This 390-year-old bonsai tree survived an atomic bomb, and no one knew until 2001

[n2doc]

This centuries-old white pine from Japan was donated to the National Arboretum in 1976. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)

By Faiz Siddiqui

Moses Weisberg was walking his bicycle through the National Arboretum in Northeast Washington when he stopped at a mushroom-shaped tree. The first thing he noticed was the thickness of the trunk, estimated at almost a foot and a half in diameter. And then there was the abundance of spindly leaves, a healthy head of hair for a botanical relic 390 years old.

But it was only when he learned the full history of the tree, a Japanese white pine donated in 1976, that he was truly stunned. The tree, a part of the Arboretum’s National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, has not only navigated the perils of age to become the collection’s oldest, but it also survived the blast of an atomic bomb, Little Boy, dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.

“For one, it’s amazing to think that something could have survived an atomic blast,” said Weisberg, a 26-year-old student at the Georgetown University Law Center. “And then that by some happenstance a Japanese tree from the 1600s ended up here.”

The bonsai tree’s history is being honored this week, as Thursday marks the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. But visitors can see the tree as part of the museum’s permanent collection throughout the year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-390-year-old-tree-that-survived-an-atomic-bomb/2015/08/02/3f824dae-3945-11e5-8e98-115a3cf7d7ae_story.html?tid=pm_local_pop_b

[Xyzse]

1. Beautiful.

That's just amazing.

[Boxerfan]

2. Pretty sure those who donated it knew...

I remember the story & it was recognized as a survivor immediately after the attack.

The caretaker who donated it knew of that I'm sure.

[haikugal]

3. Beautiful and poignant..we should repatriate it. Send it home to be with other survivors.

Thanks n2doc for this post.

[Snobblevitch]

4. Gifts are important in Japanese culture.

To return a gift as important as this one would be seen as highly offensive.

[haikugal]

5. Well that's out then...thanks!

[thecrow]

6. I have seen the Arboretum's bonsai exhibit.

It is truly fascinating. If you come to DC, it is well worth an afternoon to walk in the National Arboretum.