The holm oak of El Ricard inherits the name of the farmhouse next to which it grows, in the southern part of the municipality of Castellterçol (Moianès). It is an enormous holm oak. The roots sinks through the cracks of a sandstone step, to raise a straight on trunk on the edge of the rock cliff. The trunk, measured in 2026, has a diameter of 110 cm. Above, the trunk becomes an inverted cone of robust branches that rise even higher to support the slender canopy, with no horizontal branches that could break. It looks like the trunk of the holm oak of El Ricard and the columns of Sagrada Familia basilica draw from the same source. At first glance, the canopy seems as voluminous as the house of El Ricard itself. One central branch of the canopy died likely because the shade from peripheral branches; this is the weakest point where wood-boring larvae can kick off one attack.
The holm oak of El Ricard is a prominent natural landmark in the municipality of Castellterçol, despite not being in the list of monumental trees of Catalonia. The holm oak of El Ricard stands out in the countryside for its impressive size but also for its arboreous appearance if compared to the holm oaks in the surrounding forest, away of the house, that all have been cut for firewood and charcoal purpose along centuries, resulting nowadays in several medium size trunks growing from a single, broad stump.
[photos Jordi Badia]
- See the ICHN-Bages group beneath the shade of the holm oak of El Ricard in 30.05.2026.