Quercus macrocarpa, digitally edited for symmetry
A monument for a tree -- the oak from Sternberg, Germany planted in Missouri to honor Guy's parents
Our Illinois state champion Rhus typhina (syn. Rhus hirta) at Starhill Forest
The top of the champion sumac with a Starhill Forest sunset.
The same champion sumac in summer
Mindy Bumgarner and Mama Cass with our Illinois state champion blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) at Starhill Forest
Our Illinois state champion Celtis tenuifolia at Starhill Forest
Guy's Illinois champion Quercus phellos at Fort Massac
Guy with his national champion Quercus grisea near the Mexican Border in southern New Mexico
Edie with Guy's national champion Prunus munsoniana, just down the road at New Salem Historic Site
The kiosk display at New Salem features the champion plum there and mentions the other historic trees
Guy's Illinois champion Ulmus americana at our friend Ben Lenkart's home (Ben seen at left) southwest of Springfield
Guy's State Champion Thuja occidentalis in Knoxville, Illinois
Guy's State Champion Catalpa speciosa in Maquon, Illinois
Guy's Illinois co-champion Catalpa speciosa, next door to Starhill Forest, benefitted from some cabling work we helped to fund
Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), Guy's state champion at Irish Grove Cemetery here in Menard County
The same champion Juniperus, more than 12 feet in circumference and 50 feet tall
The remains of one of Guy's former champion trees, the first Quercus nuttallii found in Illinois, with a time capsule jar imbedded in the concrete fill some well-meaning people used to reinforce its hollow trunk a half century ago
Our largest Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra) is the Menard County Champion for its species
"Alpha" (left), our county champion Maclura pomifera, and its partner "Beta" (behind greenhouse) shade the house at Starhill Forest -- the trees have had lightning protection installed
The Old Paton Lilac, which we transplanted from northwestern Iowa in 1988 with a hand-dug 5000-pound rootball, was dated to 1875. This is the view from our front door showing its new home.
The remains of the former national champion hackberry, one county north of our home
Our friend Weeds Eilers with a giant Platanus orientalis in Yukarigokdere, Turkey
Dirk Benoit climbing a large Liquidambar orientalis in southern Turkey -- some of the seeds he threw down to Guy are now little trees growing at Starhill Forest
Weeds Eilers with an old coppice Carpinus betulus in the Bilezikci Forest, Istanbul, Turkey
Aytekin Ertas and Weeds Eilers with an ancient Quercus xhaynaldiana in the Bilezikci Forest, Istanbul, Turkey -- must be the local dog house!
The Keebler Elf Tree -- Illinois state champion white ash south of Springfield
Guy standing under the famous Taco Oak (Quercus xbebbiana 'Taco') ortet
Guy with an old Fagus sylvatica in Meise, Belgium
Perhaps the largest and oldest Ginkgo biloba in Illinois, at Springfield College
Edie with a large Quercus pagoda on the farm of Ron Lance in Asheville, North Carolina -- this tree was used as the model for the logo of the 2000 International Oak Society conference
An ancient cypress in Tregrehan Estate, Britain
The New Zealand Kauri, Agathus australis, represented here by the giant tree named Lord of the Forest
Guy with old Quercus robur trees in Windsor Gardens, Britain
The favorite oak of William the Conqueror still stands today near Windsor Castle
Guy with the Verderer's Oak (Quercus robur) in the Forest of Dean, Britain
Guy with The Vagabond -- a large water oak (Quercus nigra) at the family plantation of Coleen Landry, Chairperson of the Live Oak Society
The oldest oak in Hamburg, Germany, in Jenisch Park
Quercus robur, the 1000+ year old Gros Chene, in Liernu, Belgium
Gathering seeds in and around the Gross Chene de Liernu, the grand champion oak (Quercus robur) of Belgium and one of the oldest oaks in the world
Contemplating life from a grand old Pinus nigra in Belgium
An ancient Tilia platyphylla in Belgium
Edie with the old Stith Mulberry on the Schirding farm in central Menard County -- it is a predominantly male tree with a few female branches, each one producing different-tasting fruit
Guy admiring Quercus petraea "Chene de Bruyn" in Belgium with Stephane Brame and Daniel Dumont
The Billy Wilkins Oak (Quercus robur) at Melbury Estate, Britain
Quercus xsubstellata, found in Macoupin County near Barr by our friend Larry Mahan and identified by Guy
A monumental acorn -- Quercus insignis, Huatusco, Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1995
. . . and another, just in case you thought we were kidding the first time! This was from a return trip to the same site, 15 years later.
