Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The saddest little tree in downtown Washington bears a surprise
Last edited Sat Apr 25, 2015, 01:18 PM - Edit history (1)
The saddest little tree in downtown Washington bears a surpriseLocal
A tree at 16th and L streets NW is seen in Washington. "I thought it was dead, but it turned out to just be sleeping. It's a dawn redwood. It looks like an evergreen but drops its leaves every winter. " says columnist John Kelly. (John Kelly/The Washington Post)
By John Kelly Columnist April 21
@JohnKelly
I watched the dead tree throughout the winter. It sat at the corner of 16th and L streets NW, and I often passed it on my way to and from the office. Whenever I did I would think: What a sad little tree.
It had the misfortune of looking like a cut Christmas tree that had been dragged to the curb in February: piney, but with bare branches, about seven feet tall. It looked brittle, used up, sloughing off its bark as if it had arboreal eczema. I waited for it to be cut down.
Then last week I saw that the tree I had assumed was dead was covered in tiny green shoots. I could not have been more surprised if it had become home to a troop of howler monkeys. It was alive!
What was this mystery tree, this Lazarus? Hanging about halfway up the trunk was a pink band bearing a seven-digit number. I jotted the number down and e-mailed it to John Thomas, tree honcho for the District’s Urban Forestry Administration. ... That, he e-mailed back, is a dawn redwood, or as botanists call it, a Metasequoia glyptostroboides.
A tree at 16th and L streets NW is seen in Washington. "I thought it was dead, but it turned out to just be sleeping. It's a dawn redwood. It looks like an evergreen but drops its leaves every winter. " says columnist John Kelly. (John Kelly/The Washington Post)
By John Kelly Columnist April 21
@JohnKelly
I watched the dead tree throughout the winter. It sat at the corner of 16th and L streets NW, and I often passed it on my way to and from the office. Whenever I did I would think: What a sad little tree.
It had the misfortune of looking like a cut Christmas tree that had been dragged to the curb in February: piney, but with bare branches, about seven feet tall. It looked brittle, used up, sloughing off its bark as if it had arboreal eczema. I waited for it to be cut down.
Then last week I saw that the tree I had assumed was dead was covered in tiny green shoots. I could not have been more surprised if it had become home to a troop of howler monkeys. It was alive!
What was this mystery tree, this Lazarus? Hanging about halfway up the trunk was a pink band bearing a seven-digit number. I jotted the number down and e-mailed it to John Thomas, tree honcho for the District’s Urban Forestry Administration. ... That, he e-mailed back, is a dawn redwood, or as botanists call it, a Metasequoia glyptostroboides.
There are a few dawn redwoods in Alexandria, Virginia, and I have seen one on the Capitol grounds in Dover, Delaware. They are nifty trees and not something you'll see every day. Due to their distinctive shape, you can spot one from a mile away.
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
