Brow Beat

Last week we asked you to vote for the best documentary of the last five years, and this week we want you to vote for cinema’s greatest tree.

As James Hughes chronicled last week in Slate, trees have a rich and fertile history in Hollywood films. Many directors have become maniacal about trees, unearthing them to convey them across town (as Terrence Malick reportedly did for The Tree of Life), commissioning sylvan scouting reports (as Stanley Kubrick did for Full Metal Jacket), and even leafing them by hand (as Alfred Hitchcock did for The Trouble With Harry). In some cases, the trees inspire a similar obsession from their viewers, like the pilgrims who visit the Mansfield, Ohio oak from The Shawshank Redemption.

But of course cinema’s greatest trees aren’t just technical achievements. We asked Hughes to send us a list of 20 of cinema’s greatest arboreal wonders—celluloid’s greatest cellulose. These include not just the unforgettable killer trees of Lord of the Rings, Poltergeist, and Harry Potter, but also the more natural spectacles of The Virgin Spring, Vertigo, Cat People, and Jurassic Park.

Poll closes Friday, Feb. 24 at noon.