Monumental lifespan for a pine cone at Starhill Forest -- a Pinus rigida cone formed on the trunk of this large tree when it was a small sapling, and has clung to it ever since
Giant Ceiba pentandra (kapok tree) in Tikal Park, Peten Region, northern Guatemala
Fagus sylvatica tortuosa in the forest where it originated as a mutated community, Faux Foret, Verzy, France -- some speculate this mutant forest developed as a result of radiation from a meteor
One of many spontaneous Fagus sylvatica 'Tortuosa' at the Faux Foret de Verzy, France
A venerable Carpinus betulus 'Pendula' at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris
Prunus mahaleb at Pillnitz Palace, Germany
The progenitor of all fastigiate oaks -- the 500+ year old Schoene Eiche (Beauty Oak) of Harrreshausen, Germany
One of many Quercus robur trees 600-800 years old in the Uber Forest of Urwald, Germany
Sharing a birthday -- the first Metasequoia trees in America were grown here at the Missouri Botanic Garden the year Guy was born (1947)
The Grandjean Oak, an ancient southern live oak in City Park, New Orleans
Guy with Cary Saurage's Hero Oak (Quercus virginiana) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Guy with the Angel Oak (Quercus virginiana) on St. Johns Island near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1989
The Middleton Oak (Quercus virginiana) in South Carolina - can you find Guy in the photo?
Seven Sisters, the national champion southern live oak, north of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana
The Abbott Schauble live oak at St. Joseph's Abbey, Covington, Louisiana
Guy with the Anseman Live Oak in City Park, New Orleans
An old "dodder" Quercus robur in Windsor Great park, Britain
The ortet tree of Quercus xturneri (Q. robur x Q. ilex) at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Britain
The last of a row of maclura trees planted in 1840 as a hedgerow on a farm in what is now downtown Kewanee, Illinois
Arboricultural work being conducted on the Potter Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera) in Kewanee, Illinois
The state champion Maclura pomifera in Olathe, Kansas
A group of Maclura pomifera thought to be the oldest trees at Arborlodge, the home of Julius Sterling Morton, founder of Arbor Day
A 21+ foot circumference Maclura pomifera near Piasa, Macoupin County, Illinois
A Maclura approximately 21.5 feet in circumference near Piasa, Macoupin County, Illinois
A very large (21.5 feet CBH) and very old Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera) in Macoupin County Illinois
Monumental fruits -- Maclura pomifera hedge-apples (at right) from our 'Cannonball' cultivar
An ancient canopy of Osage-orange, somehow surviving the bulldozers that have remove most scenes such as this, shades Doyle Avenue in rural Menard County a few miles from Starhill Forest
The national champion Maclura pomifera of France, on the grounds of Chateauneuf sur Loire
The national champion Quercus shumardii in Union County, Illinois
The Illinois champion Quercus pagoda at Heron Pond Nature Preserve
One of many old-growth Taxodium trees along the Cache River in southern Illinois
The Bilchen Oak, a Quercus robur with a small church inside the hollow trunk, in Luxembourg
Castanea sativa, Santa Marie, Italy
Castanopsis delavayi, LiJiang, Yunnan, China
