Source: Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee

Editor’s Note: We’re marking Earth Day 2026 with this excerpt from the Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee’s series describing some of the landmark trees in our community.

Amherst is a town of extraordinary trees. Its canopy covers roughly 53% of town land — some 9,462 acres — yet many residents pass by the exceptional species around them without a second glance. To change that, the Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee (APSTC) has launched Amherst Arbor Spotlight, a monthly series devoted to the remarkable trees growing in and around town. 

Each article features a different species, describing its identifying characteristics, ecological benefits, and historical significance, accompanied by vintage and contemporary photographs. The series began in January 2026 and will run throughout the year, with new installments posted on the first of each month. So far, four trees have been featured: the dawn redwood, the white oak, the American sycamore, and the tuliptree.

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Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)

The dawn redwood is one of a few deciduous conifers, dropping its needles each winter after its feathery foliage transitions from bright spring green to a russet bronze in fall. It can grow over 100 feet tall, with red-brown peeling bark and a broad base of buttressed roots, and is disease and pest free.

Its history is remarkable: plant fossils suggested the species had been extinct for millions of years until 1941, when a Chinese botanist discovered a stand growing deep in a Hubei Province forest. In 1947, scientists from the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard funded an expedition to collect seeds, which were then distributed to colleges and botanical gardens worldwide.

In Amherst, two beautiful dawn redwoods flank the entrance to the Goodwin Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church at 41 Woodside Avenue, and APSTC currently has 20 saplings growing in its nursery on Station Road, to be planted throughout town in the future.

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White Oak (Quercus alba)

One of the largest native trees in Amherst, the white oak is slow growing but long lived, with a typical lifespan of 200 to 300 years, reaching heights of 80 to 100 feet. Its plentiful acorns are vital to wildlife, and its heavy, strong wood has been prized for everything from ship hulls to whiskey barrels.

Amherst is home to several outstanding specimens. The white oak on the east lawn of the Emily Dickinson Museum may have been planted by Emily’s brother Austin Dickinson, is visible in a 1916 photograph of the property, and was one of the few trees to survive the hurricane of 1938 that toppled 3,000 trees in Amherst.

Perhaps even more venerable is the ancient white oak at 172 State Street near Puffer’s Pond, which a 1943 author reported tree experts believed to be over 300 years old at the time — making it close to 400 years old today.

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American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)

Native to the eastern United States, the American sycamore is the largest deciduous hardwood in North America, capable of reaching heights over 150 feet. Its light gray outer bark peels in small plates to reveal a creamy white inner bark, creating a distinctive dappled effect, and its enormous leaves — up to 12 inches wide — are among the largest of all native North American trees.

Amherst’s most historic specimen stands at 67 Amity Street in front of the Strong House. Nehemiah Strong planted two sycamores — called “bride and groom” trees — there in 1763, as the long-lived sycamore symbolized hope for a lasting marriage. The bride tree was removed in 1957 after storm damage, but the groom tree, now nearly three centuries old and measuring 17 feet in circumference, still stands.

Three additional giant sycamores near the intersection of South Pleasant Street and Northampton Road were planted by Amherst College in 1821 and have witnessed two centuries of change in the town.

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Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

The tuliptree is the tallest of the eastern hardwoods, reaching 150 feet, with a trunk that may be unbranched for its first 100 feet. Its springtime flowers resemble tulips with greenish yellow petals and orange accents, attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds; in autumn, the glossy four-lobed leaves turn golden yellow. Native to eastern North America, tuliptrees can live 200 to 300 years.

Several fine examples grace downtown Amherst, including a giant tuliptree at the Inn on Boltwood on the Town Common, approximately 70 feet tall with a trunk 59 inches in diameter.

The most impressive, however, is found on private property: the tuliptree at 30 Fearing Street measured 206 inches in circumference in 2025, making it the second largest tuliptree in the state of Massachusetts.

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New Amherst Arbor Spotlight articles are published on the first of each month. Visit amherstma.gov to read the full series and learn more about the trees growing around you.

All images via Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee.