DENDRITI. – From the Greek δένδρον, tree; Christian ascetics who, in the Byzantine East, spent part of their lives within the hollows of large trees. The category of the d. was much narrower than that of the stylites, nor did they ever acquire their popularity, although their way of life was no less rigorous and mortified. They were few and known only in some regions near the place of their asceticism.
One of the most distinguished was St. Davide of Thessalonica (Salonicco), originally from Mesopotamia, who lived for three years in an almond tree (d. ca. 535; cf. G. Mosco, Pratum Spirituale, 69; PG 87, 2921 and BHG, 493). The same Mosco (ibid., chap. 70, col. 2924) also relates the story of a monk named Adola, from Mesopotamia, who lived in a large plane tree.