The Big Tree is a nearly 400-year-old

bur oak ''Quercus macrocarpa'', the bur oak or burr oak, is a species of oak tree native to eastern North America. It is in the white oak section, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'', and is also called mossycup oak, mossycup white oak, blue oak, or scrub ...

(''

Quercus macrocarpa ''Quercus macrocarpa'', the bur oak or burr oak, is a species of oak tree native to eastern North America. It is in the white oak section, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'', and is also called mossycup oak, mossycup white oak, blue oak, or scrub oa ...

'') tree near the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

Boone County, Missouri Boone County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri. Centrally located the state's Mid-Missouri region, its county seat is in Columbia, which is Missouri's fourth-largest city and location of the University of Missouri. As of the 2020 U.S ...

. It is tied for National Champion, representing the largest tree of its species in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Standing alone in the floodplain of the Missouri River, and near the city of

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

, it is a well-known landmark and has inspired artists, folklorists, photographers, and nature lovers for hundreds of years. The tree stands high, has a crown wide, and a trunk in diameter. The land on which the tree grows is private, and has been farmed by the Williamson family for six generations, although it is publicly accessible by Bur Oak Road. The

Katy Trail State Park The Katy Trail State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Missouri that contains the Katy Trail, the country's longest continuous recreational rail trail. It runs , largely along the northern bank of the Missouri River, in the right-of- ...

, a popular

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

, is just yards from the tree, making it a common side-trip for cyclists. The small village of McBaine is within sight of the tree, and the village of Huntsdale is nearby. It is part of the

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail is a route across the United States commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 to 1806. It is part of the National Trails System of the United States. It extends for some from Pittsburgh, ...

. The Big Tree was cloned by scientists at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

and many offspring from both clones and acorns are growing in front yards, city parks, and schoolyards around Missouri and beyond.

History

According to the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

, the Big Tree is somewhere between 350 and 400 years old, having sprouted sometime in the 1600s. The tree was already around 200 years old when the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

passed nearby. The size of the tree has made coring and accurate dating difficult. It has been the state champion Bur Oak since 1987. The tree has survived many droughts and floods, including the

Great Flood of 1993 The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi River, Mississippi and Missouri River, Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from ...

, when water stood nearly 6.5 ft deep around its trunk. Lightning has struck the tree often, including in October 2020, when a strike lit a fire in the core, burning out a large space inside the tree. The fire was widely reported by the press and also attracted much community concern. The Boone County Fire Department arrived quickly and extinguished the blaze with great effort. Irrespective of the fire, the tree had been in decline for several years, due to age, drought, and flooding. File:Acorns from the Big Tree in Boone County.jpg, Acorns from the Big Tree File:Burr Oaked Redux.jpg, Reflection File:Great Burr Oak on a Dramatic Morning.jpg, Morning File:The Big Tree on fire 2020.jpg, Firefighters work to extinguish a fire inside the Big Tree in 2020

Fire

On October 23, 2020, the Big Tree was struck by lightning. The Boone County Fire Department got a call at around 9:30 a.m. when lightning struck the tree and it started smoking. The Boone County Firefighters drilled holes into the tree, and used biodegradable foam to put out the fire from inside the tree. After the fire was put out, tree experts analyzed the tree and concluded that the tree is likely to survive.

References

External links

National Park Service “McBaine Burr Oak”Atlas ObscuraBike Katy Trail “Burr Oak Tree”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Tree Individual oak trees Individual trees in the United States Flora of Missouri Tourist attractions in Boone County, Missouri Geography of Boone County, Missouri

History

Fire

See also

References

External links