pollard

A tree cut at head height rather than at the ground, producing a crown of regrowth above the reach of browsing animals. Pollards are the ancient trees of wood-pastures and commons — cut repeatedly over centuries, they develop massive, hollow trunks and gnarled, fist-like crowns. A pollard can live far longer than an uncut tree of the same species because the cycle of cutting and regrowth keeps it in a state of perpetual youth.