In the temperate climes of the world, it’s easy to take trees for granted. I can see several beautiful ones outside my window right now, and all they make me think about is how many leaves I have to rake up from them every fall. But in the Saharan nation of Niger, one of the bleakest places on Earth, trees are a much rarer commodity. Especially when one happens to be the only tree for 250 miles in any direction.

View Tree of Ténéré in a larger map

For most of the 20th century, one of the most important landmarks of central Niger was the Tree of Ténéré, an acacia tree growing near a well in the middle of the desert. Once, a small grove of trees grew at this spot, but as the region’s climate grew hotter and drier, only one survived. The Tree of Ténéré was, for decades, the most isolated tree on Earth.

The tree was located along a fairly busy salt caravan route, but it managed to thrive. None of its branches were ever cut for firewood, and no camel was ever allowed to eat its leaves. The region’s Touareg nomads considered it sacred, and the tree was the site of traditional ceremonial gatherings before any attempt to cross the Ténéré’s vast dune sea.

How did a tree manage to bloom in this harsh environment? When the well near the tree was dug in 1938, the tree’s roots were observed descending through more than 100 feet of sand to reach water. This “living lighthouse” of Niger was so well-known that it was always marked on national maps, no matter how small their scale.