An enormous Ficus tree along the road to Ahuacapan, Jalisco, Mexico
Sacred Ficus religiosa (Long Shu, or Dragon Tree) near a temple in Meli, China near the Viet Nam border
Ficus benghalensis in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, planted in 1873
Guy at left under the giant Ficus macrophylla in Balboa Park, San Diego
General Sherman, the famous giant sequoia, with our friends Joe Wasyl and John LeBoeuf, 1973
Guy and Dick van Hoey Smith at Arboretum Trompenburg with a Sequoiadendron giganteum planted by Dick in 1961
Picea sitchensis in the Olympic rain forest, Hoh River Valley, Washington
Pseudotsuga menziesii at Mt. Rainier, Washington
Guy with one of four national co-champion Thuja plicata, along the Olympic Coastal Highway, Washington (1973)
One of four national co-champion Thuja plicata, found on state land in washington and left to die a slow death when the protective forest surrounding it was logged
Missouri champion Tilia americana north of St. Louis
Monumental bark -- Euonymus nikoensis planted in the 1920s, the Morton Arboretum, near Chicago
Guy preaching in a cathedral of oaks, Funks Grove, Illinois
Edie with Larix decidua near Mt. Carroll, Illinois
Picea sitchensis root flare in western Oregon
Moss on an old growth tree at Starhill Forest
The Illinois state champion Carpinus caroliniana at Ferne Clyffe State Park
Monumental for its species -- Vaccinium arboreum at Garden of the Gods, Shawnee National Forest, Illinois
One of our champion poison-ivy vines at Starhill Forest
The oldest tree we've core-dated at Starhill Forest -- a Quercus macrocarpa that witnessed the Civil War
Our friend Tim Boland, director of the Polly Hill Arboretum, with an old Gymnocladus dioicus at Carpenter Park Nature Preserve, Springfield, Illinois
Joseph Culot of Belgium with one of our old Platanus occidentalis trees along Rock Creek -- this specimen is more than 125 feet tall
Koen Camelbeke, director of Arboretum Wespelaar in Belgium, measuring a Populus deltoides along Rock Creek at Starhill Forest
The Tivoli Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) in Lisle, Illinois
The sign speaks for itself -- a huge tree
Guy under the ortet tree of Quercus xdeamii 'Champion Seedless' near Lake Springfield
A historic Populus deltoides near Chenoa, Illinois, planted in the early 1800s to shade a livestock watering tank
Edie with an old Castanea dentata at the former Shimers College campus in northern Illinois
Quercus macrocarpa along the Mormon Trail in southern Iowa
Castanea dentata at the historic Gilpin House in Dallas City, Illinois
Sarah Westlund as the Keebler Elf in a Platanus occidentalis at Carpenter Park Nature Preserve, Springfield, Illinois
Monumental trees framing a monument -- Quercus alba at Lincoln's Tomb
September 1989 -- volunteer arborists pose before climbing the national champion cottonwood in northern Illinois to prune dead wood and rig reinforcing cables. The tree eventually fell anyway, as all old trees do, but these gentlemen can be very proud of their efforts to prolong its life for others to be inspired. Kudos to Pat O'Leary, Tom Morrison, Mike Rainan, Keith Myers, John Scalf, Robert Scalf, Larry Webber, and (front center) a handsome young version of our friend Mike Dirksen. Thanks to Mike for the historic photo.
