World's Hardest Tree To Climb

I remember reading an article on Environmental Graffiti, a few months ago, about the thorniest trees on Earth. The photos were really impressive, considering I had no idea such trees even existed, but I felt there wasn't really enough information about these amazing species of trees. Well, I took it upon myself to search around and came up with seven bad-ass trees you couldn't even hope to climb without some serious protective gear.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/plants/news-trees-pain

Silk Floss Tree (ceiba speciosa)
The silk floss tree (Ceiba speciosa, formerly Chorisia speciosa), is a species of deciduous tree native to the tropical and subtropical forests of South America. It has a host of local common names, such as palo borracho (in Spanish literally "drunken stick"). It belongs to the same family as the baobab and the kapok. Another tree of the Ceiba genus, C. chodatii, often receives the same common names.

 

 

Hercules Club Tree (aralia spinosa)
Aralia spinosa, commonly known as Devil's Walkingstick, is a woody species of plants in the genus Aralia, family Araliaceae, native to eastern North America. The various names refer to the viciously sharp, spiny stems, petioles, and even leaf midribs. It has also been known as Angelica-tree.
This species is sometimes called Hercules' Club, Prickly Ash, or Prickly Elder, common names it shares with the unrelated Zanthoxylum clava-herculis. For this reason, Aralia spinosa is sometimes confused with that species and mistakenly called the Toothache Tree, but it does not have the medicinal properties of Zanthoxylum clava-herculis.

Honey Locust Tree (gleditsia triacanthos)
The Honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos, is a deciduous tree native to eastern North America. It is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys ranging from southeastern South Dakota to New Orleans and central Texas, and as far east as eastern Massachusetts.

 

 

Kapok (ceiba pentandra)
Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously separated in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety C. pentandra var. guineensis) to tropical west Africa. Kapok is the most used common name for the tree and may also refer to the fibre obtained from its seed pods. The tree is also known as the Java cotton, Java kapok, Silk cotton or ceiba. It is a sacred symbol in Maya mythology.

 

Pejibaye Palm Tree (bactris gasipaes)
Bactris gasipaes is a species of palm native to the tropical forests of South and Central America. It can typically grow to 20 meters or taller and has pinnate leaves three meters long on a one-meter-long petiole. The fruit is a drupe with edible pulp surrounding the single seed, 4–6 cm long and 3–5 cm broad. The rind (epicarp) of the fruit can be red, yellow, or orange when the fruit is ripe, depending on the variety of the palm.

Pachote Tree (pachira quinata)
Pachira quinata, commonly known as Pochote, is a species flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It inhabits dry forests in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, and Colombia.[2] Pochotes bear large, stubby thorns on their trunk and branches and are often planted as living fenceposts with barbed wire strung between them.

Email received July 2010