Hwasan-ri Bansong Pine, Mungyeong

Beside a mountain road leading into the Hwasan-ri valley in Nongam-myeon, Mungyeong, a pine rises from a single root in six trunks and spreads like a huge umbrella. The Hwasan-ri Bansong Pine is a Natural Monument thought to be about 200 years old, and because of its six trunks villagers also call it Yuksong, "the six pines". A belief that anyone who cut it down would be punished has kept it intact to this day.

What is a bansong?

The bansong is a form of the Korean red pine. Its name compares its shape to a tray: instead of growing up on a single trunk like an ordinary pine, it divides into several stems close to the ground, with no clear main trunk. The crown spreads in a rounded half-dome like an open umbrella. Its scientific name is Pinus densiflora f. multicaulis. Unlike the ordinary pine, which needs full sun, it tolerates a little shade, and it thrives in well-drained sandy soil. Scholars of old prized the tree for its shape, and several bansong are protected as Natural Monuments today. The Hwasan-ri tree was designated in 1982, in the same year as the bansong of Samgong-ri in Muju and Sanghyeon-ri in Sangju.

What to see

• Six trunks: six thick stems split from the base and climb together. Stand close and look up to see exactly where they divide.
• Size: sources give the height as 21.9 m or 24 m, and the girth at breast height is about 5 m. The branches spread 19.9 m east to west and 23.7 m north to south.
• Props: one of the trunks has died, and supports have been installed to stop the branches splaying apart and splitting, a good look at how old trees are cared for.
• A roadside resting place: growing right beside the mountain road, the tree has long offered shade to passers-by. Seen from a distance against the fields and valley, its rounded crown stands out best.

The belief that saved it

Local lore holds that whoever cuts the tree will be struck down by heaven. Thanks to that belief it was never felled and has survived in good condition. Valued for both its folklore and its biology, it was designated a Natural Monument on 9 November 1982.

Tripto tips

• Access: a roadside tree you can see at any time, free of charge. Stay outside the protective fence.
• Best time: an evergreen worth seeing year-round, but the backdrop is best in summer, with green rice fields, and in autumn colour. Bansong carry male and female flowers on the same tree in April–May, and the cones ripen in September–October of the following year.
• Time needed: 15–20 minutes to walk round the tree.
• Getting there: the tree is in Hwasan-ri, about 3.6 km from the centre of Nongam-myeon, Mungyeong. Driving is the simplest way to get there.
• Combine with: Songnisan, about 9 km to the south-west, pairs well with a stop here.