Arborists at work on a majestic tree in 1895
Ornithologist Robert Ridgeway (left) and his brother under the Wabash Giant Platanus occidentalis in 1882, before the owner cut it down to discourage sight-seers from trespassing -- it had been the largest tree ever measured east of the Mississippi River
A giant Castanea dentata from the glory days of the species, pre-blight -- there are no such trees left now
Stump dancing on the base of a redwood felled for exhibition at a World's Fair in 1885
A true monumental tree, the Hamer-Brant Stone at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield -- we have photographed several hundred such "tree stones" and many thousands of other historic cemetery trees and monuments throughout the US and abroad
A monument for a tree -- this tree is at the bottom of a sharp curve in our road and has been struck by many cars which slid off the road trying to make the turn -- one of our neighbors decided to call attention to its presence (the next out-of-control car hit the sign and destroyed it)
Quercus macrocarpa, 18 feet circumference, Petersburg, Illinois
Guy with Quercus velutina several hundred years old, Menard County, Illinois
The national champion Sassafras albidum in Owensboro, Kentucky
A scary sight -- giant Lonicera maackii shrub in western Missouri (this is our worst invasive plant here at Starhill Forest)
Jeff Epping of Olbrich Botanic Garden in Wisconsin with a nice Civil War era Quercus muhlenbergii at Cotton Hill Park, Springfield, Illinois
The Ann Rutledge tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) at Oakland Cemetery in Petersburg -- we raised funds to preserve this monarch
A closer view of the Ann Rutledge Tuliptreee
A massive Quercus alba at Buffalo Rock State Park, Illinois
Acer saccharinum, one of the few remaining trees planted when the Illinois State Capitol was built in the 1870s
This Quercus alba at washington's Crossing (Delaware River) is the only tree in the area that might be old enough to have witnessed the event
Virgin Juglans nigra along Sugar Creek, Turkey Run State Park, Indiana
Sassafras grove planted in 1858 from root cuttings at a pioneer farm in eastern Illinois near Tuscola
Quercus macrocarpa, 20 feet circumference, near Tuscola, Illinois
The Huricane Hill pin oak (Quercus palustris), planted in 1828, has been allowed to retain some of its low limbs
The former state champion Salix lucida in Riverdale, Illinois, since removed by the city for reasons unknown
Gleditsia triacanthos at the Sutheard farm, Menard County, Illinois
Guy and his old friends Joe Wasyl and John LeBeouf at the Uncle Oak (Quercus chrysolepis) on Mt. Palomar, California
Aloe bainseii at Balboa Park, San Diego
A 17-foot circumference Juglans cinerea near Minneapolis
The 115-foot Decatur County, Indiana clock tower with its famous rooftop Populus grandidentata, first noticed growing there in 1870
El Tule, the largest diameter tree in the world, is a Taxodium mucronatum in Oaxaca, Mexico
Old weeping cherry, species undetermined, at a pioneer cemetery in southeastern Wisconsin
Old growth Quercus michauxii at Horseshoe Lake, Illinois
A monument to a lost garden -- a bit of the charm of Heronswood, before Burpee's reviled corporate raider George Ball bought the place and closed it
A "Green Man" in Quercus macrocarpa -- the trees are always watching!
The same Quercus macrocarpa, approximately 300 years old, in Petersburg, Illinois
The national champion Quercus muehlenbergii in Kentucky
Guy with the national champion Quercus muehlenbergii in Kentucky
A Camelia japonica planted in 1776 at Pillnitz Palace, Germany -- each winter a large greehouse mounted on railroad tracks is wheeled over it to protect it from the cold
Julia Ossler, one of our student interns at the time, hugs a giant Populus deltoides, perhaps the largest tree in Springfield
Populus sargentii in Fort Collins, Colorado with Tim Buchanan, Allan Taylor, and Sonia John
The Old Druid (Quercus macrocarpa) of Omaha, dated to around 1780
Another view of the Bloomington bur oak
One of the grandest of all bur oaks, this Quercus macrocarpa spreads it 130-foot wingspan over a huge back yard in Bloomington, Illinois
Evan and Alana McKean with the giant Bloomington Bur Oak, Quercus macrocarpa
The national champion bur oak near Paris, eastern Kentucky
The Kansas state champion Quercus macrocarpa
The state co-champion Quercus macrocarpa in McBaine, Missouri
The base of the state co-champion Quercus macrocarpa in McBaine, Missouri
Edie inside a 400-year-old Quercus macrocarpa near Attica, Indiana
