Mother Orange Tree

Years old168-172
SpeciesSweet Orange

Approximate location.

This orange tree has been dug up and moved twice, the second time in 1964 to get out of the way of the Oroville Dam. It is a Mediterranean sweet orange from Mazatlan, Mexico. Judge Joseph Lewis bought it in Sacramento in 1856, and here the record splits: the plaque and several sources give 1856 for the planting, Wikipedia gives 1854. Either way it is about 170 years old. It is California Historical Landmark number 1043, and a sign on Glen Drive points you to it. It was a big tree once, over 60 feet tall before the twentieth century. The hard frost of 1998 nearly finished it: decay fungus hollowed the trunk and the fruit stopped for a while. Then the fruit came back. In 2003 UC Riverside cloned it. The most recent account we have of the tree itself is a visitor's from September 2021, who found it healthy with lush green leaves. That is five years ago; if you have seen it since, tell us how it looks. It stands outside the California State Parks office at 400 Glen Drive, free to see from behind a fence that keeps visitors a few steps back. The fruit on the tree is not for picking.

California State Parks district office, 400 Glen Drive, Oroville, CaliforniaYou can recognise it as the fenced orange tree at the entrance of the California State Parks office, with a hollowed trunk from the 1998 frost. It stands at 400 Glen Drive, where a street sign points to it.

Free to see at the entrance of the California State Parks Oroville office; a fence keeps visitors a short distance away. The fruit is not for picking (fallen fruit is fair game per the 2021 visitor). Office hours not verified; the tree is outside.

Oroville, Butte County; a sign on Glen Drive points to the tree. Public transport not checked.

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