The weather’s cooler, high school and college football teams have taken the field and the leaves soon will be changing colors. What better time to look for Missouri’s champion trees?
Champion trees are the biggest, oldest trees as calculated by American Forests and the Missouri Department of Conservation. In the St. Louis area that includes:
- 103-foot tall, 149-inch circumference white basswood tree at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis;
- 35-foot tall, 72-inch circumference red buckeye tree at Forest Park in St. Louis;
- 76-foot tall, 142-inch circumference cucumbertree tree at Forest Park in St. Louis;
- 102-foot tall, 191-inch circumference American elm tree at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis County;
- 51-foot tall, 189-inch circumference red mulberry tree at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis County;
- 109-foot tall, 174-inch circumference shingle oak tree at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis County;
- 132-foot tall, 193-inch circumference pecan tree in the right-of-way along Butler Hill Road in St. Louis County;
- 18-foot tall, 19-inch circumference possumhaw tree at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis;
- 72-foot tall, 196-inch circumference black walnut tree at Matson Hill Park in St. Charles County;
- 95-foot tall, 79-inch circumference black willow tree at the Missouri Department of Conservation in St. Louis County;
State champion trees on private property in the St. Louis area:
- 130-foot tall, 164-inch circumference green ash tree in St. Louis County
- 49-foot tall, 254-inch circumference American basswood tree in St. Charles County
- 78-foot tall, 176-inch circumference Kentucky coffeetree in Warren County
- 134-foot tall, 296-inch circumference eastern cottonwood tree in St. Louis County
- 79-foot tall, 196-inch circumference rock elm tree in St. Louis County
- 104-foot tall, 132-inch circumference slippery elm tree in Warren County
- 22-foot tall, 17-inch circumference fringetree in St. Louis
- 79-foot tall, 222-inch circumference hackberry tree in Lincoln County
- 110-foot tall, 185-inch circumference hackberry tree in St. Charles County
- 70-foot tall, 204-inch circumference chinkapin oak tree in St. Charles County
- 35-foot tall, 29-inch circumference pawpaw tree in St. Louis
- 23-foot tall, 28-inch circumference wild plum tree in St. Charles County
- 62-foot tall, 78-inch circumference western soapberry tree in Jefferson County
- 41-foot tall, 106-inch circumference eastern wahoo tree in St. Louis County
- 130-foot tall, 186-inch circumference yellow-poplar tree in St. Louis County
The white basswood champion at the Missouri Botanical Garden also is a national champion. So is St. Louis County’s eastern wahoo champion.
The Department of Conservation has tips on how to measure trees, if you think you’ve come across a potential champion. See the complete list of the state’s champion trees.