Seedlings and Clones Reserved for Future Planting in the Archive

• Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) — from a 2018 seed [#008] from the Davie Poplar on the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill. Gift to the Cary Tree Archive from Tom Bythell, head groundskeeper at UNC Chapel Hill, who collected, germinated, and nurtured the seed. PLANTED: Tree #106K on 10/26/20

Wyatt Stevens, owner of Brownswood Nursery on Johns Island, South Carolina, with the Angel oak descendant destined for the Cary Tree Archive. 3/13/2020.

• Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) – Tree grown from an acorn from the Angel oak on Johns Island, South Carolina. Tree is being raised by Brownswood Nursery. Brownswood arborists will release the tree for planting in the Archive in October, 2020.

  [Update: March 13, 2020] We happened to be in Charleston for a wedding and stopped by Brownswood Nursery to visit our descendant of the Angel oak. There being no reason not to transport it home at this time, we loaded it in the car and brought it to Cary.] PLANTED: Tree #106H on 10/26/20

• White oak (Quercus alba) – Tree grown from an acorn from the Wye Oak, that at the time of its death in 2002 was the oldest white oak in North America. It is the state tree of Maryland. Inspired by its size, shape, and age, forester Fred W. Besley founded the national Big Tree Program in 1925. The American Forestry Association named the Wye Oak its first National Champion Tree.

  Maryland's John S. Ayton State Forest Tree Nursery raises seedlings from its large supply of Wye Oak acorns, and releases them when they are ready to be planted. The Archive placed a reservation for a tree in January, 2019, and is, as of September, 2019, 16th on the list of requestors.

  [Update: October 4, 2020] All the current Wye Oak seedlings failed. New seedlings are being planted. The earliest the Archive will receive a seedling is October, 2023.

• Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) – The centerpiece of the Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham is a Dawn redwood tree propagated from the first seedlot brought from China by Harvard's Arnold Arboretum expedition in 1947. The tree was germinated in Boston and transported to Duke Gardens after several years, and it is one of the first lot to be planted in North America in two million years. Each year, Duke Gardens arborist collects seeds from the tree and grows a crop of descendants. The Archive is on the list to receive a descendant.

• American elm (Ulmus americana) – "Herbie" was an American elm planted in Yarmouth, Maine in 1793. It proved resistant (although not immune) to Dutch elm disease, surviving as most of Yarmouth's elms succumbed to it. Herbie grew to a height of 110 feet and measured 20 feet in circumference, and was the largest and oldest elm tree in the country. When it became apparent that old age would claim the tree, scientists from the Elm Research Institute began to takes clones from it, hoping they would prove as resistant to the disease as was Herbie. A clone of a clone of Herbie has been secured for the Cary Tree Archive, and will be delivered for planting in the Fall of 2023.

• Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana) – Hemlock species are under attack by the invasive pest called the hemlock wooly adelgid. The massive battles to save the species from this pest are fought on many fronts by various organizations. The Archive is proud to contribute to these efforts. Two trees grown from seeds collected at Hemlock Bluffs will be planted within the Archive and monitored by CamCore and NCSU scientists.

• American elm (Ulmus americana) – The Oklahoma City Survivor Tree was severely damaged in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. The FBI wanted to cut it down to collect evidence embedded in it after the bombing. More forward-thinking officials prevailed and the tree was saved. It recovered from its wounds and now grows magnificently in front of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. We acquired two seedlings from this tree. One will be raised up for planting in the Archive and the other will be given to Basil Camu for Leaf & Limb's Project Pando. PLANTED: Tree #106J on 10/26/20

The Oklahoma City Survivor Tree The inscription surrounding it reads: “The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.”
1995	Today