I was fascinated by this very famous, and enormous “Gran” Gomera in the Plaza Francia in Recoletta. Planted in 1878, it is now over 50 metres wide… The branches are so massive and so heavy that even the aerial roots are not enough to hold up the largest ones, and wooden supports have been placed, like pillars, to hold the enormous weight.

The rubber (gomera) branches are so vast they stretch far out over the old 19th Century circular rail, once designed to contain the giant tree, to cast a shade nearly 100 feet in every direction.

This pictuire shows some more of the wooden supports,  helping to prop up the huge boughs.      This is the left, or East side of the tree.

and here is the right or west side….

and to the North…

and here, below,  is one of those humungous branches in mid-shot,  with some of the aerial roots visible….

all in all, an absolute whopper of a tree.    Not sure it’s possible to get any of the impact over,  in these puny photos,   but it’s better to try and fail.