New Capitol Campus tree celebrates U.S. 250th anniversary

| By DES Communications

A photo of colorful red leaves on a tree branch.
The black gum’s leaves provide striking fall color. This new addition to Capitol Campus will honor the 250th year since the nation's founding.

Capitol Campus is receiving a tree from George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, and planting it in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.

This summer, the state Capitol Campus welcomes a new addition to its outdoor museum.

The tree honors the 250th year since the establishment of the United States in 1776.

It's a gift from Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, facilitated by Rep. Hunter Abell. The first president's estate collects, grows, and distributes trees to new locations across the country. Rep. Abell kindly connected our staff with theirs.

Mount Vernon's staff offered us eight varieties. From these, Dr. Brent Chapman, senior horticulturalist for Capitol Campus, selected a black gum. Last month, the State Capitol Committee approved the selection.

Also known as a tupelo or pepperidge, the black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) resists most pests. It matures to a moderate height well-suited to its location. Its small berries provide food for wildlife. It will also tolerate the site's damp soil.

We'll incorporate the black gum into a landscape bed at the corner of Water Street and 11th Avenue. The campus' original landscape designers intended this area as a woodland of layered trees and shrubs: a vision our grounds team has been developing over the past decade. Two Douglas firs will provide a dark-green backdrop to the gum's striking fall color.

"The black gum will stand in a place of honor in our evolving urban forest," said Dr. Chapman. "It's a beautiful addition to the Capitol Campus arboretum, which is already home to more than 100 types of trees. And its planting is a great way to celebrate the 250th year since our nation's founding."

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