MAJESTIC MULBERRY TREE

Ranger Jason Guidry and Don Schneider are pictured with the largest red mulberry tree in North Carolina.  Schneider owns the tree and received a certificate from North Carolina Big Tree Program in 2012 for his outstanding tree.  He lives off Tusquittee Road in Clay County, North Carolina.

MAJESTIC MULBERRY

A special tree,
you tower above the forest,
catching sunlight with
heart-shaped leaves.

More than an ornament,
you amaze our state
with your unusual size
and grace a century.

You lift a 69-foot crown,
toss your hair in the clouds,
offering milky white sap,
and cradle baby birds.

You hold a piece of history
in your wrinkled hands:
windstorms, fires, floods.
Your feet cleave to Clay County.
      --Brenda Kay Ledford

I thank Becky Long, editor and publisher, of CLAY COUNTY PROGRESS for giving me permission to reprint the above photo from her newspaper.