Aged white mulberry tree uproots next to Washington Monument
The tree was there when the Washington Monument was dedicated. That is an old tree.
They think they may be able to save it.One day around 1890, the seed of a white mulberry tree, perhaps borne from the droppings of a passing bird, fell on the grounds of the newly dedicated Washington Monument.
It germinated, grew and sank thick roots into the earth. An unlovely tree, it became the abode of bugs, bats and lichens. Tattered kites caught in its branches. And 129 years of history unfolded beneath its boughs.
Over the years, it bent with age. Its roots were exposed by runoff, trampled by human feet and compromised. On Sunday afternoon, battered by wind and rain, its main buttress root snapped and the tree fell.