By Sandy Miller
The City of Portland pioneered the practice of naming Heritage Trees in 1994, when the first such tree, an American elm, was officially designated by the City Council. Heritage Trees are significant to the city because of their “unique size, age, historical or horticultural significance,” according to the Urban Forestry department, which administers the program. There are now more than 300 Heritage Trees throughout Portland, with many east of the Willamette River. Each Heritage Tree bears a chest-high metal plaque which lists its unique number, its common and Latin names and the year it was designated. They are protected by City Code, and removing one requires the consent of both the Urban Forestry Commission and the City Council.
A Heritage Tree cannot be approved for removal unless it is dead, dying or dangerous. The city must formally decommission the tree before a permit can be issued for removal. Heritage Tree #1, which was called the “Burrell elm” after the original family whose home it had shaded for over 150 years, was hit hard by the ice storm of early 2024. Removed by the city last year for safety reasons, it lives on in the form of the first of several benches to be made from its wood, which now resides at Mt. Scott Community Center on SE 43rd Ave.
Where is your nearest Portland Heritage Tree? You can consult an interactive map at bit.ly/41KBxnR to find out. Click on any yellow dot to discover the tree’s status (some have been removed) and exact location.
About half of our Heritage Trees are located on public property, in open and walkable areas. Not surprisingly, both Laurelhurst and Mt. Tabor parks boast Heritage Trees: a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and a big-leafed linden (Tilia platyphyllos) near the main reservoir at Mt. Tabor, and a katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) tree at Laurelhurst. The colorful katsura is native to Japan. Its round, heart-shaped leaves emerge pink, turning green in summer and pink/orange in fall.
Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery contains an incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), a bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) and the Douglas fir tree (Pseudotsuga menziesii) that gives the site its name. The maple is named after Joseph Lane, Oregon’s first territorial governor.
Heritage Trees are also found on private property in most SE neighborhoods, often visible from the sidewalk. A magnificent Mt. Fuji cherry tree (Prunus serrulata “Shirotae”) adorns the front lawn of a North Tabor home near E Burnside St., a source of shade and shelter.
Ladd’s Addition, in the Buckman neighborhood, hosts a small, rounded Heritage rhododendron (Ponticum rhododendron). These shrubs, native to Europe and cultivated in England since the mid-1700’s, take decades to grow into small trees. Rhodies are now ubiquitous in Portland, possibly tracing back to the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition in Portland, where they were highlighted along with roses.
Another reflection of the 1905 Expo are the two monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana) in the Laurelhurst neighborhood that now tower into the sky. These primitive conifers, native to the mountains of Chile and that country’s national tree, were likely planted shortly after the event, where the Chilean delegation gave out monkey puzzle seedlings to Expo attendees. Now the limbs bearing their shiny, spiky leaves are far from the ground.
The “picnic oak,” a massive, spreading white oak tree (Quercus garryana) in the Richmond neighborhood, is estimated to be over 200 years old. For many years it was an outdoor summer gathering place for members of a local Baptist congregation, and it now graces the front lawn of a private residence.
A coast redwood tree (Sequoia sempervirens) rises 150 feet into the sky near the entrance to an assisted living center on the west edge of the Montavilla neighborhood. These trees, the tallest in the world, can reach a mature height of 300 feet, so this one has plenty of growing left to do.
There are many more Heritage Trees in Portland, representing a broad variety of both evergreen and deciduous species. Now that spring is here, why not check out some of the outstanding examples of Portland’s urban canopy?
Have you noticed a tree in your neighborhood that stands out because of its size, age, history or something else unique about it? Anyone can nominate a tree for Heritage Tree status at portland.gov/trees/get-involved/heritagetreenomination. If the tree is on private property, the property owner must agree to the move. The annual nomination process ends on May 1 each year; however, applications are accepted year-round.
Heritage Mt. Fuji flowering cherry tree in North Tabor. Photo by Jeff Ramsey, Portland Parks & Recreation.
