Beloved Japanese cherry blossom tree ‘Stumpy’ makes its last bloom in Washington, D.C.
Stumpy, a scraggly, fan-favorite Japanese cherry blossom tree on the National Mall, is on the chopping block as Washington prepares for a new seawall repair project.
WASHINGTON — Stumpy, a scraggly Japanese cherry blossom tree whose few skinny branches flower every spring to the delight of residents and tourists alike, is on its last legs.
Arborists say Stumpy’s interior trunk is hollow, reason enough to place it among 158 trees scheduled to be cut down in coming months as part of a $113 million sea wall repair project near the National Mall prompted by climate change.
Ultimately, the National Park Service will remove about 300 of 3,700 trees that line the banks of the Tidal Basin reservoir between the Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials to shore up sea walls lining the reservoir and the west Potomac River.
Stumpy’s profile rose in 2020 during the pandemic when a Reddit user posted a photo of it, likening its outwardly limp condition to his love life. The tree and the user’s story were circulated online, and Stumpy’s fame skyrocketed.
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