The University of Virginia’s Grounds have attracted plenty of shrub scholars and garden groupies, but few know the tall and true tale of the McGuffey Ash, named for professor William McGuffey.
The professor planted the tree in 1826. It grew to the ripe old age of 164 before it was chopped down and turned into an office table. But through some tree surgery and sorcery, it was also reincarnated and replanted in the same spot.
This second-generation, leafy, Lawn-adjacent icon is the subject of the latest edition of UVA Obscura:
