Michigan Capitol Moon Tree
Lansing, Michigan
![[Moon Tree Article]](ironwood_mi_daily_globe_19760423_sm.jpg)
![[Moon Tree Article]](holland_mi_eve_sentinel_19760416_sm.jpg)
A sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) Moon Tree was planted in a ceremony on the
lawn of the Michigan State Capitol building on 22 April 1976. Although it turned
out Gov. Milliken could not be there to plant the tree as was initially
indicated in the second article below, Lt. Governor James Damman and other state
dignitaries attended the planting. The 18-inch tall seedling was removed after
the ceremony and taken to a city greenhouse to protect it from the possibility
of spring frosts, and was possibly going to be kept there until the next year.
However, there is no record of what happened to the tree after that. At some
point it died, whether this happened in the greenhouse or if it was replanted
and died on the capitol grounds is not known. Of the four trees known to have
been sent to Michigan, only one, at the Fernwood Botanical Gardens, is still
alive.
News clippings used with permission, courtesy
Ironwood, Michigan Daily Globe (left, April 23, 1976)
and
Holland, Michigan Evening Sentinel (right, April 16, 1976)
Newspaper clippings courtesy of Nick VanAcker, Mark Thompson, and newspapers.com.
History of the Sycamore Moon Trees
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: 14 June 2023, DRW
![[Moon Tree Article]](ironwood_mi_daily_globe_19760423.jpg)
![[Moon Tree Article]](holland_mi_eve_sentinel_19760416.jpg)
A sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) Moon Tree was planted in a ceremony on the
lawn of the Michigan State Capitol building on 22 April 1976. Although it turned
out Gov. Milliken could not be there to plant the tree as was initially
indicated in the second article below, Lt. Governor James Damman and other state
dignitaries attended the planting. The 18-inch tall seedling was removed after
the ceremony and taken to a city greenhouse to protect it from the possibility
of spring frosts, and was possibly going to be kept there until the next year.
However, there is no record of what happened to the tree after that. At some
point it died, whether this happened in the greenhouse or if it was replanted
and died on the capitol grounds is not known. Of the four trees known to have
been sent to Michigan, only one, at the Fernwood Botanical Gardens, is still
alive.
News clippings used with permission, courtesy
Ironwood, Michigan Daily Globe (left, April 23, 1976)
and
Holland, Michigan Evening Sentinel (right, April 16, 1976)
Newspaper clippings courtesy of Nick VanAcker, Mark Thompson, and newspapers.com.