Charles H. Bronson, Commissioner    -    James R. Karels, Director

Florida's "Moon Trees"

Moon TreeAstronaut Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, orbited the moon in the command module of Apollo 14 on January 31, 1971. Packed in small containers in Roosa's personal kit were hundreds of tree seeds.

This one was germinated, and the seedling was planted here as part of the nation's bicentennial in 1976.

PHOTO: This Loblolly Pine 'Moon Tree" was grown from a seed that traveled to the moon and back on Apollo XIV in 1971. It is located at the Florida Division of Forestry, Doyle Conner Office Complex, in Tallahassee, Florida. Photo taken in 2003.

The plaque reads:
Moon Tree
Loblolly Pine
Pinus taeda

Partial list of Apollo XIV Moon Trees planted in Florida

City Location Type of Tree Planting Date

Cape Canaveral
Gainesville
Keystone Heights
Perry
Tallahassee
Tallahassee

 Kennedy Space Center
University of Florida
Keystone Heights Library
Forest Capital Park
Cascades Park
Doyle Conner Office Complex
 Sycamore
Sycamore
Sycamore
Loblolly Pine
Sycamore
Loblolly Pine
 25 June 1976
?
1984
26 April 1978
?
1976

Want to know more about "Moon Trees"?

Visit the NASA "Moon Tree" Page

Division of Forestry Shield
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
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