There may be many trees (and oaks and Sycamores) in Birnam and Dunkeld, Scotland, but the most famous is ‘The Birnam Oak’ the oldest surviving tree of the ancient ‘Birnam Wood’ that Shakespeare references at the end of Macbeth. The great Birnam Oak has a companion, a Sycamore, of only 300 or so years but these 2 trees are all that is left of the large forest that once blanketed the area in Shakespeare's time. They are the last of what was.
But to preserve history, a multi-stranded project led by Dr Toria Johnson of the University of Birmingham has grown six saplings from acorns belonging to the renowned Birnam Oak. As of October, 2025, they have survived their first year, with one recently on display at Perth Museum. The saplings are being nurtured by the Wolfson Advanced Glasshouses at the University of Birmingham and will eventually be planted out around the country. More information can be found at the following site:
There may be many trees (and oaks and Sycamores) in Birnam and Dunkeld, Scotland, but the most famous is ‘The Birnam Oak’ the oldest surviving tree of the ancient ‘Birnam Wood’ that Shakespeare references at the end of Macbeth. The great Birnam Oak has a companion, a Sycamore, of only 300 or so years but these 2 trees are all that is left of the large forest that once blanketed the area in Shakespeare's time. They are the last of what was.
But to preserve history, a multi-stranded project led by Dr Toria Johnson of the University of Birmingham has grown six saplings from acorns belonging to the renowned Birnam Oak. As of October, 2025, they have survived their first year, with one recently on display at Perth Museum. The saplings are being nurtured by the Wolfson Advanced Glasshouses at the University of Birmingham and will eventually be planted out around the country. More information can be found at the following site:
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/saplings-and-sculptures-the-birnam-oak-project-branches-out