Story by Pat Stinson
In May, I hugged a Moon Tree.
The tall, healthy-looking sycamore was grown from a seed that flew to space in 1971 and was planted in Niles, Michigan in 1976. Many seeds flew to space on the Apollo 14 mission in an experiment to compare the effects of seeds sent to space with their counterparts on the ground. The seeds were germinated, and young seedlings were planted throughout the U.S. to commemorate the country’s Bicentennial.
Michigan is said to have received and planted four trees (astonishingly, detailed records were not kept), but only this one near the Indiana border survived. You can find it the Fernwood Botanical Garden. I visited in early May when the red trilliums and other spring flowers were blooming. The Saint Joseph River flows beside the grounds, with creeks, ponds and sculptures throughout the wooded and sunny garden settings. The temperature was 90 degrees by 11 a.m., so I stuck to the shady walking trails.
The Moon Tree reportedly was to be planted in the arboretum but instead found a happy, moisture-laden home in a former nursery outside the Japanese garden. Specifically, the tree is growing alongside a gravel drive overlooking the grounds’ building, an inauspicious site for a tree with a celebrated past. Even with directions from Sue Miller at the reception desk, it took a bit of sleuthing to find this historical figure. At a bend in the road, I stopped at a greenhouse, where “Joanne,” a volunteer, helpfully pointed to the next landmark.
Ed Stephenson left the shade of his maintenance garage to greet me as I parked alongside it. I shouted my reason for being there to him, and he walked to one of a few trees opposite the building. A small sign at the tree’s base simply states, “Moon Tree”, along with a picture of the moon. We took photographs and talked about the tree’s history, its modest home and lack of visitors.
Here’s a bit of trivia for you. When it launches toward the moon this month or next, the Artemis 1 rocket will carry tree seeds, echoing that Apollo 14 experiment. Last time, the tree species were selected from southern and western U.S. climes, and many did not survive. Some that did weren’t thriving in our northern states. However, Michigan’s Moon Tree in Niles thrived. And touching something living that traveled to space, even 50 years ago, is the next best thing to being in space to this gal.
To read more of the interesting story of NASA’s original “moon trees” and the experiment, go to: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/moon_tree.html.
For information about Fernwood Botanical Garden, visit: fernwoodbotanical.org.
