This loblolly pine "moon tree" was grown from a seed that traveled to the moon and back on Apollo XIV in 1971. It is located at the Florida Forest Service, Doyle Conner Office Complex, in Tallahassee, Florida. Photo taken in 2003.
Florida's "Moon Trees"
Astronaut Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, orbited the moon in the command module of Apollo 14 on January 31, 1971. Packed in small containers in Roosa's personal kit were hundreds of tree seeds.
As part of the nation's bicentennial celebration in 1976, a seedling grown from one of these seeds was planted at the Florida Forest Service's headquarters in Tallahassee.
The plaque in front of the tree reads:
Moon Tree
Loblolly Pine
Pinus taeda
Partial List of Apollo 14 Moon Trees Planted in Florida
City | Location | Type of Tree | Planting Date |
|---|---|---|---|
Cape Canaveral | Kennedy Space Center | Sycamore | June 25, 1976 |
Gainesville | Sycamore | Unknown | |
Keystone Heights | Sycamore | 1984 | |
Perry | Forest Capital Park | Loblolly Pine | April 26, 1978 |
Tallahassee | Cascades Park | Sycamore | Unknown |
Tallahassee | Doyle Conner Office Complex | Loblolly Pine | 1976 |
