Tuberose

Polianthes Tuberosa

Tuberose

Perennials, Flowers

Native to Mexico. Grown for the heady, powerfully sweet fragrance of its flowers. Each rhizome (actually a modified rhizome with bulb like top and tuberous roots) produces a fountain of narrow, grassyleaves about 1 1/2 ft. high. Flower spikes rise above the leaves, bearing loose whorls of tubular, glistening white flowers in summer or early fall. Tallest tuberose (to 3 1/2 ft.) is the form sometimes sold as ‘Mexican Single’. More widely sold is double-flowered ‘The Pearl’, to 2 1/2 ft. high; it is a good garden variety, but single types provide longer-lasting cut flowers.


To bloom year after year, tuberoses need a long warm season (at least 4 months) before flowering.Where this can be provided outdoors, you can plant rhizomes directly in the ground; elsewhere, start them indoors in pots and plant outside after soil warms in spring. Set rhizomes 2 in. deep and 4–6 in. apart. If soil or water is alkaline,apply acid fertilizer when growth begins. When foliage starts to yellow in fall, stop watering. Dig plants, cut off dead foliage, let rhizomes dry for 2 weeks, and store in a cool, dry place until planting time. Tuberoses can also be grown in containers and moved to protection during cold weather.

The "Moon Trees"

Apollo 14 launched in the late afternoon of January 31, 1971 on what was to be our third trip to the lunar surface. Five days later Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the Moon while Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, orbited above in the command module. Packed in small containers in Roosa's personal kit were hundreds of tree seeds, part of a joint NASA/USFS project. Upon return to Earth, the seeds were germinated by the Forest Service. Known as the "Moon Trees", the resulting seedlings were planted throughout the United States (often as part of the nation's bicentennial in 1976) and the world. They stand as a tribute to astronaut Roosa and the Apollo program.

The project began after Roosa was chosen for the Apollo 14 mission. Ed Cliff, Chief of the Forest Service, knew of Stuart Roosa from his days as a smoke jumper and contacted him about bringing seeds into space. Stan Krugman of the Forest Service was put in charge of the project and selected the seeds for the experiment. Seeds were chosen from five different types of trees: Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweetgum, Redwood, and Douglas Fir. The seeds were classified and sorted, and control seeds were kept on Earth for later comparison. Roosa carried about 400 - 500 seeds in his personal kit which stayed with him as he orbited the Moon in the command module "Kitty Hawk" in February, 1971. Unfortunately, the seed canisters burst open during the decontamination procedures after their return to Earth, and the seeds got mixed together and were presumed to be no longer viable.

Stan Krugman had the seeds sent to the southern Forest Service station in Gulfport, Mississippi and to the western station in Placerville, California to attempt germination. Surprisingly, nearly all the seeds germinated successfully, and the Forest Service had some 420 to 450 seedlings after a few years (some from cuttings). Some of these were planted with their earth-bound counterparts as controls, (as would be expected, after over twenty years there is no discernible difference) but most were given away in 1975 and 1976 to many state forestry organizations to be planted as part of the nation's bicentennial celebration. These trees were southern and western species, so not all states received trees. A Loblolly Pine was planted at the White House, and trees were planted in Brazil, Switzerland, and presented to the Emperor of Japan, among others. Trees have also been planted in Washington Square in Philadelphia, at Valley Forge, in the International Forest of Friendship, and at various universities and NASA centers.  A list of Moon Tree locations can be found at the bottom of the page.

Stuart Roosa was born on 16 August 1933, in Durango, Colorado. He worked for the Forest Service in the early 1950's as a smoke jumper fighting fires and later joined the Air Force and became a test pilot. He was one of 19 people selected for the astronaut class of 1966 and was part of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 9. Following Apollo 14, Roosa was backup command module pilot for Apollo's 16 and 17. He then worked on the Space Shuttle program until his retirement as a Colonel in the Air Force in 1976, the time when many of his trees were being planted.

Sadly, Stuart Roosa passed away in December, 1994. The Moon Trees continue to flourish, a living monument to our first visits to the Moon and a fitting memorial to Stuart Roosa. Believed locations of some Moon Trees are listed below, but no list was ever kept nor any systematic tracking made of the disposition of all the trees. If you know of a Moon Tree, please send a message to dave.williams@nasa.gov.

