Florida – A 2,000-year-old tree called Lady Liberty, which is located in Big Tree Park, is going to be cloned by the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a non-profit organization that seeks to save trees around the world. Lady Liberty, a Bald Cypress tree, is the oldest of its specie in Florida State.
The huge icon from Big Tree Park is 2,000-year-old, which is impressive because from that time to 21th Century, thousands of natural phenomenons that could have harmed the tree have taken place. Also 2,000 years is almost the same time that a religion such as catholicism has. Lady Liberty is 89-foot-tall and it is located in Seminole County’s Big Tree Park in Longwood.
The institution that wants to clone Lady Liberty, The Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, wrote in its webpage participants want to propagate the world’s most important old growth trees before they are gone and archive the genetics of ancient trees in living libraries around the world in order to reforest the Earth as a global warming solution.
It seems that researchers are planning to create around a hundred genetic replicas to preserve the tree which has demonstrated to be a strong piece of the nature, also specialists want to replant it across the country. Reporters added that 20 clones will be donated to elementary schools in Florida after they have been bred, to be planted by students.
“We believe that this tree is something special. Throughout time, it has seen droughts and disease, and over time it has acquired or developed the DNA to withstand those things,” said, Jake Milarch of the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive.
The complete process of cloning Lady Liberty and replanting it will take about two years. When officials approve it, The Archangel Ancient Tree Archive will take cuttings from the tallest part of the tree for six months, then they will start the cloning process and the new replicas will be ready to be planted 2 years later.
Some samples have been already taken by a group of climbers from the non-profit organization on Monday December 28. The researcher John Alleyne, who is an expert in horticulture took the samples in order to analyze them and investigate if they were not affected or traumatized by any disease. Then the tissues were sent to Michigan, where a cloning lab will receive cooled samples.
According to 20-20 site, which offers a very detailed description of the Cypress tree, the wood of the tree was used by ancients Egyptians to build mummy cases because they liked to use the most long-living trees. Also it appears that the Plato’s code of law was carved into Cypress wood because it was thought it lasted more than any other material.
Big Tree Park is a famous tourist attraction since it was the home of The Senator, a Bald Cypress Tree that lived for approximately 3,500 years, unfortunately the icon was lost when a model that admitted to lit a fire inside it to smoke meth, made it burn. Investigator even found pictures of the model starting the fire.
The park has already planted a clone close to the entrance of the park, which was called The Phoenix, and right now it measures around 50 feet, according to Walstreet Hedge. It is expected that the clones of Lady Liberty will grow as well as The Phoenix did.
Source: Orlando Sentinel