Trees in The Bible Tamarisk Medicial Uses

Crystallized sap from the desert tamarisk tree is a possible source of manna. The LORD spoke to Moses... "I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, '...in the morning you shall have your fill of bread... The house of Israel called it manna...” -Exodus 16:11-12, 31

Tamarisks, species of the genus Tamarix are very common trees and shrubs in the Middle East, especially in soils with high salt concentration and are therefore the only trees found on the shores of the Dead Sea. There are several species of tamarisk.

The most commonly planted species and one which grows into a good sized tree is Tamarix aphylla. The tamarisk has small scale like leaves and small branches which give the tree a pine-like appearance.

During the heat of the day the tamarisk secretes salt, a process very wasteful of water. The salt dries. During the night the salt absorbs water from the air. In the morning the water evaporates creating a sort of natural air-conditioning. This cooling effect is another reason for its popularity as a shade tree.

Attractive pink or white flowers are produced during the winter, although a tree may flower any time during the year. The fruits are wind dispersed but the tamarisk is easily propagated by cuttings.
Two plants are mentioned in Genesis 21. The first is the shrub under which Hagar placed Ishmael (verse 15). The second is the tamarisk planted by Abraham (verse 33). The shrub could also easily be a tamarisk as this is one of the most common shrubs and trees in the vicinity of Beersheba or it could be the white broom.

Why did Abraham plant a tamarisk? Trees were often used as memorials for great men. It is therefore appropriate that Abraham should honor God by planting the tamarisk. It would be a permanent memorial of the covenant between the two.

Saul held court under a tamarisk in Gibeah (I Samuel 22:6). This dark green tree would be evident from the hilltop and provide a sort of "address" for visitors and could probably be seen for miles. However, this was a planted tamarisk as Gibeah is in the Mountains of Judea and now is a suburb of Jerusalem.

Tamarisks are not native here. In I Samuel 31:13 we read of the remains of Saul being buried under a tamarisk tree while in I Chronicles 10:12 the reference is to a pistacia (or terebinth) tree. This apparent discrepancy can be explained by the fact that the word for tamarisk can also be translated as "grove."

Sequoia National Forest California as Travel Destinations

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 314-365

Sequoia National Forest History

 
 










Sequoia National Forest was established on July 1, 1908 from a portion of Sierra Forest Reserve. On March 2, 1909 Theodore Roosevelt added land by Presidential Proclamation. On July 1, 1910 1,951,191 acres (7,896.19 km²) was removed from the forest to create the Kern National Forest. This land was returned to Sequoia National Forest on July 1, 1915.
 
On April 15, 2000, President William J. Clinton proclaimed the establishment of the Giant Sequoia National Monument and made his announcement beneath one of the giant trees at the Trail of 100 Giants. 
 
The grove contains approximately 125 giant sequoias greater than 10 feet in diameter and more than 700 giant sequoias less than 10 feet in diameter. The largest tree in the grove has a diameter of 20 feet and is 220 feet in height. 

The grove defined by the outermost giant sequoia trees covers 341 acres.  It is estimated that the ages of larger giant sequoia trees in the grove are up to 1,500 years old.
 

Geography

Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) trees which populate 38 distinct grooves within the boundaries of the forest

The Sequoia National Forest has 34 giant sequoia groves.

There are six wilderness areas within Sequoia NF that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Some of these extend into neighboring National Forests.

• Domeland Wilderness 
• Golden Trout Wilderness 
• Jennie Lakes Wilderness
• Kiavah Wilderness 
• Monarch Wilderness 
• South Sierra Wilderness 

Surface

The Sequoia National Forest covers 1,193,315 acres (1,864.555 sq mi; 4,829.17 km²  Its Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) groves are part of its 196,000 acres (790 km²) of old growth forests.

Travel Suggestions

The Trail of 100 Giants is an easy, accessible walk through Long Meadow Grove, one of the premier groves of giant sequoias in the southern Sierra Nevada. The grove showcases monarchs estimated to be 1,500 years old.

About 1.3 miles of paved trail offers several loop options with interpretive signs. Located on the Western Divide Highway (Hwy 107), facilities include a paved parking area,  restrooms, picnic area and campground nearby.  A $5 per vehicle fee is charged to help maintain and improve these facilities.


California Forests

The coastal forests of Northern California are in many ways an extension of the temperate rainforests that hug the coasts in Washington and Oregon, except that, in California, redwoods and Douglas-fir - tanoak forests dominate many lowland areas. 

