A large black maple on central campus, one of only two remaining original trees from the William M. Beardshear Memorial Grove, was damaged by strong winds. Photo by Christopher Gannon.
A large black maple tree, one of two remaining original trees from the William M. Beardshear Memorial Grove on central campus, was severely damaged by strong winds during the weekend of May 16-18. The trees were dedicated in 1917 in memory of the former Iowa State College president, who served from 1891 until his death in 1902. Horticulture and forest and landscape architecture faculty agreed the mostly hollow tree should remain standing. Campus service arborists will trim it to ensure safety.
Rhonda Martin, campus landscape architect and manager of Iowa State's TreeCycle program, said there are several good reasons to leave part of the tree standing:
- Because the trunk contains several hollow spaces, it's possible the tree might have baby inhabitants (squirrels, raccoons) still housed in the tree. By leaving the trunk intact, the babies will have time to grow and leave the tree on their own.
- By leaving the tree and some short sections of the tree limbs jutting out from the trunk, the hope is to encourage hawks or owls to use the tree for perches -- perhaps even a nesting site.
- This presents an opportunity to demonstrate how vital and useful trees are to our ecosystem -- in this case not as TreeCycle wood for furniture but as habitat for campus wildlife.
Martin said seeds and cuttings from the tree will be gathered to try to cultivate seedlings. Successful seedlings would be planted back on campus.
