Evil Tree and Rumors

An Evil Tree guide from the Informer. And it actually contains a picture of an Evil Tree sapling, which I haven't been able to spot so far. Doesn't look like a sapling, if you ask me, though definitely very "treeish".

Now, there is one thing that irks me. I am talking about a new Barbarian Assault type of rumor that lighting fires around an evil tree lessens the reward (or tree lifespan). Every time I attempt to light a fire under an evil tree, I get screamed at by at least half a dozen players. And it is getting worse... Neither Informer, Tip.it or Marlain talks about it, nor I see anything like that in Jagex's description of the minigame. I don't think anyone can actually measure it and prove/disprove the rumor, as there are always many players working on every tree and you never know what and how much influences to the tree's destruction.

So, until I see an official comment from Jagex about the way it works, I refuse to believe this rumor and encourage you to do the same. Don't fall for it and don't be shy to get your Firemaking reward from the minigame.