For 400 years, the seven-storey-tall camphor laurel tree in She Shan Tsuen, Tai Po, has provided villagers with shade and beauty.
It is one of the grandest of Hong Kong's magnificent ancient trees, several hundred of which are listed on the government's register of old and valuable trees. Most have stood their ground against storms and invading ants, only to face the modern menace of encroaching development and incompetence.
The gigantic camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora) is a champion tree by any definition. Boasting a robust 32-metre-wide crown of glossy, waxy leaves, it takes 10 adults linking arms to encircle its massive trunk.
The tree is a habitat in its own right. In spring, flocks of birds, butterflies and bees crowd its foliage full of white flowers and black fruit. Orchids also favour the tree for its scaly bark that traps vital water and nutrients. As for the villagers, they see the giant tree as their guardian angel and worship it with incense.
But years ago - no one remembers when - an intense fire gouged a child-size hole at its base, sending its health into decline.
'The blaze badly damaged the wood of the trunk, leaving it vulnerable to fungal and termite attacks,' says Professor Jim Chi-yung, a dendrologist (a botanist specialising in trees) at the University of Hong Kong.
Two of the rarest trees in Hong Kong are a pair of four-metre Chinese dates (Ziziphus zizyphus) in Hong Kong Park. These were a gift from the the government of Henan province eight years ago. These shrubs decorate parks and gardens in more temperate parts of Asia. Chinese dates, which are not related to the date palms of the Middle East, bear red plum-like fruit that are dried and used in traditional Chinese remedies, tea and snacks.