In 2013 we lost two great trees in Tompkins Square Park. One was at that point the largest American Elm in the park. The other was much older, it predated the clearing of the interior of the Tompkins Square Park in the 1860’s.  I suspect it was large enough to provide shade on the perimeter of the parade ground created during the Civil War. It was an extremely gnarled Black Locust Tree. Before I knew the species, I called it the gnarly squirrel tree. I wanted to know what this amazing natural sculpture was, and it was one of the reasons I started  this tree identification project. [Read more…]