FAMOUS TREES 105 



and was at that height when the joining took place. The common 

 branch did not originate in both trunks. It sprang from one and, 

 after pressing against the other for a time, grew fast to it by a 

 process of grafting. 



Wayward White Oak grows near Laporte. This tree is 9 feet 

 in circumference at the base. Fifteen feet from the ground the bole 

 divicles into a number of limbs. Two limbs leave the trunk about 20 

 inches apart, and 12 feet from the body of the tree unite again, form- 

 ing a perfect oval. Six feet from the base, another white oak less 

 than half the size of the Wayward Oak, meeting one of its circle 

 of branching limbs, grows into it and is absorbed. 



A paulownia tree 2 feet in diameter at Rockport, was dehorned at 

 18 feet above ground 11 years ago, having grown unsightly. A seed 

 of the tree lodged in the top of the stump, germinated, and sent a root 

 down the trunk of its parent to the ground. It has since split the 

 old trunk from a few inches to nearly a foot (fig. 49). 



"A tree that is committing suicide," Cedar Falls, The roots com- 

 pletely encircle the tree at its base and are gradually choking it to 

 death. 



Twin Elms are found in Iowa County in the Iowa River bottom 

 timber. They stand 7 feet apart at the base and 30 feet above the 

 ground unite, forming a common trunk 3 feet in diameter for at 

 least 10 feet. In total height and spread of branches, this tree is 

 comparable with normal elms. 



KANSAS 



"The tree that would not die" is a bald cypress on the campus 

 of Saint Benedict's College at Atchison. Father Boniface — Kansas 

 pioneer, monk, educator, and naturalist — when a young man, planted 

 a little cypress halfway down the slope of a deep ravine on the then 

 new campus. The growth of St. Benedict's and the necessity for 

 filling in the ravine twice buried more than half of the cypress in 

 the new-made land. To see this tall, healthy, well-shaped tree stand- 

 ing by the monastery wall now, one would never suspect that its trunk 

 runs downward through the earth 30 feet or more. 



Near Chandler there is a live grapevine growing through the 

 solid trunk of an oak. The swaying of the tree and vine has kept 

 a loose hole worn through the living tree. The grapevine is more 

 than an inch in diameter, reaches the top branches of the tree, and 

 bears luscious fruit. 



The Windmill Tree is on the road to Maplehill, just a few miles 

 west of Topeka. The silhouette of this cottonwood bears a marked 

 resemblance to a Dutch windmill. 



KENTUCKY 



A unique illustration of the adaptability of plant life to unusual 

 conditions in environment is found in the base of a sycamore tree 

 growing at right angles from a bridge pier near LaGrange {33). 

 According to the story : 



Shortly after the tree reached a diameter of an inch, either the shearing 

 effect of gravitation or the upward swing in heavy winds would have snapped 



