One of the stars of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park is the Camperdown Elm, a gnarled old survivor, honored by a famous poem, endowed with its own trust, and looking sometimes almost like a monster from a horror movie.
In happier times, as recently as this 2005 photo, it looked like this:
And this is its baby picture from the 1880s.
Given to the park in 1872, it’s a variety created on the Scottish estate of the Earl of Camperdown. It’s characterized by horizontally-growing branches and weeping crown.
Between those two pictures came its worst times: Along with many other park features, it suffered years of neglect. A hole in its trunk was shoddily patched with concrete; rats and ants infested its wood. It was marked for removal.
Then the poet Marianne Moore stepped in. She organized public support for the tree and the park in general, helping start the Friends of Prospect Park. She honored it in a poem, and left funds in her will for its support.
I’ve lived nearby since the 1970s; over the years my family and I have watched it struggle, seen it leaning on props for support, and watched it, year after year, struggle on and put out new leaves. In a way, it has seemed like a metaphor for so many of life’s struggles.
In April, as seen in the two pictures above, the tree was putting out leaves, but clearly struggling compared to its neighbors. Happily, by last week, as seen in the picture below and in the title image, it had grown a nearly full cover. There’s life in the old tree yet!
The text of Marianne Moore’s 1967 poem The Camperdown Elm is included in an article with more botanical information and the fight to save the tree.
