Culture
Tree Personalities: A Woodland Who’s Who According to Myths and Legends from Around the World
Twenty-something trees and their temperaments, explained
Most trees are friendly, but some have a few tricks up their trunk.
Lately, I’ve been exploring whether trees might leave behind ghosts — and along this journey, I’ve gathered that the type of tree might make all the difference.
According to myth, different trees have different personalities. Some trees bury secrets. Some are sacred to magic creatures, and still others make a fine set of reeds for wind instruments.
While a forest may seem awash in hazy greens, no two trees are completely alike.
Before we dive into tree personalities, a word of caution: the tree temperaments listed below come from folklore. In some cases, these stories are different throughout different arts of he world. I’ve done my best to include a variety of sources for these tree personality profiles.
I’ve pulled these tales from tree appreciation sites, botanical gardens, and internet archives. I encourage you learn more about Forest and Tree Symbolism in Folklore and explore Native American Tree Mythology to better connect with the legends behind some of the most popular trees around the world.
Let’s dig in!
Tree personalities
Acacia
Acacia trees represent longevity of the human spirit. These trees grow quite tall within a short period, and their thick barck is covered in thorns. Acacia trees form mutualistic relationships with ants and can produce toxins to discourage giraffes from making a meal out of their lower leaves. Acacia trees also provide ‘desert gold’ or gum Arabic, used in a variety of foods and household items. Acacia is thick-skinned, adaptable and long-lived.
Ash
Ash trees are sturdy and produce weight-bearing wood. In Nordic mythology, Yggdrasil is an ash Tree of Life and vikings were “men of ash.” Ash trees are symbols of power and strength.
Aspen
Aspen produces lightweight wood for shields and oars, and this tree’s folklore suggests that aspen provide powerful protection magic. An aspen tree might protect buried treasure, or an aspen crown for the deceased might protect the spirit in the afterlife. Aspen groves may contain hundreds of clones from one tree. They suggest that there is strength in numbers.
Baobab
Baobab trees are said to be planted upside-down. Perhaps the tree angered God by walking around the earth or by complaining about its complexion. Some say that this tree is guarded by evil spirits, or that the Baobab is a man-eating tree. No matter its reputation, baobab is an incredibly useful tree that provided food and shelter to animals and humans. One tree may grow to be more than 100 feet across and over 3000 years old!
Beech
Beech may be thousands of years old, which makes it a perfect habitat for animals and fungi. Forked beech twigs are typically used for divination and wishing rods. Beech are also the queens of the forest in Celtic folklore. Beech might be a sign of longevity, but they also use their energy to support the forest around them.
Birch
Birch trees are a colonizer species that returns to forests after disaster. They represent new beginnings and are often used to drive out evil spirits. Birch wood is used to make (witches’) broomsticks and other household items. Birch trees are also a sign of fertility, as they are one of the first trees to grow leaves after a stark winter. These trees seem to be energetic and extremely witchy.
Bodhi
Bodhi or sacred figs are known as trees of enlightenment. Buddha meditated under a Bodhi tree and Vishnu nestled among its leaves. According to Tales by Trees, “Hindus associate the roots of the tree with Lord Brahma (the creator of the universe), the trunk of the tree with Lord Vishnu (the protector and preserver) and the leaves of the tree with Lord Shiva (the destroyer.)” Bodhi trees mark very powerful locations for those with good intentions.
Cedar
Cedar represents the ancestors of the Cherokee, and they stand to remind forest travelers that there is balance between warm, fertile day and cold, relentless night. Cedar is sometimes recognized as a “graveyard tree” because it remains evergreen and can grow for many years. Whoever cut down a cedar tree without making the proper sacrifices would be cursed by the remaining cedar trees in the forest. Take caution! Cedar trees are family ancestors with respect for balance.
Cherry
Cherry trees blush and bloom when most other trees are still bare, and their blossoming is as brief as human life. Bird cherry is considered a witches’ tree, and its presence in the woods is said to fight evil. Cherry wood is hard and fine-grained — excellent for making bagpipes! These trees are bright and fruitful, but they may also be associated with magic.
