Enduring Roots: Encounters with Trees, History, and the American Landscape

210 Pages·1999·3.83 MB·English

by  Gayle Brandow Samuels

e n d u r i n g
r o o t s

E N C O U N T E R S W I T H T R E E S , H I S T O R Y ,
A N D T H E A M E R I C A N L A N D S C A P E
e n d u r i n g
r o o t s
G B S
A Y L E R A N D O W A M U E L S
R U T G E R S U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S
N E W B R U N S W I C K , N E W J E R S E Y , A N D L O N D O N
Samuels,Gayle,1943–
Enduringroots:encounterswithtrees,history,andtheAmericanlandscape/GayleBrandow
Samuels.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. ).
ISBN0-8135-2721-X(cloth:alk.paper)
1.Trees—UnitedStates—Folklore. 2.Trees—Symbolicaspects—UnitedStates. 3.Trees—
Environmentalaspects—UnitedStates. 4.Landscapeassessment—UnitedStates. I.Title.
GR105.S333 1999
398(cid:2).368216—dc21 99-14092
CIP
BritishCataloging-in-PublicationdataforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
Frontispiece:Root,stem,andbranchstructureofasixteen-year-oldCox’sOrangePippinappletree.
(HorticultureResearchInternational,EastMalling,Kent,UnitedKingdom)
Copyright(cid:3)1999byGayleBrandowSamuels
Allrightsreserved
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicor
mechanical,orbyanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutwrittenpermissionfrom
thepublisher.PleasecontactRutgersUniversityPress,100JoyceKilmerAvenue,Piscataway,NJ
08854–8099.Theonlyexceptiontothisprohibitionis‘‘fairuse’’asdefinedbyU.S.copyrightlaw.
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Printeredonpartiallyrecycledpaper
F O R J E N N I F E R A N D E R I C S A M U E L S
F O R N A N C Y G O R D O N H E S S
F O R G E R T R U D E , A A R O N , A N D L O U I S B R A N D O W
A N D E S P E C I A L L Y F O R M Y H U S B A N D ,
S T U

c o n t e n t s
L I S T O F I L L U S T R A T I O N S IX
P R E F A C E XI
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S XIII
C H A P T E R O N E – T A K I N G R O O T :
T H E C H A R T E R O A K 3
C H A P T E R T W O – F A M I L Y T R E E S 23
C H A P T E R T H R E E – A P P L E S : C O R E I S S U E S 39
C H A P T E R F O U R – T H R E E C H E R R I E S 65
C H A P T E R F I V E – R E T U R N I N G N A T I V E S 91
C H A P T E R S I X – T H E T R E E T H A T O W N E D I T S E L F 117
C H A P T E R S E V E N – M E T H U S E L A H ’ S W A L K 135
N O T E S 161
B I B L I O G R A P H Y 177
I N D E X 191

i l l u s t r a t i o n s
Frontispiece:Root,stem,andbranchstructureofasixteen-year-oldCox’sOrangePippinappletree
1. Quercusalba,CharlesSpragueSargent,TheSilvaofNorthAmerica 2
2. A1936postagestampcommemoratingConnecticut’sTercentenary 6
3. JohnH.Most,HartfordChairofState 7
4. FredericEdwinChurch,TheCharterOak,1846,oiloncanvas 11
5. FredericEdwinChurch,TheCharterOak,August–September1846,
inkandgraphitedrawing 12
6. BlackWalnut,Franc¸oisA.Michaux,TheNorthAmericanSylva 22
7. SpruceplantedbyMaryFrancisGarveyCoolleyatFairfieldCemeterytomark
thegraveofunknowninfant 30
8. AremainingstandofAshNelson’sWalnutBridge 32
9. Sievers’crabapple,T.Ch.Yu,TaxonomyofFruitTreesinChina 38
10. TitlepageofRalphAusten’sTreatiseofFruit-Treesshowingaperfectlyordered
orchard 44
11. AnearlyrenderingofJohnnyAppleseed 57
12. MapshowinglocationsofnurserysitesestablishedbyJohnChapman 59
13. ChiefJakeSwampreceivingArborDayFoundationMediaAwardonApril25,1998 62
14. WildCherry,Franc¸oisA.Michaux,TheNorthAmericanSylva 64
15. GrantWood,ParsonWeems’Fable,1939,oiloncanvas 71
X I L L U S T R A T I O N S
16. Prunusserrulataf.purpurascens,nowgenerallyknownasPrunusserrulata
Kwanzan 74
17. LocationofthefirstceremonialplantingofJapanesefloweringcherrytrees
onMarch26,1912 81
18. TheJeffersonMemorial,siteofa1938protestovertheremovalofcherrytrees
tomakewayforthemonument 83
19. RolandW.JeffersonsurroundedbyJapaneseschoolchildren,parents,andteachers 84
20. CherrytreesinfloweralongtheTidalBasin 87
21. Ulmusamericana,CharlesSpragueSargent,TheSilvaofNorthAmerica 90
22,23,24. ThegreeningofGreeley,1870,c. 1887,c. 1911 98
25. Coloradohomesteadsurroundedbytrees,1997 100
26. TheOklahomaCitySurvivorTree 113
27. Platanusoccidentalis,CharlesSpragueSargent,TheSilvaofNorthAmerica 116
28. TheFreedBuddSycamoreTree 120
29. MiddleEocene(c.43millionyearsago)sycamorefossilleaf(Platanussp.) 120
30. PaulLandacreillustrationofournativesycamore,Platanusoccidentalis 124
31. Pinusaristata,CharlesSpragueSargent,TheSilvaofNorthAmerica 134
32. EdmundSchulmanandWhiteMountaindistrictrangerRichardWilson
withPineAlpha 137
33. AndrewE.DouglassusingaSwedishincrementborertocoreaPonderosapine 141
34. Diagramillustratingprincipleofcross-dating 142
35. Fascicleandneedlecharacteristicsofbristleconepinepopulations 146
36. GreatBasinbristlecone 153
37. HillsideshowingspacingofGreatBasinbristlecones 158