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Tree expert David McMaster points to a 110-foot tall tulip poplar that will be cut down and may be used for cloning with some 25 'historical' trees in Central Park in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. [Agencies]
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Squat, homely, dwarfed by the stately oaks and poplars nearby and unnoticed by the tourists passing in horse-drawn carriages, it's a tree that only birds and nut-hungry squirrels could love.
But on Thursday, the 100-year-old European beech on Central Park's Cherry Hill was the center of attention - chosen by New York city officials as the first of 25 "historical" trees to be cloned as part of a plan announced last year to add a million new trees to streets, parks and public spaces over the next decade.
Agriculture students from a Queens high school rode hydraulic-powered tree-trimmers' buckets to upper branches of the 60-foot tree and snipped off 6- to 12-inch sections of new growth, to be sent to a scientific tree nursery in eastern Oregon. If all goes well, the genetic copies will be sent back in two years to New York for replanting.
"We want to break the stereotype of New York as skyscrapers and sidewalks," Parks Commissioner Adrian Benape said. "New York abounds in historical trees."
The target trees include nine different species. All were selected by borough foresters as historical for having existed for at least a century - either as fixtures of the urban landscape or as having special significance to local communities.
City partners in the cloning effort include the Central Park Conservancy, a private group that manages the 840-acre park; Bartlett Tree Experts, a century-old Connecticut-based company that has tree care contracts in New York, 25 other states, Canada, England and Ireland; the nonprofit Tree Fund, and the Coleman Co., a camping equipment maker, whose coolers would be used to ship the cuttings to Oregon.
David McMaster, a Bartlett vice president, said the cloning would target several "Olmsted trees," dating from the creation of Central Park by famed architect Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 1850s.
Benape said being less than beautiful had no bearing on the European beech tree's potential contribution to a greener Gotham.
"Like the other trees to be cloned, it has withstood the test of time and the indignities of urban life," he said. "These trees as a result tend to be hardier species, inherently disease resistant. They are a great reaffirmation of the importance of nature in New York City - trees so good that people are looking to clone them."
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(Agencies)
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它矮小平凡，旁邊高大筆直的橡樹和楊樹讓它相形見絀；坐著馬車從它身邊經過的游客都不會瞅它一眼，可能只有鳥兒和想吃松子的松鼠會喜歡它。
而本周四，位于櫻桃山中央公園的這顆百年歐洲山毛櫸樹成了眾人關注的焦點——它被紐約市政官員選入25棵首批“克隆古樹”。“古樹克隆”項目是紐約市政府去年公布的百萬植樹計劃的一部分，紐約計劃在未來十年內在市內街道、公園及公共場所增加100萬顆樹木。
皇后區一所中學的農業系學生們乘坐液壓修樹吊車抵達這顆高60英尺的樹的頂端，從新枝上剪下6至12英寸的樹枝，這些被剪下的新枝將被送往位于俄勒岡州東部的一個樹木科研診所。如果一切順利，克隆成功的樹將于兩年后送回紐約種植。
公園委員會主任阿德里安?貝納普說：“我們的目的是改變紐約到處都是摩天大樓和人行道的舊貌。紐約市內有很多古樹。”
將被克隆的樹包括九個不同品種。由各區林務員挑選出的所有古樹的樹齡至少為100年。這些古樹有的是城市景點，有的則對當地有特殊意義。
“古樹克隆”項目的合作方包括：中央公園保護處，該私人機構負責管理市內的840畝公園；巴特雷特樹木專家公司，這個位于康涅狄格州的公司已有一百年歷史，它與紐約、其他25個州以及加拿大、英格蘭和愛爾蘭都簽有樹木護理合同；非贏利組織樹木基金會以及科爾曼露營設備制造公司，剪下來的樹枝將裝進該公司生產的冷卻器運往俄勒岡。
“巴特雷特”樹木專家公司的副總裁大衛?麥克馬斯特說，將被克隆的古樹中還包括幾棵“奧姆斯特德樹”，這幾棵古樹種植于中央公園創建時期，中央公園于19世紀50年代末由著名建筑大師弗萊德里克?勞?奧姆斯特德樹創建。
貝納普說，歐洲山毛櫸長得不夠好看不要緊，不會影響它發揮綠化紐約的作用。
他說：“與其它將被克隆的古樹一樣，它經歷了時間和風雨的考驗。歷盡歲月風雨后，這些樹的耐寒能力和自身抗病能力都會增強。它們是自然重要性的“偉大見證”——人們認識到樹木的重要性，甚至想能對它們進行克隆。”
（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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