October is here and in full swing. The changing season is not only felt in the crisp autumn air and local festivities, but also seen in the colorful landscapes all around.
As the leaves fall into the streets and sidewalks, some are even picked up as a free souvenir of a Nashville getaway — especially those belonging to the massive American sycamore tree downtown.
Towering above Madeline’s French Country store, the Daily Grind and more shops in the Calvin Place complex at Van Buren and Franklin streets, the enormous tree has been standing tall for approximately a century, according to local tree experts.
“The tree is every bit of 95 years old, I would say — could be older,” said certified arborist and Nashville Tree Board member Rick Patrick.
“And it is healthy, it is vigorous.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]The exact age of the tree remains unknown: boring into it hasn’t been done because of sycamores’ fragility.
A healthy sycamore tree has a lifespan of more than 200 years. Some live even longer; a California sycamore was once recorded at being 400 years old.
They can thrive in urban areas with air pollution and grow rapidly under ideal conditions of moist soil and full sun.
“It’s the biggest tree in town,” Patrick said.
“Trees photosynthesize through their bark to some degree, sycamores quite a bit, which is why this one could be doing so well.”
There are no dead tips on the tree, which would be an indicator of dead roots, Patrick said.
Rosemary Saurer, owner of the Calvin House property, believes there to be an underground spring in which the tree is rooted, contributing to its longevity and health in the dry summer we’ve had.
“I have no reason to think it’s not healthy,” Saurer said.
“When trees die, they die in pieces, and I haven’t noticed anything like that. I hope to goodness it’s a healthy tree,” she said.
Sycamore roots grow rapidly and aggressively as they age, and they can buckle sidewalks and streets if not planted at a distance.
Van Buren Street is safe from the giant, but the iron fence around Calvin Place has become one with the root system over time.
“It does reach under that highway,” Patrick said. “(These trees) create their own soil underground with fibrous roots. They build their own soil with their own nutrients from the fine root hairs that they’re shedding, much like our own skin.”
Locals and tourists alike have been struck by the tree’s presence for decades, and some even visit Nashville simply to stand under its sprawling canopy.
“Isn’t this tree beautiful?” asked Nashville visitor “Lisa,” as this reporter took photos of the sycamore’s mosaic bark from a distance.
“She’s come here for 30 years for the tree,” said her daughter, Hannah. “We were talking about it last night and I told her, ‘You’re going to be coming here when you’re an old lady, still remarking on that tree.”
When asked what she liked about the tree, Lisa looked to the towering branches, smiled and simply said, “It’s huge and beautiful and unique.”
The seasons may change and leaves may fall, but the sycamore’s presence and beauty remain deeply rooted in the hearts of visitors and the community in which it’s planted.
