Group solicits votes for a U.S. national tree

January 12, 2001
Web posted at: 2:11 PM EST (1911 GMT)

By Troy Goodman
CNN.com Writer

(CNN) -- With the U.S. election quandary finally over, the National Arbor Day Foundation is asking U.S. citizens to put their votes behind an American symbol with deeper roots.

A new campaign aims to choose a national tree from one of 21 broad tree types (genuses) selected from official state trees. The ballot lets voters choose from among not-too-shady characters such as the birch, the buckeye, the elm or the pine.

Even the Oval Office-worthy oak, representing more than 30 different species of U.S. oaks, made the list.

ALSO Click here to go to the National Arbor Day Foundation Web site and cast your vote   MESSAGE BOARD Environmental issues     QUICKVOTE Do you think that there should be a national tree? Yes, it's a great idea No, it's for the birds View Results

"America has the grandest trees on Earth -- the largest, the oldest, and we think, the most beautiful," said John Rosenow, president of The National Arbor Day Foundation, which is sponsoring the national vote. "It's time for the American people to select a national tree as an enduring symbol of all of our magnificent trees and of our natural heritage."

The group is taking online votes at its Web site through midnight April 27, the date set aside for -- you guessed it -- national Arbor Day. Mail-in votes are also being accepted only on 3-by-5-inch index cards (no chads) sent to America's National Tree, The National Arbor Day Foundation, Nebraska City, Nebraska, 68410.

The 21-tree ballot is available on the group's Web site.

Many people might be surprised learn that no one's been out stumping for a national tree before. After all, the United States already has a national flower (the rose), national bird (the bald eagle) and national anthem ("The Star Bangled Banner").

The elegant Maple is just one of the 21 trees on the ballot

America may have shied away from a leafy leader, some experts said, because of regional plant differences.

"There aren't very many types of trees that will grow in all of the states," said John Hammond, a leading researcher at the National Arboretum outside Washington. He refused to speculate which tree would win, but nodded toward the rare -- and ineligible -- franklinia. The tree, which blooms in large, creamy white flowers, was named after the famed American statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin.

Unfortunately, Hammond said, "there isn't any obvious choice."

The real national tree must be designated by Congress, according to the Arbor Day Foundation. The group pledges to make its vote results available to lawmakers "interested in pursuing it."

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National Arbor Day Foundation
National Arboretum

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