Walking through campus, it’s easy to imagine those towering fir and oak trees have been growing for hundreds of years.
Not so, says Whitey Lueck, an instructor in the Department of Landscape Architecture who leads tours of the University’s arboretum. Lueck said the University was built on grassland. With one exception, every tree on campus has been planted since the school was founded in 1876.
“There are species of trees on campus from every continent except Antarctica, including one from Africa and one from Afghanistan,” Lueck said. “The majority of trees on campus are less than 75 years old.”
The University campus boasts more than 3,000 trees and more than 500 species of trees. Here are some from its collection:
1. “Moon Tree” (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Location: Between Carson and the EMU, on East 13th Avenue
The story: This Douglas-Fir was grown from a seed that orbited the moon 34 times. The seed of this tree was carried by Stuart Roosa, an astronaut and former Oregon forest firefighter, on the Apollo XIV in 1971. The seedling was planted in the late 1970s to celebrate the University’s centennial. In 1987, it was transplanted to its current location to make room for the construction of Willamette Hall.
2. Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana)
Location: North of Villard Hall next to Franklin Boulevard
The story: A white oak at the north end of campus is the only surviving tree that is older than the University. A plaque on the tree reads “Class of 1897,” but Lueck said the class did not plant that tree.
“The class of 1897 just decided that this was their tree,” Lueck said. “In reality, it’s probably been around for about 225 years.”
Early photographs of campus show two white oak trees, but the other one was cut down in 2004 because of rot.
3. Grand Fir (Abies grandis)
Location: Outside of Collier House
The story: Mrs. Collier, according to the self-guided tour, was the wife of Professor Collier and one of the first female botanists in the nation. She went out and collected seedlings for the trees planted around the Collier House, including this Grand Fir planted in the 1890s.
4. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
Location: Just west of Villard Hall
The story: The Ginkgo tree, one of the world’s oldest tree species, has been growing on the planet for 200 million years. It comes from eastern Asia, although fossils of Gingko leaves have been discovered in the John Day Fossil Beds of Eastern Oregon.
“The Gingko has religious significance in Japan, China and Korea, where its nuts are used in cakes and bread,” Lueck said.
5. Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
Location: Outside Deady Hall’s west entrance
The story: On Columbus Day in 1962, a storm with winds up to 86 miles per hour knocked down dozens of trees on campus. While this Big Leaf maple, which dates from the early 1880s, survived the storm, it lost some of its limbs. Since then, Lueck said campus arborists installed metal cables to prevent branches from breaking in a future storm.
6. Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Location: Along the sidewalk leading up to Deady Hall’s east entrance
The story: The Douglas-Firs lining the walkway to Deady Hall were some of the first trees planted on campus in the early 1880s. A few of the originals remain, but most of the trees were planted after storms knocked down the older ones.
“Most people don’t realize that the University was built on a hill,” Lueck said. This allé, or a double row of trees, was the entrance to campus. It’s so appropriate that the state tree of Oregon leads up to the first building of one of the Oregon’s first universities.”
7. Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
Location: Near the fountain on the west side of Pacific Hall
The story: “The Dawn Redwood was believed to be extinct everywhere,” Lueck said, “until an exploring party from Harvard found them in south China in 1947.”
The oldest Dawn Redwood, near Pacific Hall, was planted in the late 1940s and is now one of 12 on campus.
8. Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
Location: Women’s Memorial Quad, south of Johnson Lane
The story: This tree, a native of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, is distinctive for its branches that sweep the ground. Lueck says University maintenance staff members have made several unsuccessful attempts to trim the drooping branches over the years.
9. Oregon Myrtle (Umbellularia californica)
Location: Across from the European Beech, next to Gerlinger Annex
The story: Planted in the 1920s, the Oregon Myrtle is one of the only trees on campus with multiple trunks. According to the University’s self-guided tree tour, this is probably due to heavy pruning as a young tree. The Myrtle is notable for its fragrant leaves (which are related to bay leaves) and for its beautiful wood, which is often used in furniture.
10. Purple European Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Atropurpurea’)
Location: Just north of Gerlinger Annex
The story: The European Beech is native to the forests of Germany, France and Switzerland. Lueck estimates the beech tree next to Gerlinger was planted in the mid-1920s. Its smooth bark and low branches make it a favorite of intoxicated students looking for late-night tree climbing.
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Campus roots
Daily Emerald
March 9, 2010
Shawn Hatjes
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