Del Mar firefighters roll up hose after a day fighting wildfires Wednesday, May 14, 2014, in Carlsbad, Calif. More wildfires broke out Wednesday in San Diego County, threatening homes in Carlsbad and forcing the evacuations of military housing and an elementary school at Camp Pendleton. (Photo by AP Photo)

The Queen Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) is reflected in a puddle as a cyclist rides by in London, on 27 June 2016. Britain began preparations to leave the European Union on Monday but said it would not be rushed into a quick exit, as markets plunged in the wake of a seismic referendum despite attempts to calm jitters. (Photo by Leon Neal/AFP Photo)

Revellers enjoy air temperatures near freezing as they participate in the annual New Year's polar bear dip in the icy waters of Charlottetown harbour on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. (Photo by Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP Photo)

Norway's Karsten Warholm celebrates winning the men's 400m hurdles at the Diamond League in London, July 21, 2018. (Photo by Andrew Boyers/Action Images via Reuters)

A woman walks inside a building in downtown Havana, Cuba April 21, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

One of the last incoming trains arrives outside the main train station after Deutsche Bahn cancelled all train traffic in Germany due to heavy storms, Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, January 18, 2018. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

The main church in the town of San Damian Texoloc, Mexico stands in front of the Popocatepetl volcano as is spews ash and vapor early Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Last Saturday, Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention raised the volcano alert from Stage 2 Yellow to Stage 3 Yellow, the final step before a Red alert, when possible evacuations could be ordered after the Popocatepetl volcano spit out a cloud of ash and vapor 2 miles (3 kilometers) high over several days of eruptions. (Photo by J. Guadalupe Perez/AP Photo)

Axel Erlandson (December 15, 1884 – April 28, 1964) was a Swedish American farmer who shaped trees as a hobby, and opened a horticultural attraction in 1947 advertised as "See the World's Strangest Trees Here," and named "The Tree Circus."
The trees appeared in the column of Robert Ripley's Believe It or Not! twelve times. Erlandson sold his attraction shortly before his death. The trees were moved to Gilroy Gardens in 1985.