Cypress
Cypress trees are “mourning trees” in European and Islamic cultures. They are very resilient. In Celtic tradition, placing a dead body in a cypress tree would allow that person to return to the plants. This association likely comes from the Greek myth of Cyparissus, who asked to become a tree that would forever mourn the loss of his pet stag. It’s also important to note that many American ‘cedar’ trees are actually cypress — so take care to spot the differences should you need to know which personality is which!
Elder
Elders are not to be messed with. They are tres of protection and magic. Elder trees stationed at the back door of a house are a good omen because they prevent intruders from taking the back door into the house. Elders protected against (or possibly allowed mortals to see) faeries on their Midsummer jaunts. They were a relatively rare tree in Ireland. Due to their connection with the fae, elders received a cursed reputation under Christianity. Elder berries are toxic when raw, but cooked berries may help cure common cold and flu symptoms.
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus or gum trees represent the boundary between Earth and the underworld in Aboriginal folklore. Eucalyptus leaves excrete tiny amounts of gold from the soil. Eucalyptus have antiseptic properties, but they are also highly flammable and drop their branches during drought. Eucalyptus trees are tough, evergreen, and drought-resistent thanks to the chemcial lignin in their tissues. No wonder these trees remain a symbol of life… and possibly unexpected death.
Ginko
Ginko is a hardy tree and a “living fossil” because it hasn’t changed very much over the last 200 million years. Ginko trees are a sign of hope and fertility because ginko trees survived the 1923 Kanto earthquake and the 1945 atomic attack on Hiroshima. Ginkos are a sign of longevity and a ray of optimism in darkness.
Hawthorn
Hawthorn trees or shrubs are supposed to be crawling with fairy folk. It was often used in English place-boundary names but considered a fairly unlucky tree. No one could bring a branch of hawthorn into the house. According to Trees for Life, the smell of hawthorns in bloom brought back memories of plague because “the chemical trimethylamine present in hawthorn blossom is also formed in decaying animal tissue.” Despite these grim associations, hawthorns are often associated with feminine energy… perhaps the energy of a fairy queen?
Holly
Holly trees or bushes are the original Christmas trees, bringing a splash of bright red to the chill Yuletide season. Holly leaves were associated with Thor, and it was believed that they could protect homes from ligtning strikes. According to Trees for Life, “In Celtic mythology the Holly King ruled over the half of the year from the summer to the winter solstice. At this time the Oak King defeated the Holly King to rule for the time until the summer solstice again.” This makes the humble holly bush something of a ruler, even if he governs the cold, desolate parts of the year.
Jacaranda
Jacaranda trees are native to Central and South America, but they have been planted around the world because they bloom gorgeous lilac-hued flowers. This tree is associated with wisdom, rebirth, and all-around good luck. Amazon mythology tells us that a beautiful bird called Mitu carried a priestess named Daughter of the Moon to rest atop a Jacaranda tree. She lived with humans for a time, teaching mortals the difference between good and evil. This suggests that Jacarandas might be good arbiters, but they won’t help you with your university exams.
Juniper
Juniper trees offer protection and their smoke was used for clairvoyance and as a protective charm before travelers might set out on a long journey. In the Old Testament in the kingdom of Canaa (modern-day Syria), juniper was a symbol of the goddess Astarte. This tree also prophet Elijah from Queen Jezebel. Juniper berries are used to flavor gin. In Celtic tradition, juniper smoke was burned in the home to make contact with spirits. Given these different attributes, juniper seems to be a bit of a wildcard.
Maple
Maples are best known for their sugary sap, but these trees’ rewards do not come easy. The Algonquian tribes of the northwestern United States and western Canada perfected the art of making maple syrup from the sap of this tree. One story explains that when maples were first created, humans needed only to break off a maple branch to enjoy its sugar. But humans grew lazy and took advantage of this gift, so the creator filled maples with water. Now, it takes about 40 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. Clearly, maples are sweet — but they also play hard-to-get.
