Dotards are old trees that are decaying as fast as they are growing. They can go on like this for years -- centuries even -- and they develop fantastically gnarled shapes.
There were two old black locust trees in Tompkins Square, gnarled and full of snags, and beautiful in the way locusts always are. When the city was letting that park go to pieces these trees were neglected. Crows roosted in their dead branches; it couldn’t have been better. Then the city got things in shape. They cut out the dead wood, but nothing looked right. They cut out more limbs; then they took down a whole tree. The city was well meaning, but I think they ought to be protecting venerable treasures instead of pursuing hopeless campaigns to remedy them.
The most famous East Village dotard was the Stuyvesant Pear. Planted in 1647 on a spot that later became the corner of Third Ave and Thirteenth St, it lived until 1867. Until 1862 it bore fruit. There’s a plaque on the wall about it.
The hawthorn in the picture grows in the south west corner of McCarren Park. It’s robust, fruiting heavily every year. I’ve tried to identify it (hawthorns are tricky) and for the life of me I think it’s Crategeus viridis ‘Winter King’, which was introduced in 1955. But it seems impossible that this tree is just 50 years old.
Maybe it’s not ‘Winter King’. Maybe it’s ancient, predating the park, which was called Greenpoint Park prior to being renamed in 1909. (The pool opened in 1936.) Does anyone know how to sort this out?
There were two old black locust trees in Tompkins Square, gnarled and full of snags, and beautiful in the way locusts always are. When the city was letting that park go to pieces these trees were neglected. Crows roosted in their dead branches; it couldn’t have been better. Then the city got things in shape. They cut out the dead wood, but nothing looked right. They cut out more limbs; then they took down a whole tree. The city was well meaning, but I think they ought to be protecting venerable treasures instead of pursuing hopeless campaigns to remedy them.
The most famous East Village dotard was the Stuyvesant Pear. Planted in 1647 on a spot that later became the corner of Third Ave and Thirteenth St, it lived until 1867. Until 1862 it bore fruit. There’s a plaque on the wall about it.
The hawthorn in the picture grows in the south west corner of McCarren Park. It’s robust, fruiting heavily every year. I’ve tried to identify it (hawthorns are tricky) and for the life of me I think it’s Crategeus viridis ‘Winter King’, which was introduced in 1955. But it seems impossible that this tree is just 50 years old.
Maybe it’s not ‘Winter King’. Maybe it’s ancient, predating the park, which was called Greenpoint Park prior to being renamed in 1909. (The pool opened in 1936.) Does anyone know how to sort this out?
1 comment:
Beautiful.
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