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The oldest camphor tree in Japan, in Saga Prefecture, at over 3000 years and still healthy. 25m tall, ranked the fifth largest in the country. Old growth camphor forests are becoming increasingly rare all over its native range in east Asia. #楠 
Camphor trees are naturally insecticidal and its wood is used to make camphor oils, insect repellents (moth balls), furniture to store clothing and many other things. A thoroughly useful tree but incredibly invasive outside of its native range: illegal to plant in many countries.
The giant camphor tree in "My Neighbor Totoro" was inspired by this 2000 year old tree. Kusunoki in Japanese, these are often planted as guardian trees at shrines and temples. Incredibly hardy, many of the trees that survived the two atomic bombs in 1945 were of this kind.