Oak
Oak trees are kings of the forest in Celtic mythology, and they are associated with Zeus in Greek mythology. This image might have come from the idea that oak trees are especially prone to lightning strikes because of their high water content. These trees are often used for building and they were sacred to the Druids. Oaks are stately rulers sheltering the forest floor beneath them, but they are often surrounded by fungi and vulnerable to attack.
Palm
Palms gained a reputation for victory, triumph and peace in the Mediterranean and Middle East. In Assyria and ancient Greece, palms were symbols of the sun gods. In Christianity, Jesus was greeted by cheering crowds waving palms right before his death. In Islam, Muhammad made the first Mosque out of palm branches. Non-native palm trees have become a symbol of Los Angeles beaches, and different species of palm offer different benefits — dates, shade, and even coconuts! Palms seem to be champions of flexibility in new places.
Pine
Pine trees are symbols of peace and protection. The Iriquois burned pine wood to ward off ghosts, and other cultures burned pine to guard against witchcraft. Several stories depitct pines as saviors against floods and illness. Evergreen pine trees are also symbols of immortality, and the resin in pine trees makes the wood decay slowly. In Greek mythology, they are connected with Dionysus and the nymph Pitys. It’s important to note that while these characteristics stand for pine trees in general, there may be different folklore for different varieties of pine tree like fir, redwoods and spruce.
Poplar
Poplar trees provide springy and resilient wood. They are associated with the Greek nymph Leuke and the Heliades (the latter mourned their brother so much after his death that they turned into poplar trees with golden amber tears.) Poplar trees grow quickly, and the Uited States has planted geneticaly modified poplar trees to help with carbon capture. Poplar trees seem to lack the character depth seen in a lot of the other trees we’ve visited so far, but they seem to be mournful — not vengeful.
Rowan
Rowan or mountain ash grows berries shaped like pentacles, which have long been a protective symbol in paganism. Runes could be carved on rowan wood, and rowan branches warded off witchcraft. rowan trees planted in the front yard protected a home, and a rowan walking stick might prevent a traveler from getting lost. In Norse mythology, a rowan tree saved Thor during his journey into the underworld, and the first woman was made from the branches of a rowan tree.
Sycamore
Sycamore trees are strong and wind-resistent, so they are popular street trees. In Wales, ‘love spoons’ made of sycamore bark could be given to a lover as a romantic gesture. These trees are resistent to pollution and they typically grow near water. In Greek mythology, sycamores were the creation of Athena. They are sometimes called ‘ghost trees’ because dusty white fungi love to cover sycamore bark.
Tea
Tea tree oil is well known as a cure-all because it has antiseptic, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. According to Aboriginal legend, Princess Eelemani traveled across New South Wales and the gods gave her tea tree seeds to help her find her way back from this journey. According to TeaTree.org, “One of the areas where tea trees are grown in abundance today is called Bungawalbyn which translates to ‘healing ground’.” Tea trees are gentle healers and guides.
Willow
Willow trees grow well near water, and they contain salicylic acid, from which we get the medication Aspirin. A willow cutting will grow into a new tree when placed in the soil, an this adaptability makes willows a symbol of longevity and immortality. In Greek mythology willows are associated with Hecate and the healing goddess Helice. Willow bark is used in rope and wicker crafts. It is also assocaite with witchcraft. Indigenous American culture also gives us willow folklore. One Narragansett story warns that a rabbit’s wish for snow left him and the willow changed forever. Willows offer many gifts, and maybe even a little magic for those who respect these riparian trees.
Yew
Yew trees often grow in graveyards, as they are sacred to Hecate and assocated with death. Almost every part of a yew is poisonous. This encouraged cattle to stay away from graveyards protected by yew trees, and it also gave rise to myths about yew tress ability to raise the dead. One oft-repeated myth about graveyard yew trees says that their roots wind through the mouths of the dead so that souls cannot rise after they have been lain to rest. In some cases, it even appears that Christain graveyards might have been built around exisiting yew trees, either because of their percieved protective ability or their association with pagan rituals.