Quercus macrocarpa, 400 years old, near Attica, Indiana
The Missouri co-champion Quercus macrocarpa in Big Oak Tree State Park is 140 feet tall
A bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) on Hay Rake Lane a few miles from Starhill Forest -- the tree is nearly 18 feet in circumference
Quercus macrocarpa "Josephine" shades an area 130 feet (40 m) across on the Lyons farm in nearby Petersburg -- for perspective, seven full-sized pick-up trucks could park end-to-end under its crown
Quercus macrocarpa "Josephine" in Petersburg, Illinois
A large Acer negundo in Springfield, Illinois
Two views of an old Sargent's weeping hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) at Polly Hill Arboretum on Martha's Vineyard Island
One of the old Populus deltoides at Starhill Forest
Edie with a Quercus macrocarpa at the city cemetery in Bloomington, Illinois
A monument of sorts -- 15' tree stump + 12' satellite dish = mushroom
Sacred Dipterocarpus alatus in northern Thailand
The Gudgel Oak (Quercus alba), a tree we raised money to preserve near Athens, Illinois was core dated to 1759
A splendid old Garry oak, Quercus garryana, in NW Oregon
Lagerstroemia faurei at the JC Raulston Arboretum in North Carolina
Large Plumeria trees in a rural cemetery in Western (Independent) Samoa
Some crape mytles become giants -- Lagerstroemia cuspidata in northern Thailand
The French-and-Indian War era Gudgel Oak (Quercus alba) we raised funds to preserve and plaque
The historic KIle Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) in Indianapolis
Bruce Bacon with a very large Quercus ellipsoidalis on his farm in Minnesota
The Island Bay Oak in Springfield, a burly old Quercus alba
The Davie Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Raleigh, North Carolina
Alana McKean with the largest tree on the campus of Illinois College, an old tulip (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Alana and Evan McKean admire the Illinois Champion blue ash, Fraxinus quadrangulata
From the right angle, Smilax looks like a monumental tree from the Jurassic Period -- the real monuments are in the background, at the Smoot Cemetery in Menard County, Illinois
A monumental wetland forest -- Allred Lake, Missouri
The national champion Diospyros virginiana at Big Oak Tree State Park, Missouri
Quercus phellos, the state co-champion at Blytheville, Arkansas
Quercus pagoda state champion in Lexa, Arkansas
Monumental specimen of a small species -- Quercus arkansana along Bodcau Bayou, northwest Louisiana
The Jones Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) planted in Washington, Arkansas in 1839
An old Catalpa speciosa in Washington Arkansas
Quercus fusiformis, Independence, Texas
Guy with Quercus fusiformis, Independence, Texas
A monument tree -- survey witness tree, recreated on a dead oak at New Salem Historic Site using period tools
Terminalia Man, a Green Man face high on Terminalia catappa on Upolu Island, Samoa -- we had not noticed the tree's face until we looked at the photo when we were back home (trees can be sneaky that way)
The Goblin, a Catalpa speciosa planted at the Power Farm in nearby Cantral Illinois in 1821.
The Moon rising over a Catalpa speciosa planted at the Power Farm in 1821
A farm cat explores the old catalpa, which is about 175 years his senior
The former Oklahoma champion Quercus shumardii now resides as an exhibit in the Omniplex Museum in Oklahoma City
A truly giant Populus deltoides in St. George, Nebraska
The state champion Sapindus drummondii in Olathe, Kansas
Rehns' Big Dude, a 25-foot circumference Quercus virginiana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
the Rehns with their Big Dude, a 25-foot circumference Quercus virginiana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The last known Indian Trail Tree in Illinois grew near Athens
Quercus pagoda, the St. Denis Oak, in Natchitoches, Louisiana
The 'Great Oak' (Quercus alba) which was the landmark for beginning a new pioneer cemetery west of Pinckneyville, Illinois - the old tree still stands, having 'eaten' the original stone marker for the child buried under it in 1807
Guy at the base of the Great Oak - part of the grave marker can be seen at bottom center. A church, long since vanished, was formed next to this Hopewell cemetery, which in turn was started under this tree along a wagon trail when travelers chose to bury their dead there because the tree could be seen from a distance and would be a visible landmark if the families ever passed that way again.
