Balderschwang Yew
The Balderschwang Yew () is an ancient European yew (Taxus baccata) in Bavaria. It has two hollow trunks and stands alone on a mountain pasture. It is estimated to be between 600 and 1,000 years old, and is possibly the oldest tree in Germany. Location The yew is found near Balderschwang in Oberallgäu, Bavaria, at an elevation of , a few hundred metres above the municipality and exposed on a seasonal mountain pasture. Its location is to the northeast of Balderschwang and to the west of Sonthofen; it overlooks the rolling foothills of the Bavarian Alpine Foreland. The tree The yew has two separate trunks. The comparison of morphological features of the leaves and the time of their sprouting suggested that the trunks belonged to the same root system and a DNA test proved that they form a single organism. It is not known whether a central trunk existed: Ullrich, Kühn, and Kühn mention the possibility that the trunks regrew from a stump left after a forest clearing or natural decay, but also mention the opinion of other experts who believe the tree always had two trunks. The circumferences of the trunks at the point of their smallest diameter were