Found a massive bur oak in Central Park yesterday that changed how I see urban trees

I was in NYC for a family thing last weekend and stopped by Central Park. Walked past this bur oak near the Mall that's gotta be 250 years old, just towering over everything. Thing had these huge gnarly branches with bark so thick it looked like armor. Made me think about how we treat old urban trees vs. ones in the wild. Anyone else ever stumble on a city tree that made you stop and stare?

2 comments

2 Comments

theathomas12d ago

That bur oak sounds amazing. I totally get what you mean about it feeling different from wild trees, like it's carrying all this history just from being there in the middle of the city for so long.

kai60212d ago

Bur oak's been there maybe 80 years tops. It's a nice tree but doesn't it feel like we're acting like it's the last old oak on earth? There's probably a dozen others just in that park nobody notices.