Nature sure has a way of putting on a show.

While many of us take the greenery around us for granted, we couldn’t survive without trees. In fact, they’re now one of the most important players in the mitigation of climate change as they suck up CO2 and release oxygen into our polluted atmosphere.

Of course, a tree (or shrub) doesn’t have to be beautiful to be useful, but all the same, it’s worth taking a look at the truly spectacular specimens growing around the world.

Here are 15 of our planet’s most gorgeous wooden wonders.

1. 40-Fruited Tree

It probably goes without saying that this first tree is not naturally occurring.

Instead, it’s the result of a horticultural experiment by Syracuse University professor Sam Van Aken who grafted many different trees together to build one that produces 40 different stone fruits.

It doesn’t always look like this, but in the Fall, it’s truly something to behold.

2. Quiver Tree

This beautiful Aloidendron dichotomum grows in the Quiver Tree Forest in southern Namibia.

It’s called the “quiver tree” because native bushmen once used the wood to make quivers for their bows and arrows.

Word is that this tree will bring good luck to anyone who nurtures it.

3. White Silk Cotton Tree

This beautiful Bombax is located in the Lalbagh Botanical Garden in Bangalore, India although it’s native to the Maldives.

This is one of the most popular trees in the park because it’s unique growth pattern means it doesn’t actually have a trunk but rather a series of roots that grew directly into branches.

4. Southern Live Oak

This Charleston, South Carolina Quercus virginiana is located in Angel Oak Park on Johns Island and is estimated to be 400-500 years old.

It’s over 66 feet tall and has a 28-foot trunk circumference and its longest branch reaches out 187 feet.

Believe it or not, this enormous beauty provides over 17,000 square feet of shade!

5. Bristle Cone Pine

“Bristlecone pine” actually refers to three species of trees, some of which are the oldest living trees on Earth.

This one, located in the Inyo National Forest in California’s White Mountains is over 4,800 years old. And it’s not even the oldest one!

6. “Lady Cynthia” Rhododendron

Not a “tree” per se, this giant shrub resides in Ladysmith, British Columbia in Canada.

When not in bloom, it’s just a large green bush, but when it’s petals come out, the 25-foot, 115-year-old beauty is quite the tourist attraction.

Known as “Lady Cynthia,” is has around 4,000 blossoms each year.

7. Chinese Ginko Tree

This particular Chinese Ginkgo biloba is a huge tourist attraction. It grows next to the Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple in the Zhongnan Mountains.

Each November, it rains down its golden leaves in a spectacular display.

It’s estimated to be 1,400 years old.

8. Canary Islands Dragon Blood Tree

The oldest and largest living specimen of Dracaena draco, or dragon tree, is located in the Parque del Drago, close to the Church of San Marcos in Tenrife, Canary Islands.

While locals claim it is 1000 years old, the trees do not produce rings and there’s been no way to prove its age.

9. European Beech Tree

This is Ponthus’ Beech, a Fagus sylvatica located in Brocéliande forest in Bretagne, France.

Not your average moss-covered beech tree, this one has a fascinating legend behind it.

It’s said that Ponthus, a knight of King Arthur’s round table, lived in a castle on this spot in the 10th century. When he cursed God for denying him a child, God retaliated by destroying his castle in a storm and this tree grew out of the ruins.

10. Japanese Wisteria

The Kawachi Wisteria Garden in Japan hosts some of the most gorgeous displays of Wisteria floribunda in the world, including giant flowering tunnels.

But visitors flock to this big, beautiful tree just to stand under it and gaze for a moment.

11. Bald Cypress

This particular specimen of Taxodium distichum grows in the Henderson Swamp in Henderson, Louisiana.

It’s one of the few old-growth trees left in the area because its trunk is hollow, making it pointless to harvest.

12. Flamboyant Tree

You can clearly see where this tree gets it gets its nickname!

The Delonix regia is a species of flowering plant native to Madagascar.

This particular tree in Imbituba, Santa Catarina, Brazil is by far one of the best examples of its colorful possibilities.

13. Rainbow Eucalyptus

The Eucalyptus deglupta is native to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Despite its colorful bark, it’s most commonly used for making the pulpwood that becomes white paper.

14. Mossy Antarctic Beech Tree

These magnificent trees – which, we’ll grant you, are a group rather than just one tree – are located on Repeater Station Road in Queensland, Australia.

Even more impressive is that these Nothofagus moorei are roughly 2000 years old and the parent trees of the entire surrounding forest.

15. Flowering Dogwood Tree

Fluffy, white flowering dogwoods are the perfect ornamental tree (if you like to pick up petals). And while we’ve yet to see one that isn’t striking, the one belonging to Wynell Smith Steely of Daingerfield, Texas is the largest dogwood in recorded existence.

It received the title in 2013 when it stood 28 feet tall with a 44-foot-wide crown and an 85″ circumference.

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