Any idea how old it is? Still trying to reproduce itself, anyway...

Jackie

The original planting of the cherry trees was 1912, but the article in the NYTs

said they usually live 50 years. The trees going down are probably all replacements for the trees gifted by the Mayor of Tokyo.

My grandparents in Virginia planted three when they returned to the states in 1941, They were wonderful to play under just magical as the petals rained down.

The trees didn't make it to 2000.

“Stumpy, and other low-lying trees, will be torn out to make way for construction equipment. But clippings from the famous tree will be sent to the National Arboretum to propagate new trees.”

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/19/1238896379/cherry-blossom-trees-remove-stumpy-climate-change-washington-dc

I expect that they will graft onto new rootstock. The new plants won’t have the character of Stumpy, but his spirit will be there. I wonder what kind of flowering cherry he is?

Yoshino might be the variety as Stumpy is blooming now and this variety is one of the first to bloom.

That was my first thought as well. Then it doesn‘t really matter if they propagate from Stumpy since they would be genetically identical to all the other Yoshino cherries.

That's going to be a lovely specimen, Sheila!