The Largest Tree in Missouri

Eastern Cottonwood Populus deltoides Growing up, we had a cottonwood tree in our backyard. I don’t remember exactly how big it was. But in my memory it looms large. Nor do I remember it being alive. I only remember it as a barkless, white monolith, dead center in the back of the rectangular, grass-covered yard. It felt (as often does for children) like it had been there, in that state, forever. The family tale was that it had been killed by a lightning strike. Then one day my parents had it removed. The stump remained there for many years afterward. Situated in a public park atop the bluffs of the Missouri River, there is another cottonwood, still very much alive. Standing over 125 feet tall with a trunk nearly 29 feet in circumference, it was declared the largest tree in the state of Missouri in 2014. For nearly nine years I lived in this tree’s neighborhood in Kansas City. A short walk brought me to the broad canopy of this behemoth, kin to my family’s tree. It was practically “in my backyard”. So maybe that’s why (beyond its obvious beauty and grandeur) I felt drawn to visit it often and, eventually, in 2019 and 2020, photograph it through its full range of seasons, weather, time of day and other visitors. Each time I visited, I planted my feet in the same spot, took in the scene and captured a new portrait. This routine & ritual pushed me to look back and to reflect, especially on some of my relationships: with this tree, with the land and the cycles of rising and setting, with my roots, and the many tales we hear and choose to recount…