Acer rubrum To Zyzyphus jujuba
Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams
Chronicles of a Footloose Forester
 By Dick Pellek

The Beautiful Benjamin Fig

At last, the time has come to share information about the most beautiful tree in the world.  You will have to use some of your navigational skills to locate it but the journey in Google Earth will be worthwhile.  As you are transported to the island of Oahu in Hawaii, you become aware that the Hawaiian Islands are well out into the Pacific Ocean and isolated as few places are.  The beauty of those charming islands will forever remain in your memory.

Nothing is quite so splendid as the crown of a mature Benjamin Fig, Ficus benjamini.  And of all the magnificent trees whose sight has ever thrilled him, the one with no limits of ultimate beauty is found in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Go there on a map quest at Latitude 21°17´ 37.58˝ N and Longitude 157° 49´ 18.59˝ W.  When you arrive over the area in a Google Earth scene, take the time to search for an image of that scene that was taken in previous years.  The overall clarity of the 9/27/2008 photography is perhaps the best choice.

The beautiful Benjamin Fig is breathtaking

In the screenshot that was selected for this chronicle, you will notice two yellow stick pins to mark key features. One of them is Krauss Hall, on the Campus of the University of Hawaii. That was where the Footloose Forester spent so many months in his office and in his soil chemistry laboratory during the happiest years of his life.  And of course, not far from his inspirational Benjamin Fig just a few blocks away. 


 

Upgrades in Google Earth made it possible to insert an even better image of the beautiful Benjamin fig.  In addition, a new street view of the vicinity makes it possible to see under some of the low-hanging branches.  It is almost like standing there.