Tree of the Week: November 26th, 2024
This tree of the week is very interesting because it was thought to have been extinct for many years! ArborNote’s Tree of the Week is the Chisos Mountain oak (Quercus tardifolia). Researchers from The Morton Arboretum and United States Botanic Garden (USBG) have located a lone Chisos Mountain oak within the Big Bend National Park in Texas, U.S.A. The rare species has only ever been recorded in the Chisos Mountains in Texas, and in the nearby Sierra del Carmen in northern Coahuila, Mexico. It was first described in the 1930s and the last living specimen was believed to have perished in 2011. Their find, although exciting, is also rather disheartening because the 30-foot tree is in very poor condition. Its trunk has been burned in places, and it shows signs of severe fungal infection. It is clearly clinging to life at this stage; a single bush fire or season of drought could mean the end of it. Scientists are desperately trying to protect the tree as well as collect any acorns that they can to try and keep these species from going extinct.
Leave a Reply