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Tree of Hippocrates

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Griechenland, Kos, Greece

Tree of Hippocrates

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The Tree of Hippocrates is the plane tree (or platane, in Europe) under which, according to the legend, Hippocrates of Kos (considered the father of medicine) taught his pupils the art of medicine. Paul of Tarsus purportedly taught here as well. The Platanus in Kos is an oriental plane (Platanus orientalis), with a crown diameter of about 12 metres, said to be the largest for a plane tree in Europe.

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Hippocrates' tree resides on the Platía Platanou (or "Square of the Platane"), in front of the Castle of Knights and next to the Gazi Hassan Mosque (erected in 1776) in the centre of Kos town. The current tree is only about 500 years old, but may possibly be a descendant of the original tree which allegedly stood there 2400 years ago, in Hippocrates' time. The tree has become hollowed out over the years, and some branches are supported by metal scaffolding. Next to the tree is a white tap with engravings in the Arabic language, also built by the Turkish Governor Gazi Hassan.

Nih dedicates tree of hippocrates


Derivatives of the original tree

The Medical Association of Cos presented a gavel made from wood of the plane tree to the President of the Canadian Medical Association in 1954.

Seeds or cuttings from the tree have been spread all over the world. A cutting of the tree was presented as a gift from the island of Kos to the United States and the National Library of Medicine, and planted on December 14, 1961 on the grounds surrounding the library. Many medical colleges, libraries or institutions have, or claim to have, trees cut or seeded from the original tree in Kos.

Trees cut or seeded from the original tree can be found, among others:
North America:

  • A cutting was planted on the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham to accompany a commissioned marble statue of Hippocrates. The 1971 installation was a gift from the Nakos Foundation to the University's medical center.
  • The Canadian Medical Association obtained a cutting in 1969, which was planted in Walker County, Alabama in 1981.
  • at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI
  • at The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University
  • at Mercer University School of Medicine
  • at the University of Michigan Medical School
  • at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine
  • at the University of Victoria
  • at Yale University
  • at the University of Florida J Hillis Miller Health Science Center, where College of Medicine students obtained cuttings in 1969 and which inspired the annual Hippocratic Award
  • at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
  • at the West Virginia School of Medicine Library, Charleston, West Virginia
  • at the Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
  • at MedStar Harbor Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
  • at New York Medical College / Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, NY
  • at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School
  • at the University of Utah School of Medicine, where it is planted adjacent to the Eccles Health Sciences Library

    • South America:

  • at the University of São Paulo, Brazil
  • at the Londrina State University, Brazil

    • Europe:

  • at the University of Glasgow, Department of Medical Genetics

    • Oceania:

  • at University of Sydney's School of Rural Health in Dubbo, Australia.
  • at Burwood Hospital, in Christchurch, New Zealand

    • References

    Tree of Hippocrates Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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