有一天，他們帶（載）媽媽到國姓鄉北港村去看一棵茄苳老樹。那棵樹矗立在「北圳步道」旁，乃是龐然巨物，根據描述，樹圍達 6 公尺，要四個人才能環抱，樹高約 20 公尺，樹冠面積達 300 平方公尺，地方推測樹齡已超過 300 年，已列為南投縣珍貴老樹進行保護。
令我興奮的是，國姓鄉 "北港村" 就在 "長流村" 的隔壁，兩村僅一山之隔，而後者（長流，又稱 "水長流"）便是我的出生地，我童年生活的村子。從小到大，我未曾聽過有那麼一棵茄苳老樹，就在離家不遠之處。
這回與媽閒聊，我問她對那棵樹有何印象。她說，先前從未聽聞，一直到親眼目睹的那一日，她才「知影」(tsai-iánn; be aware that ...) 那是很特別、很有趣的一棵老樹，樹身有個大洞，穿過洞，可以清楚地「看見台灣」！
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The following information is taken from Wikipedia
(以下資料分別取自英文及中文維基百科)
Bischofia javanica, or bishop wood, is a plant species of the family Phyllanthaceae. It and the related Bischofia polycarpa are the only two members of genus Bischofia and tribe Bischofieae. These species are distributed throughout southern and southeast Asia to Australia and Polynesia -- also in North America (brought to North America as a decorative plant but now considered to be an invasive species). The tree is commonly used by tigers to scratch-mark territory in the jungles of Assam where it is locally called uriam. They also occur in southwestern, central, eastern, and southern China, and also Taiwan, where aboriginal people consider it a sacred tree.
茄苳 (學名：Bischofia javanica)，亦稱重陽木、秋風、萬年青樹 (雲南元謀)、赤木 (日本、山東、安徽懷寧)，茄冬、加冬 (台灣、福建)，秋風子 (江蘇)，木樑木 (廣西蒼梧)，加當 (南京)。為大戟科重陽木屬的常綠大喬木。
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底下這張照片
《媽媽的菜園》
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