The rare wood population is located more than 180 km west of Thanh Hoa city. The tallest and oldest tree there is the samu dau (Cunninghamia konishii) tree that grows at an altitude of about 1,400 m above sea level, near the Vietnam- Laos border. The tree stump has a diameter of nearly 4 m, while the trunk is upright, about 70m high. 

The Samu tree was analyzed by experts who determined that it is nearly 1,500 years old. In 2013, the tree was recognized by the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Nature and Environment as a Vietnamese heritage tree.

Located 1.5 km from this tree is an ancient pomu tree, which was also recognized as a heritage tree of Vietnam in 2013. The tree, on a peak 1,300 m above sea level, is nearly 3m in diameter and about 60m tall. The tree was identified by Japanese experts as more than 1,000 years old.

Besides the two heritage trees, there are 35-40 other trees with a diameter of one meter or more, and about 1,000 years old. These trees are mainly distributed from an altitude of 700m or more.

Both domestic and foreign scientists have come here to study and they all said that the pomu and samu forest in the Xuan Lien Nature Reserve is one of the oldest conifer populations, with the densest concentration in Vietnam. It is considered a treasure of Thanh Hoa province.

Xuan Lien Nature Reserve was established in 1999, with a total area of ​​more than 27,000 hectares. It is home to nearly 1,200 species of plants, many of which were recorded for the first time in the world. This is also home to the white-cheeked gibbon - a highly endangered species. Xuan Lien also has more than 190 species of birds, 80 species of mammals, more than 40 species of amphibians, 40 species of reptiles, 69 species of fish and nearly 1,300 species of insects…

Photos of the ancient trees in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve:

Tran Nghi