Take the “Circus Trees” created by bean farmer Axel Erlandson, for example. As a hobby, he pruned and grafted trees into fantastic shapes.

Refusing to divulge his techniques, he took his tree shaping secrets to his grave.

The Giant Sequoias only grow in Sierra Nevada, California, and hold the title as the world’s biggest trees, at least in terms of volume. General Sherman, located in the Sequoia National Park, is the largest of them all, standing over 275 feet tall and weighing over 6,000 tons.

It’s about 2,200 years old – and each year, the behemoth grows enough wood to make a regular 60-foot tall tree.

The Chêne-Chapelle (Chapel-Oak) of Allouville-Bellefosse is the most famous tree in France. But it’s actually more than just a tree; it’s a building and a religious monument, and a tree, all in one.

In 1669, a lightning bolt hollowed out the old oak and a priest built a small altar within to the Virgin Mary. Later on, a chapel and staircase was added.

“The Tule Tree” in Mexico is an enormous specimen of the Montezuma cypress. It has the largest trunk girth – 190 feet, and a trunk diameter of 37 feet. Local legend says you can make out animals like jaguars and elephants in its trunk, earning it the nickname “the Tree of Life.”

The amazing Baobab or monkey bread tree can grow up to about 100 feet tall and 35 feet wide. Their most astonishing feature is the fact that their swollen trunks are actually water storage. Each tree can store as much as 31,700 gallon (120,000 l) of water to endure harsh drought conditions.

The baobab tree is the national tree of Madagascar, but can also be found in mainland Africa and Australia.