Sicily hosts world's largest bitter almond tree

Botanists have documented what is believed to be the world’s largest living bitter almond tree in Castronovo di Sicilia, located in the Metropolitan City of Palermo. Situated at an altitude of 910 meters in the Sicani Mountains, the specimen stands 10 meters tall with a crown diameter of 15 meters.

The tree features a spiral trunk with a circumference of 5.20 meters. Notably, an old wooden ladder is embedded within the trunk, serving as a remnant of historical rural life in the region. While the average lifespan for this species is typically between 70 and 80 years, experts estimate this tree is approximately 500 years old.

The discovery was formalized in a study by botanists Pasquale Marino and Francesco Maria Raimondo, published in the journal ‘Quaderni di Botanica Ambientale e Applicata’ by the PLANTA research center. The measurements of this specimen exceed those of the 39 monumental almond trees currently listed in the international registry of monumental trees.