Moon Tree Locations

City and State	Location	Type of Tree	Planting Date
Birmingham, Alabama	Birmingham Botanical Garden	Sycamore	April 1976
Montgomery, Alabama	State Capitol	Loblolly Pine	April, 1976
Troy, Alabama	Pioneer Museum of Alabama	Loblolly Pine	5 August 1976
Tuscumbia, Alabama	Ivy Green	Loblolly Pine	19 October 1976
Flagstaff, Arizona	Flagstaff Jr. High School	Douglas Fir	30 April 1976
University of Arizona, Tucson Arizona	Kuiper Space Sciences Building	Sycamore	30 April 1976
Ft. Smith, Arkansas	Sebastian County Courthouse	Loblolly Pine	15 March 1976
Washington, Arkansas	Old Washington Historic State Park	Loblolly Pine	15 March 1976
Arcata, California	Humboldt State University	3 Redwoods
Berkeley, California	Tilden Nature Area	Redwood	26 July 1976
El Dorado Hills, California	St. Stephen's Lutheran Church	Redwood	1976
Lockeford, California	Lockeford Plant Materials Center	Redwood	1979
Monterey, California	Friendly Plaza	Redwood	July 1976
Sacramento, California	Capitol Park	Redwood	1976
San Dimas, California	Technology & Development Center	Redwood	29 March 1977
San Luis Obispo, California	Mission Plaza	Redwood	30 July 1976
Cape Canaveral, Florida	Kennedy Space Center	Sycamore	25 June 1976
Gainesville, Florida	University of Florida	Sycamore
Keystone Heights, Florida	Keystone Heights Library	Sycamore	1984
Perry, Florida	Forest Capital Park	Loblolly Pine	26 April 1978
Tallahassee, Florida	Cascades Park	Sycamore
Tallahassee, Florida	Doyle Conner Building	Loblolly Pine
Boise, Idaho	Lowell Elementary School	Loblolly Pine	1977
Moscow, Idaho	University of Idaho	Sycamore
Cannelton, Indiana	Camp Koch Girl Scout Camp	Sycamore	1976
Indianapolis, Indiana	Indiana Statehouse	Sycamore	9 April 1976
Lincoln City, Indiana	Lincoln State Park	Sycamore	1 May 1976
Tell City, Indiana	Forest Service Office	2 Sweetgums	1976
Atchison, Kansas	International Forest of Friendship	Sycamore	24 July 1986
Elmer, Louisiana	Palustris Experimental Forest	Loblolly Pine	April 1976
Bethesda, Maryland	Society of American Foresters	Loblolly Pine	30 September 1975
Greenbelt, Maryland	Goddard Space Flight Center	Sycamore	9 June 1977
Holliston, Massachusetts	Holliston Police Station	Sycamore	April 1976
Mississippi St. Univ., Mississippi	Dorman Hall	Sycamore	1975
Waynesboro, Mississippi	Forestry Commission Nursery	Sycamore
DeSoto, Missouri	Walther Park	Sycamore
Monmouth County, New Jersey	Monmouth County Courthouse	Sycamore
Asheville, North Carolina	Botanical Gardens at Asheville	Sycamore	19 March 1976
Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina	Cradle of Forestry	Sycamore
Jefferson County, Ohio	Friendship Park	Sycamore	29 July 1976
University of Oregon, Eugene Oregon	Erb Memorial Union	Douglas Fir
Roseburg, Oregon	U.S. Veteran's Hospital	Douglas Fir	3 May 1976
Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon	Peavy Hall	Douglas Fir	1976
Salem, Oregon	State Capitol Building	Douglas Fir	30 April 1976
Salem, Oregon	Private Residence	2 Douglas Firs	1973
Dillsburg, Pennsylvania	Dillsburg Elementary School	Sycamore	30 April 1976
Ebensburg, Pennsylvania	Cambria County Courthouse	Sycamore	29 June 1976
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania	Highland Hall	Sycamore	5 May 1976
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania	Lockheed Martin	Sycamore	30 June 1976
Newtown/Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Core Creek Park	Sycamore	30 April 1976
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Washington Square	Sycamore	6 May 1975
Knoxville, Tennessee	University of Tennessee	Loblolly Pine	April 1976
Sewanee, Tennessee	University of the South	Sycamore	April 1976
Westlake, Texas	Private Residence	Sycamore	1978
Draper, Utah	Lone Peak Nursery	Sycamore
Hampton, Virginia	Booker Elementary School	Sycamore	30 April 1976
Loudoun County, Virginia	Private Land	Sweetgum	1978
Olympia, Washington	State Capitol Building	Douglas Fir
Brasilia, Brazil	IBAMA Institute	Sweetgum	14 January 1980
Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil	Santa Rosa	Redwood (?)	18 August 1981
Auburn University, Alabama	G.W. Andrews Forestry Sciences Lab	Loblolly Pine *, Sycamore *	22 October 1976
Huntsville, Alabama	U.S. Space and Rocket Center	5 Sycamores *, 2 Pines *	29 October 1976
Tuskegee, Alabama	VA Hospital (CAVHCS)	Loblolly Pine *	1976
Little Rock, Arkansas	Forestry Commission Headquarters	Loblolly Pine *	15 March 1976
Monticello, Arkansas	University of Arkansas at Monticello	Loblolly Pine *	1977?
New Orleans, Louisiana	New Orleans River Walk	Loblolly Pine *	June 1983
New Orleans, Louisiana	NASA Michoud Assembly Facility	Loblolly Pine (2?) *	July 1976
North Pembroke, Massachusetts	Historical Society	Sycamore? *	April 1976
Wyoming, Michigan	Wyoming Police Station	Sycamore *	23 April 1976
Albuquerque, New Mexico	Civic Plaza	Douglas Fir *
Illinois Valley, Oregon	Siskiyou Smoke Jumpers Base	Douglas Fir *
Tullahoma, Tennessee	Arnold Air Force Base	Loblolly Pine *	April 1976
Salt Lake City, Utah	State Capitol Building	Sycamore *
Washington, D.C.	White House	Loblolly Pine *	19 January 1977