Apollo “Moon Trees”

Apollo 14 launched in the late afternoon of January 31, 1971 on what was to be our third trip to the lunar surface. Five days later Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the Moon while Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, orbited above in the command module. Packed in small containers in Roosa's personal kit were hundreds of tree seeds, part of a joint NASA/USFS project. Upon return to Earth, the seeds were germinated by the Forest Service. Known as the Apollo "Moon Trees", the resulting seedlings were planted throughout the United States (often as part of the nation's bicentennial in 1976) and the world. They stand as a tribute to astronaut Roosa and the Apollo program.

The project began after Roosa was chosen for the Apollo 14 mission. Ed Cliff, Chief of the Forest Service, knew of Stuart Roosa from his days as a smoke jumper and contacted him about bringing seeds into space. Stan Krugman of the Forest Service was put in charge of the project and selected the seeds for the experiment. Seeds were chosen from five different types of trees: loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas fir. The seeds were classified and sorted, and sealed in small plastic bags that were stored in a metal cannister. Control seeds were kept on Earth for later comparison. Roosa carried possibly 2000 or more seeds in the cannister in his personal kit, a small canvas pouch that stayed with him as he orbited the Moon in the command module "Kitty Hawk" in February, 1971. Unfortunately, the seed bags burst open during the decontamination procedures after their return to Earth, and the seeds were scattered about the chamber and exposed to vacuum, and it was thought they might not be viable.

Stan Krugman collected the seeds and an attempt at germinating some of the seeds was made in Houston. Somewhat surprisingly, it proved successful and the seeds started growing, but they did not survive long because the facilities there were inadequate. A year later the remaining seeds were sent to the southern Forest Service station in Gulfport, Mississippi (sycamore, loblolly pine, and sweetgum) and to the western station in Placerville, California (redwood and Douglas fir) to attempt germination. Many of the seeds, and later cuttings, were successful and grew into viable seedlings. Some of these were planted with their Earth-bound counterparts as controls, (as might be expected, after over forty years there is no discernable difference) but most were given away in 1975 and 1976 to many state forestry organizations to be planted as part of the nation's bicentennial celebration. These trees were southern and western species, so not all states received trees. A loblolly pine was planted at the White House, and trees were planted in Brazil, Switzerland, and presented to the Emperor of Japan, among others. Trees have also been planted in Washington Square in Philadelphia, at Valley Forge, in the International Forest of Friendship, and at various universities and NASA centers, reportedly in 40 different states.

Stuart Roosa was born on 16 August 1933, in Durango, Colorado. He worked for the Forest Service in the early 1950's as a smoke jumper fighting fires and later joined the Air Force and became a test pilot. He was one of 19 people selected for the astronaut class of 1966 and was part of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 9. Following Apollo 14, Roosa was backup command module pilot for Apollo's 16 and 17. He then worked on the Space Shuttle program until his retirement as a Colonel in the Air Force in 1976, the time when many of his trees were being planted. Roosa passed away in December, 1994.

The Moon Trees continue to flourish, a living monument to our first visits to the Moon and a fitting memorial to Stuart Roosa. Believed locations of some Moon Trees are listed below, but no list was ever kept nor any systematic tracking made of the disposition of all the trees. If you know of a Moon Tree, please send a message to marie.j.henderson@nasa.gov.