Agathis australis Lord of the Forest, New Zealand
Ficus mactophillia, New Zealand
Tree paintings by monumental artists -- elephant paintings done at Maesa, Thailand
Enjoying the view from an ancient Yucca periculosa near Perote Volcano in central Mexico
The national champion Cotinus obovatus, once threatened by construction, became the first national champion tree to be transplanted
Friends Allan Taylor, Tim Buchanan, and Sonia John under the weeping Ulmus americana at Regis Arboretum, Denver
A monumental leaf -- Paulownia tomentosa
Tim Buchanan in Populus sargentii, Ft. Collins, Colorado
Tim Buchanan, Allan Taylor, and Sonia John under Populus sargentii in Ft. Collins, Colorado
Some climbing monkeys from the Morton Arboretum high in a 300-year-old Quercus macrocarpa in Petersburg, Illinois
Quercus nigra x Q. pagoda, Natchitoches, Louisiana
A giant Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia
Cabling the Ann Rutledge Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Oakland Cemetery, Petersburg, Illinois
Guy with a massive Platanus orientalis at the Bilezikci Forest in Istanbul, Turkey
A group of tall Grevillea robusta trees, planted in Seville, Spain long ago
A beautiful Plumeria specimen reflected in an ephemeral pool formed after a heavy rain at the Parliament Building of the Independent Republic of Samoa on Upolu Island, South Pacific
The "Saw-Tooth" Oak (Quercus palustris) of Omaha, Nebraska (this is real, not PhotoShop!)
A huge white ash (Fraxinus americana) in a cemetery in nearby Athens, showing a failing limb at left and the same limb missing a few weeks later -- we contemplated trying to cable this tree, but decided against it due to the expense and the coming doom of emerald ash borer, which is expected to kill all untreated ash trees
The largest known Fraxinus holotricha in France, at Arboretum Segrez
A single, layering Thuja plicata planted at Arboretum Trompenburg in 1870 - all of these stems originated as layers from the original tree
The giant ortet tree of Pterocarya ×rehderiana, dating to 1880, at Arboretum Segrez in France
A very old Cephalotaxus fortunei at Arboretum Segrez, France
A monster Styphnolobium japonicum on the grounds of Chateauneuf sur Loire in France
An old Juglans microcarpa at the entrance to the arboretum at Chateau Segrez, France
A Platanus orientalis planted in 1785 at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris
An ancient Cedrus libani at Chateau Valmer Gardens in France
This mature Lonicera maackii specimen at the Botanic Garden Leiden in the Netherlands shows the growth potential of this invasive weedy shrub
Laburnum anagyroides planted at the Leiden Botanic Garden, Netherlands, in 1601
Diospyros lotus planted at Botanic Garden Leiden in the Netherlands in 1740
Ginkgo biloba, 200+ years old, at the Leiden Botanic Garden in Holland
A different type of monument -- root art at the Morton Arboretum
Does Burnham Wood again march on Dunsinane? Topiary at Jardin Sericourt, France
This Ombu tree (Phytolacca dioica) was brought to Seville, Spain from the Western hemisphere by Christopher Columbus!
Encino Terrona, the 800-year-old champion Quercus rotundifolia of Spain, in Extremadura
By far the largest Quercus pubescens I have ever seen, this huge specimen is in the tiny mountaintop village of Patrica in central Italy (see Edie at left for scale)
Kaba Mesa (Quercus haas), the greatest oak of Turkey, along a river valley near Yaprakli. Yes, that's me inside the hollow trunk!
Fagus sylvatica, 800 years of age, in a restricted part of Abruzzo National Park, Italy. We were able to gain access to the tree only with a military escort. Abruzzo is Italy's premier park and is known for bear and wolf research as well as scenery and ancient trees.
The "Barking Olive" (Olea europaea) in Rocina, southern Spain. The tree must be 1000+ years old, and as I approached, it barked at me! A dog lives inside the hollow trunk.
One of several venerable Xanthoceras sorbifolia trees in the old pioneer cemetery at Oberlin Kansas
A giant Samanea saman (raintree) in a cemetery in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Happy Halloween from an old Acer saccharum in western Illinois
Oak Jack-O-Lanterns seen along a rural road in western Illinois
Ashley just thinks he's monumental -- he has an ego problem! If you hike to our overlook at Starhill Forest, watch for him.
