Caesarsboom

Caesarsboom (Caesar's Tree) is a yew tree of about 250 years old^[1][2]. The ancient tree grows in Lo, a town in Lo-Reninge, a municipality of the province of West-Vlaanderen of Belgium. Its species is Taxus baccata, the European Yew.^[3][4][5] The tree is designated a national monument of Belgium.^[6]

According to a long-held local legend, Julius Caesar stopped at this tree during his military campaign in the area en route to Britannia in 55 BC, tied his horse to it, and took a nap in the shadow of its foliage.^[7] This led to the belief that the tree is over 2000 years old, though age calculations based on its circumference date it to 200 to 300 years old^[8]. According to one source, although the road passing by the tree might date from the era of Imperial Rome, it is not likely that Julius Caesar came to this area.^[6]

The tree grows beside the last extant city gate, of four medieval arches built in the 14th century (and restored both in 1852 and 1991); at the time the town was less than 400 meters in diameter. Caesarsboom stands adjacent to a house called "Het Damberd" ("The Draught-board House") which written sources from 1499 show once housed the oldest of the four breweries which used to exist in the town of Lo. ^[3][4][5][9]

• List of individual trees

50°58′49″N 2°44′44″E / 50.98028°N 2.74554°E / 50.98028; 2.74554