The Bender Oak

Nobody bred this oak. It is a cross between a scarlet oak and a northern red oak that happened on its own, the kind of hybrid botanists did not even get round to naming until 1903, in Breslau. The one at Morris Arboretum may be up to 250 years old, which would put it at roughly the age of the United States. The arboretum's own guide says possibly; the lower end of the honest range is nearer 150. It is also big in the way that matters: 26.5 metres tall, a trunk more than two metres across, and a canopy spreading over 30 metres. The Morris family, whose estate became the arboretum, had it as the dramatic entrance to their garden and their home on the hill. Today it is the first stop on the arboretum's own Great Trees tour. There was once another notable Bender oak in the Philadelphia area, at Swarthmore College, reckoned at over 350 years. It was felled some time before 2009. This one is still standing, a hybrid most visitors have never heard of in a spot where they expect an ordinary oak. It stands near the old mansion site at the start of the garden. Entry to the arboretum is paid. The pin is approximate; follow the Great Trees tour to stop one.