Why is there a random pine tree in the middle of the Other's village? Is this where they gather for their annual Christmas party?

I wondered this exact same thing. I thought maybe it was to throw us off at first before it actually showed the plane into thinking they were in a different part of the world (like Oregon or something?), because it focuses on it in the background before we see the plane, but really not for that long.

There is definitely one out-of-place evergreen in there though.

probably the above mentioned or it has a special signifigance like the tree in whoville omg which reminds me i had a dream last week that had an other village in it and it was decorated for christmas and zeke was santa

Too funny, you guys! I thought the exact same thing-- oh, there's a pine tree, they are obviously not on the isla-- heyyy!!

Now just picture all the Others standing around that pine tree singing on Christmas morning like all the Whos in Whoville. Juliette can put her hair in pigtails and be Cindy Lou Who.

You know, maybe in a flashback or two they will show a christmas celebration and that tree will be decorated. I could see something surreal like that.

Who knows =]

I wondered about it too.

It was an adult tree, so assuming it's not native to the island, and they didn't fly in a full grown tree, it wouldv'e have to been planted at least 10 years before.

Maybe we can infer the neighborhood's been around awhile.

Pine trees do exist in the tropics. Nothing surprising.

I've been to Miami, Florida and I usually went boating to the islands (Bahamas, The Florida Keys, Antigua, etc...) In these places, pine-trees line the beaches as well as coconut and palm trees.

Check it out:

http://www.greece-ferries.com/images/islands/saronic/poros/poros05.jpg
http://www.karnity.pl/karnity/dane2/mie1.jpg

Sure, but I don't recall seeing a pine tree anywhere else on the Island. (I could be wrong.) It certainly seems to have been placed there somehow to spruce up the neighborhood. (awful, awful pun) Definetly out of place on that island.

They hold hands in a circle around it and sing "Ba-hoo bor-ray, Da-hoo, Dor-ray, Welcome Christmas"!!!

Just kidding... It either means EVERYTHING or nothing. That's the way it is with LOST!!:biggrin:

Sure, but I don't recall seeing a pine tree anywhere else on the Island. (I could be wrong.) It certainly seems to have been placed there somehow to spruce up the neighborhood. (awful, awful pun) Definetly out of place on that island.

But since the show is being filmed in Hawaii, the tropics, I think if the pine trees were there to be filmed, then they can exist in the in that sort of enviornment. It's a part of the setting.

Jingle bells, Sawyer smells, the Hurley bird layed an egg.
Jin just ate an eel, Oceanic lost a wheel and Henry got away, HEY!

Whether or not pine trees exist naturally on the Island. (And I know that in Hawaii they do,) The pine tree in the neighborhood, as well as all the other trees there, appear to have been purposefully planted, suggesting the villiage has been around awhile. I'd post a screenshot, but I don't know how to put a picture in my post. (I'm new)

Not that it matters. It's just a tree.

Not that it matters. It's just a tree.

I'd like to reiterate that...hahaha.

BUT,

I do have screencaps:

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/7306/3mi9.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/9796/4rb6.jpg

My feeling is that it is just a tree. This was filmed in a real neighborhood with houses, lawns, and other landscaping niceties. What were TPTB to do? Ask if they could film there and then say..."oh yeah, btw, that tree has got to go?" I have seen other evergreens/conifers in the background at various points, but they looked pretty scrubby. (Do not ask me why I noticed them.:biggrin: ) This is just the first one that looked intentionally placed in the environment, but it looks that way because it was intentionally placed there by the owners of the property.;)

I doubt it's the Others' community Christmas tree, because according to the folks at the book club, Benry isn't into that kind of thing..religion, hocus pocus, science fiction... Just my :twocents: FWIW. Maybe, storywise, it might have served that purpose long ago before Benry came to power though. Who knows?

(Heh, I just mentioned in another thread that I bet in his next incarnation we will learn that Benry's real real name is Ebenezer.)

Maybe they were experimenting how different trees can grow in different environments. Like the speeds they grow and so on.

That's a Norfolk Island Pine. They're actually pretty common on tropical pacific islands. You see miniature versions often as houseplants, but out in the bright tropical sun, they grow into full trees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Island_Pine

the tree just looks very misplaced

I agree, it does look very misplaced. As an avid gardener, it caught my eye right away. It looked fake and reminded me of those fake cell phone tower trees.

And how do we know this was filmed in a regular neighborhood and TPTB just made do with what was there?

Isn't Christmas Day just a weeks away in the LOST timeline? They crashed on September 22nd and have been there for 60/70? days December 25th is not far off. Might we see the Lostaways celebrate Christmas? Mr. Eko and Charlie would want to mark the occassion. The Lostaways could even have some sort of festivities.

Just thinking Ben said the "next two weeks" would be bad for Kate, Jack and Sawyer, what if they are able to escape and are reunited with the rest of the Lostaways on Christmas Day? That would be a great moment but I'm not sure if the dates line up or not as I'm unsure how many days they've been on the island.

Why is there a random pine tree in the middle of the Other's village? Is this where they gather for their annual Christmas party?

Great. Now I have this vision in my head of the Others gathered around it like the Whos from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. They're holding hands, swaying, singing songs, the works...:p

Although the pine tree does look out of place, they do grow in that type of environment. They're not native, but the Others probably just planted it. Same with most of the other trees on the island probably. Pretty much all the fruit trees that we've seen on the island aren't native, they were all introduced.

Juliette can put her hair in pigtails and be Cindy Lou Who.


Now that's funny! :)

did anyone catch a pine or evergreen tree in the middle of the yard????

also there seemed to be a bayoo-ish tree? weeping willow?

on a tropical isalnd? and the evergreen is rather large.. like it has been there a while.

Perhaps it was one of the many experiments? Like the polar bears on a tropical island, the trees are there to see how they can adapt to the climate. Not sure why they would do this, perhaps just to create a feel of normality and not being isloated (so far as we know) on this island.

They are probably part of a botanical garden. Where I went to school, there was a ginko tree, a native of Japan. It certainly didn't belong in Massachusetts. But, the ginko is a broadleaf evergreen and kind of a link between evergreen trees and deciduous trees. So, it was there for the botany students to observe. If Dharma was studying animals, they were probably studying plants as well.

This was dealt with at another LOST forum I visit. That particular pine tree is common to Hawaii, astounding as that may sound. So, no Dharma experimentation, here!

There's already another thread about it here:

http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=59079

*** Mod Comment ***

Merged that thread with this.

Pine trees will grow almost anywhere. Now what is even weirder is seeing palm trees on the coast of Ireland (seriously!). Apparently the do quite well in a wet climate that hardly ever goes below freezing.

was in Hawaii a few years back. They do have what seems to be randomly distributed pines in some parts of the island. They do look somewhat out of place, but they also looked like they belong there.

The particular tree in Otherville does look slightly out of place. It seems to be bigger than any other tree around. While it may not carry any significance, this is Lost after all.

We may find out later in the season the it is really a bonsi tree that has been genicaly altered to be larger that usual :rolleyes:

Hawaii's YMCA Camp Erdman was reportedly used for Otherville exterior shots.
I haven't been there but there are a number of web images that show what appear to be pines or evergreens.

http://members.tripod.com/~ymcacamp/pool.jpg (http://members.tripod.com/%7Eymcacamp/pool.jpg)
http://www.teen-summer-camps.com/Photos/YMCA%20Camp%20Erdman.jpg
http://members.tripod.com/~ymcacamp/hono.jpg