What's Up with "The Umbrella Tree?"

History

The tree you see here, either before your eyes, or on this page, is known as a Camperdown Elm, and it has a fascinating history.

Its origins are rooted in the Camperdown House of Dundee Scotland and a forester named David Taylor. It’s said that in the mid-1800s, Taylor was taking a stroll through the gardens when he came across a twisted elm branch. It was growing outwards instead of upwards. Taylor took a piece and grafted it onto another elm. The tree ended up having a straight trunk and a beautiful umbrella-like canopy.

This tree in Scarsdale is among the trees cloned from that original ground-hugging elm in Scotland. It was likely planted in the early 1900s, perhaps when the house was built in 1921, or perhaps even earlier. It’s likely one of the oldest Camperdown elms in the country. You can see other specimens in Newport, Rhode Island, and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. But old ones like this are rare. And this tree was in trouble.

In the 1970s, the tree trunk was almost perfectly vertical. Almost. There was a slight lean. But the tree was balanced. Then, over time, it began to lean. It adapted. By this winter it was clear that it would topple over unless something was done.