The Camperdown Elm

by Morgan Vickery

The Camperdown Elm tree is a crucial stop on my Forest Therapy walks through Prospect Park. The history of this tree first sparked my interest last year when I discovered it on one of my weekly park strolls. At the start of my four-hour Soul Walk, I felt a strong pull to spend quality time with the Kindred Spirit. And so I spent two hours observing, sensing, and feeling into the Camperdownii. I noticed its reciprocity with the elements, how its long, spindly branches gracefully swayed in the spring breeze, the earthly phytoncides it wafted in movement, and the soft and spongy budding leaves still damp from the morning mist. I observed its interactions with the animals of the ecosystem, witnessing the harmonious and symbiotic balance between it and the birds. Upon leaving this tree to continue my walk, I re-read the mounted sign on its gate of protection describing its cultural legacy.

One of the first Camperdown Elms propagated in America, this tree was gifted in 1872 from Dundee, Scotland, and planted in the very spot where it still resides. Despite its notable reputation in the botanical world, the tree was neglected as the years progressed. That is until a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet named Marianne Moore was elected president of New York's Greensward Foundation in 1965. This advocacy group for public parks created a citizens group, "Friends of Prospect Park," which protected endangered trees on the grounds, including the Camperdown Elm. In 1967, at age eighty, Moore wrote an ode to this tree, which mobilized the citizen group to nurture and ultimately save it from an unfortunate fate.

"The Camperdown Elm"

by Marianne Moore

I think, in connection with this weeping elm,

of "Kindred Spirits" at the edge of a rockledge

overlooking a stream:

Thanatopsis-invoking tree-loving Bryant

conversing with Thomas Cole

in Asher Durand's painting of them

under the filigree of an elm overhead.

No doubt they had seen other trees—lindens,

maples and sycamores, oaks and the Paris

street-tree, the horse-chestnut; but imagine

their rapture, had they come on the Camperdown elm's

massiveness and "the intricate pattern of its branches,"

arching high, curving low, in its mist of fine twigs.

The Bartlett tree-cavity specialist saw it

and thrust his arm the whole length of the hollowness

of its torso and there were six small cavities also.

Props are needed and tree-food. It is still leafing;

still there. Mortal though. We must save it. It is

our crowning curio.

The Camperdown Elm after being planted in Prospect Park [Photograph: New York Public Library archives]

I was awe-struck by the aspirational reminder this story evoked. The Camperdown Elm was transplanted from a distant land against its own volition and abandonded, left to fend for itself. Despite the tree's struggle in its years of desertion, its resiliency persisted. It took one person for the fate of this tree to reverse course. Ninety-five years later, the voice of appreciation from one woman, Marianne Moore, saved its livelihood to thrive once more. In a time when climate activism has grown exhausted and, at times, feels hopeless, the story of Ulmus Glabra re-instills hope that justice for the plant kingdom and animal kingdom is still possible. And that a coalition is not always necessary to make lasting change— it all starts with one human, one voice, driven with love, admiration, and wonder.

Nearly sixty years later, the Camperdown Elm continues to receive the respect it deserves. The inspiration this story recalls is one we often lose sight of—that in a world full of destruction and death, there is still restoration and growth. While progress is slow and steady, and with setbacks, prosperity always perseveres. If we treat all life as our 'crowning curio,' love and light will prevail.

Sources:

“Great Trees : Camperdown Elm : NYC Parks.” NYC Parks, City of New York, www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/great-trees?id=8. Accessed 3 May 2024.

Popova, Maria. “Marianne Moore and the Crowning Curio: How a Poem Saved One of the World’s Rarest and Most Majestic Trees.” The Marginalian, 6 Jan. 2020, www.themarginalian.org/2015/08/13/marianne-moore-camperdown-elm/.

The Camperdown Elm is the Soul Walk Project created by Morgan Vickery, FTS Certified Forest Therapy Guide, January 2024 cohort.