Old Main Cottonwood finds new life through cloning

‘Woodman, spare that tree!’ Oh, that’s what you’re doing? Cool!

当这位年轻的加州大学学生看到两名工人带着绳索和头盔准备爬上老梅因外那棵巨大的平原棉杨树时, terror struck her, and a feeling of impending doom grew in her stomach. Were they going to cut down this tree, the oldest and tallest on campus, 100多年来，它为位于诺林四合院的CU社区带来了美丽和阴凉?

She ran across the quad in a panic and confronted the workers. “What are you doing?” she demanded.

“We’re going to clone the tree,” replied Vince Aquino, an arborist with CU-Boulder’s Facilities Management. “博彩平台推荐必须爬到树冠上取一些插枝.”

阿基诺笑了，因为他看到学生脸上的忧虑慢慢消失了. “Don’t worry,” he reassured her, “we’re not cutting the tree down.”

那学生松了一口气，她的皱眉变成了微笑. “I love CU-Boulder!” she exclaimed. She thanked the arborists and skipped off to class, 感谢这棵美丽的树能继续生长在院子里, 也很感激她的校园对树木的关心.

The Old Main Cottonwood is indeed getting new life. In October, 设施管理公司的树艺师阿基诺和乔尔·塞拉芬从树冠上取下了插枝. (See related video of the cloning above.)

The cuttings were then handed off to the care of Tom Lemieux, 科罗拉多大学生态和进化生物学(EBIO)温室在博尔德第30街的经理. 插枝已经生根，将在温室里一直待到2015年的某个时候, when they will be planted outside. 这些插枝将产生一个克隆体:一个与老主棉杨完全相同的基因复制品.

“平原棉杨树实际上相对容易克隆，因为它们自然繁殖的方式是碎成碎片，落在水中，然后在其他地方重新生根,” says Aquino.

“这将是一个完全相同的基因克隆，没有任何基因工程，”勒米厄解释说. “博彩平台推荐所做的就是插枝并将其生根，这是传统的无性繁殖方法.”

“它们应该在明年春天或初夏准备好，”勒米厄预测道. “我想博彩平台推荐会有足够的插枝让文斯在校园周围的几个地方种植这种基因型.”

Plains cottonwoods (Populus deltoides subsp. monilifera由于它们的耐寒性和抵御恶劣天气条件的能力，被称为“平原上的先驱树”. 平原白杨的平均寿命为70年，高度约为60-80英尺.

The Old Main Cottonwood is between 135 and 140 years old, 高108英尺，树干底部周长19英尺. 由于它优越的基因和靠近安德森沟(这使得它可以消耗尽可能多的水), it is now the oldest and tallest tree on campus.

The Old Main Cottonwood, with its above-average age and height, makes it an ideal candidate for cloning.

Old Main, completed in 1876, was the first building on campus. 深褐色色调的照片显示，它孤零零地矗立在大风吹拂的台地上, surrounded by a bleak and arid landscape with nothing but rocks, rabbits and sagebrush. Joseph A. 休厄尔是科罗拉多大学的第一任校长，他和他的妻子安从1877年到1884年一直住在老美因.

Sewall校长是通过种植树木来改善科罗拉多大学校园外观的幕后推手. Timothy W. Stanton, who graduated from CU in 1883, recalled Sewall’s endeavors to beautify the campus with trees.

他高大修长的身影拿着锄头或铲子把水引到白杨树上, some of which he had himself planted around the university, was a familiar sight,” Stanton wrote in “Reminiscences of a University 65 Years Ago.”

The Old Main Cottonwood was planted in 1879 or 1880. 科罗拉多大学档案中的一张1879年的代金券显示，该大学从普通基金中拿出35美元购买了42棵平原棉杨树, which had a one-year warranty. Click here for PDF file of entire voucher.

In 1880, 第二张代金券显示，该大学又购买了43棵杨树, at a price of only $17.这表明第一批种植的一些杨可能没有存活下来.

In 1888, 师生们开创了每年植树节在校园植树的传统, an annual tradition that continues to this day. In 2011, CU-Boulder officially became a “Tree Campus USA,这是由植树节基金会授予的称号，以表彰科罗拉多大学对校园树木的杰出贡献.

多年来，老美因周围的棉杨树林已经减少了, as the trees have succumbed to age and died, 但在建筑的南侧，Old Main Cottonwood继续茁壮成长. 然而，它的年龄几乎是平原棉杨平均年龄的两倍，它的日子可能屈指可数.

“It’s a huge, beautiful, majestic tree, and it’s got remarkable health for its age and species, but we have to keep a close eye on it because it’s quite old,” says Aquino.

With cottonwoods, 掉落的树枝可能会造成财产损失或伤害地面上的人. “It’s a species that grows very quickly, so it can have very soft wood that is prone to breakage,” Aquino explains.

Safety is the first priority for the arborists on campus. “We don’t cut corners with our risk assessment. 当这棵树超过可接受的风险阈值时，就必须将其移除. That’s probably going to be within the next five to 10 years. 希望它能在这里停留更长的时间，但博彩平台推荐必须现实一点.”

With dedicated arborists Aquino and Serafin on duty, it’s hard to imagine the Old Main Cottonwood in better hands. “We keep a close eye on this tree. 每年都有一队登山者爬上它，他们几乎检查了它的每一英尺，以检查缺陷和腐烂. We’re hopeful every year to get a clean bill of health, but we have to be realistic, and this tree, unfortunately, is near the end of its lifespan.”

阿基诺说:“博彩平台推荐尽博彩平台推荐所能让它尽可能长时间地存在。. Now, 多亏了新的幼棉无性系在CU温室生根发芽, 即使老美因外面的雄伟美景最终消失了, 这棵著名的树的基因可以在科罗拉多大学的历史上继续存在，让许多后代的学生欣赏和享受.

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特别感谢科罗拉多大学档案馆的David Hays提供了下面的Old Main图片. Thanks also to Harvey Gardiner, former CU archivist, for an article on the cottonwoods in the Carillon (4/20/2001).

劳拉·克里霍是艺术与科学学院的网络和出版协调员.