The Tree of the Year 2001 was not nominated for its great size or stature, but rather for its role in the history of cultivation and forestry in Iceland. The tree is a tea-leaved willow in the garden of the farm Tröllatunga in Strandasýsla. Tea-leaved willow grows all over Iceland and is quite varied – in some places its procumbent, in other places it can reach 6 m height. The most commonly grown cultivar of the Icelandic tea-leaved willow is called ‘strandavíðir’ after the area Strandir or Strandasýsla. The willow at Tröllatunga is quite large and unusual, as the area has hardly any forests. Two willows were planted there in the early part of the 20th century, from saplings gathered in the valley of Selárdalur. Offshots from that willow were later planted at the farm Miðhús and from there saplings were taken for cultivation at a tree nursery in Mosfellsbær and sold there. In 1982 foresters from the Iceland Forest Service went to Tröllatunga to get saplings for further cultivation, initially at one of their nurseries but later at several others – this has sometimes been referred to as ‘Tröllatunguvíðir’. In other words, the majority of tea-leaved willow cultivated in Iceland hails from the two willows initially taken as tiny saplings in Selárdalur.
Location on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/9mUPr51xY3x1V2dEA
