Nicknamed Serce Wzgórz Dalkowskich (Heart of the Dalków Hills), the tree grows in a historic park adjacent to a 16th-century palace in the village of Dalków in Poland's southwestern Lower Silesia region.
The beech is steeped in local legend as, according to folklore, it "has the power to grant wishes,” said Jacek Bożek, the head of the environmental and animal rights NGO Klub Gaja, organiser of the event.
“Tourists often place beech husks inscribed with their wishes into the tree's hollow, hoping for their dreams to come true,” he added.
Serce Wzgórz Dalkowskich will be Poland’s entry for the 2025 European Tree of the Year competition in February.
Klub Gaja highlighted intense competition in this year's 14th Polish Tree of the Year pageant, saying that the race was tight until the very end.
The jury selected 16 remarkable trees from among over 40 submissions nationwide to compete in the final round.
The choice was made via an online selection, with Serce Wzgórz Dalkowskich securing over 10,500 votes, Klub Gaja said.
More than 43,200 valid votes were cast and nearly 320,000 visits were recorded to the competition's website, www.drzeworoku.pl.
Last year’s national winner, the Serce Ogrodu (Heart of the Garden) beech from the southwestern city of Wrocław, went on to claim the title of European Tree of the Year for 2024.
Poland’s 2022 winner, a 180-year-old common oak nicknamed Fabrykant (Factory Owner), which grows in the central city of Łódź, won the European Tree of the Year contest in 2023.
(mo/gs)
Source: PAP