands for stability and elasticity, used since ever to build bows.
A beautiful golden yellow is the color that its leaves take on in autumn, adding a bright note to the characteristic landscapes. A curiosity: manna is extracted from some species of ash tree, such as the frassinus ornus, also widespread in Italy. It is a sap obtained from the bark, used in confectionery as a sweetener, as well as in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Cultivations of manna ash, once more common, today are limited to some areas of Sicily. Just because of the gradual abandonment of this agricultural tradition, today manna is a rather expensive product.
Larch
This conifer native to the mountains of Central Europe is known for its resistance to cold. Its hard, durable wood makes larch perfect for building homes in the mountains. Always considered the cosmic-spiritual tree, the Larch is the symbol of rebirth, light and goodness.
The common larch, unlike other European conifers, is a deciduous plant, which loses its leaves in the cold season. With the arrival of autumn it goes through the typical phase of chromatic change, passing from green to yellow.
Wild Apple Tree
Malus sylvestris is a shrub often used in reforestation projects because its tasty fruit attracts wildlife. In Celtic culture it was a symbol of fertility and immortality. Numerous archaeological excavations have shown that man, since the Bronze Age, dried wild apples as a winter supply. The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is an apple, which helps to distinguish between good and evil.
We tend to easily recognize wild apple trees in the springtime, when they are covered in white or delicate pink flowers: but here come the fruits in autumn, yellow or red like cherries.
