Dry Tree

The Dry tree (or Solitary tree) is a legendary tree. The first recording about it was done by Macro Polo, somewhere in the wastelands of northern Persia. According to Polo it was the only single tree within hundreds of miles of desert. The legend said that the Dry Tree marked the exact spot of the great battle between Alexander the Great and Darius. It's not clear wether this 'great battle' refers to the battle of Issus or of Gaugamela, or both. The location - somewhere in Chorasan, near the border with present day Turkmenistan - is also impossible. When Alexander reached these regions Darius was already assassinated.

Polo describes the Dry tree as a tree of great size, with green leaves on one side and white leaves on the other. For that reason, the Dry Tree should be a platanus.

A solitary dry tree is also visible on the famous Issus-mosaic from Pompei, pinning down the precise location where Alexander and Darius came face to face.

The Dry tree has been reported afterwards by the bavarish adventurer Johannes Schiltberger, who assimiled it to the Oak of Mamre. He said that muslims called this tree "Kurrutherek" ou "Sirpe". This last word is closed the turco-persish word meaning "cyperus".

The spanish ambassador Clavijo, said that the tree was in Tabriz.

Though the story is a legend, solitary trees are not. The Tenere tree was a famous tree in the West-African state of Niger, serving both as a landmark and a national monument. The nearest tree was far from 400 km. It was run over by a truck driver in 1973.

Source

• Alexander the Great's Home on the Web
• http://www.pothos.org/content/index.php?page=legends-marco-polo
• This page is a translation of its French equivalent.