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Centuries-old cotton tree, a national symbol for decades, felled by storm in Sierra Leone

elisfkc2 / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

By SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Sierra Leon’s President Julius Maada Bio says heavy rains felled the centuries-old Cotton Tree that has stood as the country’s national symbol for decades. President Bio said Thursday he looks forward to discussions on how to best use the space. A storm Wednesday evening in the capital, Freetown destroyed all by the stump of the tree. Standing 70 meters tall and 15 meters wide, the roughly 400 year-old tree has appeared on Sierra Leone’s bank notes, referred to in lullabies and visited by royalty, such as Queen Elizabeth the II, to mark the country’s independence in 1961.

Article Topic Follows: AP National News

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