These ancient and spectacular conifers are among the biggest, tallest, and oldest trees in the world, often exceeding 200 ft (more than 369 ft in some individuals) in height, 15 ft in diameter, and 2,200 years old. 

Redwood groves have the greatest biomass accumulation known for any terrestrial ecosystem. They are globally unique forests, and only a few other forests in the world have a similar assemblage and structure of ancient, giant conifers, e.g., Giant Sequoia groves of the Sierra Nevada, Sitka spruce and Douglas-fir forests of the Pacific Northwest, and Alerce forests of southern Chile.

Forests an the Environment 

Around 25 percent of the CO2 that we release into the atmosphere by burning formerly buried hydrocarbons is absorbed by plants, so having more of them can help slow down (but not stop) climate change, and there’s a limit to plants' rate of absorption.

LInks

https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na0519
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/deforestation-vs-nature-the-winner-might-surprise-you#ixzz3WjnoBjIg
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/21-reasons-why-forests-are-important

Hoia-Baciu Forest

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 313 - 365

Hoia-Baciu forest is an over 250 hectare patch of woods situated west of the city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania. The area is known for recreation sports along with biking trails, but its true reputation is much darker. The forest is believed to be haunted and very alive with paranormal activity. It has been dubbed as the most haunted forest in the world and even refereed as the Bermuda Triangle of Romania. The forest was named after a shepherd who disappeared with hundreds of sheep in the area. 

The Hoia-Baciu Forest is located on the western side of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca by the open air section of the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania. The open air section covers an area of about one square mile (three square kilometers) and borders the forest . The forest is a popular destination for the residents of Cluj-Napoca to enjoy outdoor activities such as cycling, paintball competitions and archery. It is also noted for the paranormal activity that is reported to occur within the forest. 

There is a clearing called Poiana Rotunda (Round Meadow) in the Hoia-Baciu Forest that is the center of most reports concerning paranormal phenomena. The phenomena includes unexplained orbs of light, apparitions, hearing female voices, giggling and poltergeist activity. Not much vegetation grows in Poiana Rotunda though its soil has been tested and nothing unusual has been found. 

The variety and intensity of unexplained phenomena to be found at Hoia-Baciu Forest has perhaps not surprisingly spurred on various theories to try and explain what is going on here, running the gamut from the plausible to the absurd. One theory is that the forest holds a gateway or portal to another dimension, or brushes up against some thin spot between our world and another. It is postulated that this could explain the various entities and orbs frequently spotted in the forest, as well as the missing people and even those who have experienced lost time or seemingly teleported from one area to another. 

The bizarreness of Hoia-Baciu Forest goes even further yet. One of the most unusual features of the landscape here, other than the strangely crooked, twisted trees and mysterious char marks on their trunks, is the presence of a circular area around 300 meters wide which is completely devoid of vegetation and which demonstrates high levels of electromagnetic activity and other anomalous readings. Investigations into this mysterious dead zone within the forest have turned up no rational reason for why no vegetation will grow there. Soil samples have shown there to be nothing out of the ordinary and indeed nothing to distinguish it from the soil surrounding the barren circle.

 So far it is a complete mystery as to why nothing will grow here. Electronics brought into the dead circle also often go haywire or stop working entirely due to the potent electromagnetic fields permeating it. In addition to these unusually strong electromagnetic disturbances, there are also magnetic anomalies, and other measurements have shown the circle to exhibit abnormal microwave, infrared and radioactive readings.

 Another, more far out idea is that the forest was the real center of the lost Atlantean civilization, and that these mysterious, ancient inhabitants created various teleportation portals with which to travel anywhere in the world and indeed the universe.

One of the more grounded ideas proposed for at least some of the weird goings on here is that perhaps the forest is a source of some sort of ultra-low frequency sound waves, which are basically sounds that are inaudible to the human ear yet can create some profound physical effects from their vibrations nonetheless. These sound waves have been known to create deep feelings of unease and disorientation in people who experience them, which are similar to the sensations reported within Hoia-Baciu Forest. 

Ultra low frequency sound waves could also potentially be the root cause of the physical discomfort associated with the forest, such as headaches, nose bleeds, and nausea, and such sound waves can also possibly produce profound audio and visual hallucinations. Ultra-low frequency infrasound is actually produced in nature all of the time, most notably in relation to natural phenomena such as thunder, earthquakes, and erupting volcanoes. Is there some source of such sound disturbances emanating from Hoia-Baciu Forest?

Links

https://hoiabaciuforest.com/

http://www.paranormal-encounters.com/wp/romania-%E2%80%93-the-hoia-baciu-forest/

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/12/the-cursed-forest-of-transylvania-2/