Moon Tree Locations

City and State	Location	Type of Tree	Planting Date
Birmingham, Alabama	Birmingham Botanical Gardens	Sycamore	25 February 1976
Montgomery, Alabama	State Capitol	Loblolly Pine	19 April 1976
Troy, Alabama	Pioneer Museum of Alabama	Loblolly Pine	5 August 1976
Tuscumbia, Alabama	Ivy Green	Loblolly Pine	19 October 1976
Tuskegee, Alabama	VA Medical Center	Loblolly Pine	1976
Tucson Arizona	University of Arizona	Sycamore	30 April 1976
Ft. Smith, Arkansas	Sebastian County Courthouse	Loblolly Pine	15 March 1976
Washington, Arkansas	Old Washington Historic State Park	Loblolly Pine	15 March 1976
Arcata, California	Humboldt State University	3 Redwoods	1976
Berkeley, California	Tilden Nature Area	2 Redwoods	26 July 1976
Lockeford, California	Lockeford Plant Materials Center	Redwood	1979
Monterey, California	Friendly Plaza	Redwood	27 July 1976
Sacramento, California	Capitol Park	Redwood	April 1976
San Luis Obispo, California	Mission Plaza	Redwood	30 July 1976
Gainesville, Florida	University of Florida	Sycamore	c. 1977
Keystone Heights, Florida	Keystone Heights Library	Sycamore	1984
Perry, Florida	Forest Capital State Park	Loblolly Pine	29 April 1978
Tallahassee, Florida	Cascades Park	Sycamore
Tallahassee, Florida	Doyle Conner Building	Loblolly Pine	1976
Athens, Georgia	Clarke County Planning Dept.	Loblolly Pine	May 1976
Macon, Georgia	Georgia Forestry Center	Loblolly Pine	22 March 1976
Waycross, Georgia	Okefenokee RESA	Loblolly Pine
Boise, Idaho	Lowell Elementary School	Loblolly Pine	1977
Cannelton, Indiana	Camp Koch Girl Scout Camp	Sycamore	1976
Indianapolis, Indiana	Indiana Statehouse	Sycamore	9 April 1976
Lincoln City, Indiana	Lincoln State Park	Sycamore	1 May 1976
Atchison, Kansas	International Forest of Friendship	Sycamore	24 July 1976
Elmer, Louisiana	Palustris Experimental Forest	Loblolly Pine	April 1976
Bethesda, Maryland	Society of American Foresters	Loblolly Pine	30 September 1975
Greenbelt, Maryland	Goddard Space Flight Center	Sycamore	9 June 1977
Holliston, Massachusetts	Holliston Police Station	Sycamore	1982
Niles, Michigan	Fernwood Botanical Gardens	Sycamore	23 April 1976
Biloxi, Mississippi	Private Residence	Sycamore	1974-75
Starkville, Mississippi	Mississippi State University	Sycamore	1975
Wiggins, Mississippi	Camp Iti Kana	Sycamore	April/May 1974
DeSoto, Missouri	Walther Park	Sycamore
Santa Fe, New Mexico	State Capitol Building	Douglas Fir	22 July 1976
Silver City, New Mexico	Gough Park	Sycamore	15 August 1976
Asheville, North Carolina	Botanical Gardens at Asheville	Sycamore	19 March 1976
Clyde, North Carolina	Haywood Community College	Sycamore	1976
Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina	Cradle of Forestry	Sycamore	18 October 1976
Jefferson County, Ohio	Friendship Park	Sycamore	29 July 1976
Corvallis Oregon	Oregon State University	Douglas Fir	Spring, 1976
Eugene Oregon	University of Oregon	Douglas Fir	1976
Roseburg, Oregon	U.S. Veteran's Hospital	Douglas Fir	3 May 1976
Salem, Oregon	State Capitol Building	Douglas Fir	30 April 1976
Salem, Oregon	Private Residence	2 Douglas Firs	1973
Coudersport, Pennsylvania	Coudersport Area Recreational Park	Sycamore	Late 1970's
Dillsburg, Pennsylvania	Dillsburg Elementary School	Sycamore	29 April 1983
Ebensburg, Pennsylvania	Cambria County Courthouse	Sycamore	29 June 1976
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania	Highland Hall	Sycamore	5 May 1976
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania	Lockheed Martin	Sycamore	30 June 1976
Newtown/Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Core Creek Park	Sycamore	30 April 1976
Topton, Pennsylvania	Topton Mini Museum	Sycamore	20 June 1976
Knoxville, Tennessee	University of Tennessee	Loblolly Pine	April 1976
Sewanee, Tennessee	University of the South	Sycamore	April 1976
Westlake, Texas	Private Residence	Sycamore	1978
Draper, Utah	Lone Peak Conservation Center	Sycamore	1976
Bracey, Virginia	River Ridge Campground	Sycamore	Unknown
Doswell, Virginia	Kings Dominion Amusement Park	Sycamore	1976?
Hampton, Virginia	Patrick Elementary School	Sycamore	30 April 1976
Loudoun County, Virginia	Scott Jenkins Memorial Park	Sweetgum	September 1978
Olympia, Washington	State Capitol Building	Douglas Fir	April 1976
International
Brasilia, Brazil	IBAMA Institute	Sweetgum	14 January 1980
