• Specie: Ombú (phytolacca dioica)
• Location: Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal

This tree is called Bela Sombra, or beautiful shade in Portuguese. It grows on the main street leading up to the top of the Alfama district in beautiful old town Lisbon.

According to Wikipedia, its common name is ombú, or phytolacca dioica more formally. It is a massive evergreen tree from South America, so no doubt a trophy from Portugal’s past colonial empire.

This particular individual has a massive trunk with bulbous growths that take up much of the sidewalk.

It is a fast growing tree in terms of its foliage. Our walking guide Manual told us the tree was basically trimmed down to the main trunk a year ago, so all that is green now is new growth since.

I was also impressed that it had a dedicated sign making out its presence, which means it is probably an equivalent to one of the ‘old and valuable’ trees of Hong Kong.

Categories:International, Street trees, treelover, urbantreesTags: Bela sombre, Lisbon, Portugal, treelover, urbantree