Asheville Botanical Gardens Moon Tree
Asheville, North Carolina
This sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) was planted at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville in North Carolina
in a ceremony on Arbor Day, March 19, 1976. However, it appears the original may have been
taken to a greenhouse and a different sycamore planted in its place at the ceremony,
later replaced with the real Moon Tree. The picture at the top left was taken in May, 2008, and the
tree pictures at top right and at the bottom were taken in June, 2023.
The Botanical Gardens at Asheville are located at 151 W.T. Weaver Blvd. in Asheville, North Carolina.
The tree is on the north side of Sycamore Meadow (see map), off the trail that parallels Reed Creek.
The plaque reads:
Sycamore
Platanus occidentalis L.
This sycamore was planted from a seed
which traveled on the January 31, 1971
Apollo 14 flight to the Moon.
Command pilot Stuart Roosa is a former
forest service smoke jumper.
Commemorating the nation's bi-centennial
and forestry's centennial.
1976
Two top left photographs courtesy Becky Priddy
Top right and lower photographs courtesy Sherry Banner
Map credit Botanical Gardens at Asheville
Botanical Gardens at Asheville
Along the Way: The Asheville Moon Tree
- Pennsylvania Rambler (28 August 2018)
Moon Tree Home Page
Author/Curator:
Dr. David R. Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov
NSSDCA, Mail Code 690.1
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
+1-301-286-1258
NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 8 July 2023, DRW