Thursday Salute to Originals: The Crooked Forest
Nature never ceases to amaze us. Case and point: the Crooked Forest of Gryfino, Poland.
Consisting of about 400 pines with a strange 90 degree bend at the base of the trunk, the Crooked Forest is certainly a sight – albeit a bizarre one – to see. But perhaps even stranger than their appearance is the fact that no one really can pinpoint why or how they got this way.
Some believe these trees, planted around 1930, are a completely natural phenomenon, potentially caused by a number of different stressors – a change in gravitational pull, heavy snows, etc. But others believe this peculiar shape was purposeful manipulation by man, potentially done to create “naturally” curved furniture or ship parts. (If man is the culprit, is this intervention a travesty that robbed the tress of their natural form? Or does it simply make man geniuses, guilty of only using their imagination and ingenuity to strategically mold their surroundings to their benefit?)
Whatever the reason, we’re still intrigued by the odd shape of this forest and the mystery surrounding it. And for that, we salute both Mother Nature and Man. Because no matter which party is responsible for the strange form, the trees stir deep-rooted discussion, wonder, and speculation about the influence of man vs. nature.
Sources: IFL Science, The Mystery World, Slightly Warped