The tree in question, a hundred-year-old banyan in front of the Wuku Temple, had begun to wither, its roots choked by concrete and its body ravaged by blight. By the turn of the year, its leaves had virtually all dropped off, and the smaller twigs were beginning to fall too.
位於公館鄉五穀宮前的一棵百年老榕，因根部遭水泥封死、加上嚴重蟲害，在去年底開始枯萎，到今年初葉子掉得不剩百片，較細的枝節也開始掉落。