Five ancient trees in Shanxi province have been included in a list of China's 85 most beautiful ancient trees compiled by the National Greening Office and Chinese Society of Forestry.

The five are the Manchurian catalpa in Xishentou village, Yuanping county; the sawtooth oak in Zhangjiayao village, Yongji county; the smoke tree in Mayu village, Zezhou county; the acer truncatum in Shentangyu village, Heshun county; and the lilac in Xiachuan village, Qinshui county.

The oldest one among them is the sawtooth oak which is 4,200 years old. The Manchurian catalpa is 2,000 year old and 13.2 meters in diameter at breast height, making it the oldest and biggest of its kind known in China.

The selection aims to raise public awareness of the protection of ancient trees and explore the historical stories and culture behind them.

"The five ancient trees are included in the list of 85 China’s most beautiful ancient trees for their unique shape, growth conditions and cultural background and there are many other trees like these in Shanxi." said Xu Peng, director of Shanxi greening office.

Protecting ancient and famous trees is of great importance to the ecological improvement of Shanxi, he added.

According to research conducted in December 2017, there are more than 100,000 ancient trees with 175 species in Shanxi.

The Manchurian catalpa in Xishentou village, Yuanping county, included in the list of China's 85 most beautiful ancient trees [Photo/Shanxi Daily]