Tawes Garden Tree

Annapolis, Maryland

A sycamore ((Platanus occidentalis) Moon Tree was planned to be planted in the Helen Avalynne Tawes Garden in Annapolis, Maryland. The story above is from the 9 February 1976 issue of the Salisbury, Maryland Daily Times. The tree was presented to James B. Coulter, Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, by Robert Raisch, Area Director of the Northeastern Region of the U.S. Forest Service, at the winter meeting of the State Association of Forest District Conservancy Boards. Given this was in February, presumably the seedling would have gone into a greenhouse or other protected area until the spring, but there is no further information on what happened to the tree.

The Tawes Garden is located at 580 Taylor Avenue in the Tawes State Office Building Complex in Annapolis. The Tawes Garden Website makes no mention of the tree. A preliminary search of the site did not yield a likely candidate sycamore.

The seeds for the sycamores were collected by the U.S. Forest Service in Claiborne County, Mississippi. After their return to Earth, they were grown at the U.S. Forest Service Institute of Forest Genetics (IFG) southern station in Gulfport, Mississippi before being sent out as seedlings. More detail on the history of the Sycamore Moon Trees is available.

Clipping above courtesy Salisbury, Maryland Daily Times.
Information courtesy Mark Thompson.

History of the Sycamore Moon Trees

Moon Tree Home Page

NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 11 April 2024, DRW