ST. LOUIS • The National Park Service has picked a tree to replace the threatened Rosehill ash along the Gateway Arch walkways.
The London plane tree was tops among three finalists, including ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) and tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera).
The park service chose the plane tree for its appearance, disease resistance and ability to survive in alkaline soils, it said in a statement Tuesday.
The plane tree (Platanus acerifolia) is broad-leafed with smooth, peeling bark and bristly seed balls. It can grow to about 90 feet tall and is common in cities such as New York and Paris.
The Arch grounds’ 1,000 ash trees, which currently line the processional walkways leading to the monument, are often over 40 years old and are in decline, said the news release. Moreover, they need to be replaced before the “impending arrival” of the emerald ash borer, a pest that reached the U.S. on a Chinese lumber shipment.
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The park service said the plane tree is “highly suited to tight allée plantings, creating arching, cathedral-like spaces.”
A representative from CityArchRiver, the nonprofit agency raising funds and coordinating the $380 million renovation of the park, said he had no cost estimate for the new trees.
The processional walks and allées, or tree-lined walkways, are budgeted to cost about $26.5 million, said spokesman Ryan McClure.
But he didn’t know how much was set aside for the trees, and he said he could not get the information immediately.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The London plane tree's scientific name is Platanus acerifolia; the tulip poplar's is Liriodendron tulipifera. An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information.
