The Katsura-Tree of Morris Arboretum

Philadelphia Magazine once called this the largest tree in Philadelphia, which is a bold thing to say about a tree barely 120 years old. It is a katsura, native to Japan and China, planted around 1902 by the Morris family on the estate that became Morris Arboretum, and it has grown into one of the largest of its kind in North America. The arboretum calls it its signature tree, and it earns the title in two ways. The first is plain size. The second arrives in autumn, when the leaves turn yellow and apricot and the air under the crown starts to smell of cinnamon and brown sugar, a bakery where you expected a garden. In the century and a bit since it went in, the Morris estate around it has become a public garden run by the University of Pennsylvania, and a family planting has become the tree the arboretum puts forward as its emblem. It is stop seven on the arboretum's own Great Trees tour. Entry to the arboretum is paid. The pin marks the arboretum rather than the tree, so follow the tour to stop seven, and in October let your nose help.