Cambara do Sul, Brazil	Praça Central São José	Redwood	26 September 1982
Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil	Santa Rosa	Redwood	18 August 1981
Chavaniac, France	Chateau Lafayette	Sycamore status unknown	1976
Status Unknown
San Francisco, California	Strybing Arboretum	Coast Redwood status unknown	22 July 1976
Savannah, Georgia	Unknown	Sycamore status unknown	Unknown
Pocatello, Idaho	Idaho State University	Douglas Fir status unknown	18 May 1976
Springfield, Illinois	State Capitol	Sycamore status unknown	29 April 1976
Des Moines, Iowa	State Capitol	Sycamore ? status unknown	30 April 1976
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Governor's Mansion	2 Loblolly Pines status unknown	16 January 1976
Annapolis, Maryland	Tawes Garden	Sycamore status unknown	Unknown
Cleveland, Mississippi	Delta State University	Status Unknown	1976
Hattiesburg, Mississippi	University of Southern Mississippi?	Status Unknown	1976
Missoula, Montana	University of Montana	Douglas Fir Status Unknown	17 July 1976
Nebraska City, Nebraska	National Arbor Day Center	Status Unknown	24 April 1976?
Monmouth County, New Jersey	Monmouth County Courthouse	Sycamore Status Unknown
Albany, New York	Empire State Plaza	Sycamore status unknown	1977?
Brooklyn, New York	Fulton Ferry	Sycamore status unknown	June 1976?
Buffalo, New York	Delaware Park Lake	Sycamore status unknown	25 May 1977?
Rome, New York	Fort Stanwix	Sycamore status unknown	1976?
Elkton, Oregon	D.L. Phipps State Forest Nursery	Douglas Fir status unknown
Portland, Oregon	Western Forestry Center	Douglas Fir Status Unknown	25 May 1976
Emporium, Pennsylvania	Cameron County Courthouse	Sycamore Status Unknown	15 May 1976
Portersville, Pennsylvania	Moraine State Park	Sycamore status unknown	4 August 1977
No Longer Alive
Auburn University, Alabama	G.W. Andrews Forestry Sciences Lab	Loblolly Pine *, Sycamore *	22 October 1976
Huntsville, Alabama	U.S. Space and Rocket Center	5 Sycamores *, 2 Pines *	29 October 1976
Flagstaff, Arizona	Flagstaff Jr. High School	Douglas Fir *	30 April 1976
Little Rock, Arkansas	Forestry Commission Headquarters	Loblolly Pine *	15 March 1976
Monticello, Arkansas	University of Arkansas at Monticello	Loblolly Pine *	15 March 1976
El Dorado Hills, California	St. Stephen's Lutheran Church	Redwood *	1976
San Dimas, California	Technology & Development Center	Giant Sequoia? *	29 March 1977
Cape Canaveral, Florida	Kennedy Space Center	Sycamore *	25 June 1976
Gainesville, Florida	University of Florida	2 Loblolly Pines *	c. 1977
Boise, Idaho	State Capitol	Douglas fir *	7 May 1976
Moscow, Idaho	University of Idaho	Sycamore *
Tell City, Indiana	Forest Service Office	2 Sweetgums *	1976
New Orleans, Louisiana	New Orleans River Walk	Loblolly Pine *	June 1983
New Orleans, Louisiana	NASA Michoud Assembly Facility	Loblolly Pine (2?) *	July 1976
North Pembroke, Massachusetts	Historical Society	Sycamore *	April 1976
Jackson, Michigan	Dahlem Environmental Education Center	Sycamore *	22 April 1976
Lansing, Michigan	State Capitol	Sycamore *	22 April 1976
Wyoming, Michigan	Wyoming Police Station	Sycamore *	23 April 1976
Waynesboro, Mississippi	Forestry Commission Nursery	Sycamore *
Alamogordo, New Mexico	International Space Hall of Fame	Sycamore *	5 October 1976
Albuquerque, New Mexico	Civic Plaza	Douglas Fir *	7 April 1976
Capitan, New Mexico	Smokey Bear State Park	Sycamore *	15 May 1976
Athens, Ohio	District 4 Headquarters	Sycamore *	20 July 1976
Columbus, Ohio	City Nursery	Sycamore *	1976
Illinois Valley, Oregon	Siskiyou Smoke Jumpers Base	Douglas Fir *
Portland, Oregon	World Forestry Center	Douglas Fir *
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Washington Square	Sycamore *	6 May 1975
Elizabethton, Tennessee	Sycamore Shoals State Park	Sycamore *	April 1976
Tullahoma, Tennessee	Arnold Air Force Base	Loblolly Pine *	April 1976
College Station, Texas	Brazos County Arboretum	Sycamore *	21 March 1976
Salt Lake City, Utah	State Capitol Building	Douglas Fir *
Doswell, Virginia	Kings Dominion Amusement Park	Sycamore*	1976?
Washington, D.C.	White House	Loblolly Pine *	19 January 1977
Princeton, West Virginia	Forestry Sciences Lab	Sycamore*	18 October 1975

* Trees no longer alive

If you are seeking detailed information about the Moon trees listed here, contact marie.j.henderson@nasa.gov.