The event took place in the Bonsai Greenhouse Room and was attended by, among others, the mayor of Orihuela, Pepe Vegara; the director of the EPSO at the UMH, Juan Martínez; and the director of the Jesús Carnicer Didactic and Interactive Science Museum of the Vega Baja del Segura (MUDIC), located on the UMH’s Orihuela-Desamparados campus, María del Carmen Perea.

The verses from Miguel Hernández’s poem “Elegy,” “You will return to my orchard and my fig tree: along the high scaffolding of flowers / your beekeeping soul will flit / with angelic wax and labors,” recited by the director of the Royal Botanical Garden-CSIC, María-Paz Martín, opened the event. María-Paz Martín thanked the rector of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), Juan José Ruiz Martínez, for the donation of a cutting from this centuries-old fig tree, which held so much significance for Miguel Hernández, and for the University’s decision to entrust the RJB, the oldest institute of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), with one of the one hundred cuttings used to clone this symbolic tree, adding it to the RJB’s collection of living plants. For his part, Rector Juan José Ruiz stated during the event that he is “an admirer of the Botanical Garden, and as rector of the UMH, it is a source of pride for me that such an important symbol of the poet Miguel Hernández as this fig tree is housed here.” around”.

The mayor of Orihuela, Pepe Vegara, stated that “our universal poet Miguel Hernández has been, is, and will be the best ambassador for Orihuela, his birthplace. Thanks to him, our municipality is known throughout the world, and we believe that one of the best ways to pay him tribute is not only by promoting and disseminating his work but also by donating these fig tree cuttings, a living symbol of our poet’s childhood, youth, and maturity. Today, Miguel Hernández is present in this Royal Botanical Garden, and here he will live on forever.”

The propagation of these one hundred fig tree cuttings began in 2017 with the signing of a collaboration agreement between the Orihuela City Council and the Miguel Hernández University (UMH), with the aim of ensuring the continuity of this centuries-old tree, which, according to specialists, has no more than fifteen or twenty years of life left, given its current precarious condition. Researchers from the EPSO (School of Engineering and Architecture) at the UMH have had to intervene to save it. It so happens that this project to clone the poet’s fig tree began when the current rector of the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) was director of the School of Engineering (EPSO), whose research group focuses on Agricultural Biodiversity and Genetic Improvement of Varieties. Therefore, the director of the Royal Botanical Garden of Barcelona (RJB-CSIC) has emphasized that the Garden can count on the rector as “a valuable ally” for future collaborations between the two institutions.

The current director of the School, Professor Juan Martínez Tomé, and researcher Adrián Grau were responsible for propagating the fig tree. The donation of the plant was initiated by María del Carmen Perea, director of the Jesús Carnicer Didactic and Interactive Science Museum (MUDIC) in the Vega Baja del Segura region of the Valencian Community.

Subsequently, the rector of the UMH donated another cutting of the poet’s fig tree to the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid.

The mayor of Orihuela (left) and the rector of the UMH present one of the two cuttings to the director of the RJB-CSIC

The ‘mother fig tree’ in the poet’s garden.

Photo: © José Luis González Esteban | UMH