Tree of the Year 2023: vote for the region's most beautiful tree, representing Paris Region

For 12 years now, Terre Sauvage magazine - in collaboration with the Office National des Forêts (ONF) - has organized the Tree of the Year competition, which rewards the most beautiful trees in France's heritage. To enter the competition, each tree is nominated by a group (family, friends, school classes) who describe the"aesthetic, historical, biological and emotional qualities" of the tree in question.

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In 2023, Île-de-France will be able to count on the Purple Beech for its chance to win. Located in the Lycée Lakanal, in Sceaux, it is at least 220 years old, and has seen under its branches renowned students such as Charles Péguy and Jacques Chaban-Delmas. A symbol of the school, it succeeds the Robinier faux-acacia, the oldest tree in Paris, as the most beautiful tree in the Ile-de-France region.

Standing 30 meters tall, it has seen the passing of several generations of high school students, probably since the early 1800s, according to Jean-Pierre Aujoulet, secretary of an alumni association, who spoke to France 3 about it. He recounts that the land belonged to the Domaine de Sceaux at the time, and was falling into disrepair. After the construction of a new château, a small part was bought to build the lycée, and some remarkable trees were preserved.

In the middle of a high school with literary classes, this beech has certainly heard snatches of novels and poems that have become famous today. This species, threatened by climate change, needs a lot of water. It will therefore carry the colors of the Île-de-France region this year, against 13 other trees in the running, including the Brittany Yew, the Caucasus Walnut in the Hauts-de-France region and the Plane tree in the Centre-Val de Loire region.

Now it's up to you! Internet users are invited to vote until December 18, 2023 to support their favorite tree in the " Prix du Public " category on the competition website. Perhaps, thanks to your votes, this beech will succeed the great Châtaignier de La Celle-Saint-Cloud, elected most beautiful tree in France in 2021!