Stoneleigh’s Trees to See
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VISIT SOME OF THE TOP 10 TREES IN PENNSYLVANIA
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HE MAGNIFICENT TREES AT STONELEIGH: A Natural Garden, represent more than 150 years of landscape design and careful stewardship. Many of the largest trees at Stoneleigh—the public garden in Villanova owned by nonprofit Natural Lands—were planted more than a century ago by some of the most influential landscape architects of their day, including the Olmsted Brothers firm. All of these beauties can photosynthesize, stabilize soil, capture carbon and clean our water, but those native to Eastern forests and grasslands best support the life around us. These native trees provide essential food and shelter for insects, which support vertebrates like birds and small mammals, which in turn help build biodiversity in our communities (and beyond). Several native specimens at Stoneleigh are among the largest of their kind in Pennsylvania and make a visit to this celebration of the natural world even more inviting. 26
County Lines | February 2022 | CountyLinesMagazine.com
TURKEY OAK (Quercus cerris; #2 specimen in Pennsylvania) Native to southern Europe and western Asia, turkey oak is a large, deciduous tree in the white oak group. Its acorns, which have a shaggy cap that covers half the nut, give this tree its alternate common name: moss-cupped oak. This particular tree at Stoneleigh is of special significance to the Haas family. It was transplanted by John and Chara Haas from their home in Haverford, where they lived before moving to Stoneleigh in 1964. SOUTHERN CATALPA (Catalpa bignonioides; #3 specimen in Pennsylvania) Southern catalpa is native to the Gulf Coast states but is now widely naturalized to much of the United States. Indigenous people called these trees “catawba,” meaning “winged head,” likely in reference to the winged seeds that emerge from the trees’ long bean-like pods.
PHOTOS BY DAVID KORBONITS, BENJAMIN SZMIDT AND JOANNE BOSCO
Kirsten Werner, Natural Lands
