Vol I | 20 March 2016 | Issue I
the ARBORIST
In This Issue
The Tree of Gernika
The Monkey Puzzle Tree
Updates and Fun Things
Quick Links
Donate to the UNR Arboretum
Check out our Commemorative
Tree Program
Volunteer with Us
Contact Us
Featured Recipe
Happy first day of Spring! To kick off the first day of Spring, the UNR
Arboretum has decided to send out a newsletter to keep you informed
of all the important and interesting events happening around the
Arboretum, so read on and enjoy.
The Tree of Gernika
The gruesome event that occurred at Gernika is not something
commonly taught in the American standard curricula. Perhaps if you
took a Spanish class in grade school, you might have stumbled across
the disturbing Pablo Picasso
The Monkey Puzzle Tree
You know you are truly loved
when a second grader gives you
their “most delicious and
nutritious” breakfast smoothie
as a gift. What better way to
enjoy the first day of Spring
Read more
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It is an exciting time for the University of Nevada. Thanks to both the
ASUN’s Center for Student Engagement and UNR Grounds Services,
the UNR Arboretum was able to purchase two very unique trees to
add to the campus.
Read more
Vol I | 20 March 2016 | Issue I
The Tree of Gernika
and was home for Basque liberties.
Unfortunately, during the turbulent
times of the Spanish Civil War, in 1937
Gernika was all but destroyed by air
raids. Only a few monuments, the
arms factory, the Assembly House, and
the Tree of Gernika remained standing.
The Tree of Gernika, which is an
English oak (Quercus robur), is a living
monument of what the Basque people
endured during the Spanish Civil War.
It stands as a reminder of their
strength and liberties.
Dr. Zulaika and
Marty Sillito,
Assistant
Director of
Grounds Services,
unpack and plant
the Tree of
Gernika sapling.
When I sat down with Dr. Joseba
Zulaika, a professor in the Center for
Basque studies at UNR, he explained to
me how the Tree of Gernika was both a
cultural and political symbol. It was a
place where kings and queens used to
swear oaths as a symbolic affirmation
to protect the Biscayan liberties. Now,
Zulaika explained to me, it serves as a
reminder of the atrocities of war and
the Basque spirit to endure. José María
Iparraguirre, a Spanish musician and
The Tree of Gernika as it stood in the Basque Country
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Vol I | 20 March 2016 | Issue I
poet, wrote the song “Gernikako arbola,” a hymn to
the Tree of Gernika. The song calls the tree “blessed”
and “beloved” and tells the tree to spread its fruits in
the world.
Spreading fruits from the Tree of Gernika is exactly
what Zulaika has done. He couldn’t get into the
details with me, but he did explain that he was able
to bring a sapling from the Tree of Gernika back to
Reno. When I talked to the UNR Arboretum Board
Chair, Professor Cheryll Glotfelty, she explained to
me that the tree will be planted in the UNR
Arboretum in an unmarked location in order to
prevent vandalism or theft. When the sapling has
grown large enough, it will then be unveiled as the
Tree of Gernika.
Germinated English Oak, photo courtesy of Dr.
Joseba Zulaika
Zulaika stressed how important the Tree of Gernika
is to UNR, since Nevada has such a prominent
Basque population and education center. He
explained to me that the tree would serve as one
more symbolic “branch” to study and spread Basque
culture to Basque and non-Basque visitors. The
Arboretum is a living museum, and the Tree of
Gernika is a wonderful addition that students
should enjoy for generations to come.
If you would like to learn more about Gernika or the
Tree of Gernika, you can check out the book
Gernika, 1937: The Market Day Massacre by Xabier
Irujo, which was published by the University of
Nevada Press in August 2015.
You can also check out the
movie made about Gernika
by Alain Resnais and Robert
Hessens. The movie is split
into 2 parts, so keep
watching to see the second
part. I highly recommend
the film because of its
emotional charge.
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Certificate of Authenticity
Vol I | 20 March 2016 | Issue I
The Monkey Puzzle Tree
a donation to
expand biological diversity
It is an exciting time
for the University of
Nevada. Thanks to
both
the
ASUN’s
Center for Student
Engagement and UNR
Grounds Services, the
UNR Arboretum was
able to purchase two
very unique trees to
add to the campus.
I sat down with Professor Cheryll Glotfelty, UNR
Arboretum Board Chair, to get the whole story, and
she emphasized how important it is to get the
students involved in the tree selection process. The
final tree was selected by Caden Fabbi, President of
ASUN, and I can’t say I’m disappointed with his
choice of the Monkey Puzzle Tree.
The monkey puzzle tree is not a local tree, although
there is one living in the Reno area. The tree hales
from southern Chile and western Argentina, and it is
also the national tree of Chile. Because of this tree’s
longevity, it is considered a living fossil or a species
that looks similar to a species only identified by
fossils. Unfortunately, the monkey puzzle tree was
put on the Endangered Trees list of the United
Nations Environment Programme in 2013 because
these trees in their native forests are at risk of being
destroyed quickly because of logging, fire, and overgrazing. When planted, however, monkey puzzle
trees can produce pine-nut-like seeds for eating
(much like our own Pinyon Pines), and the tree used
to be used for timber and bridge building because of
its durability, but not since it was put on the
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Endangered Trees list. Unfortunately, what the
pictures cannot show you is how sharp these evergreen
trees are! Their needles are like daggers, covering not
only the branches but the trunk as well. These trees are
sharp enough that the Arboretum needed to find a spot
to put them that would limit human-tree contact to an
absolute minimum.
Sharp needles of the
branches
The UNR Arboretum will have two monkey puzzle
trees, which will be picked up by Glotfelty and her
husband from a wholesale yard called Garden Haven
Nursery in Soquel, CA. The trees will be planted in the
concrete planters just north of the new Pennington
Achievement Center by Marty Sillito, Assistant
Director of Grounds Services, and an ASUN
representative as an event on Arbor Day, April 29th,
which will be very exciting.
The Arboretum has 156 different species and cultivars
that represent it, which makes it a living museum for
people to walk among and enjoy every day. These
monkey puzzle trees expand that collection. Glotfelty
really stressed the educational opportunities that trees
provide, and after learning about the monkey puzzle
tree, I couldn’t agree with her more.
If you would like to see more trees like the monkey
puzzle added to the Arboretum’s ever-expanding
collection, please donate to the arboretum.
Vol I | 20 March 2016 | Issue I
Ingredients
Featured Recipe
Chocolate
Banana Smoothie
You know you are truly
loved when a second
grader gives you their most
“delicious and nutritious”
breakfast smoothie as a
gift. What better way to
enjoy the first day of spring
than with a sweet yet
healthy breakfast? I found
this smoothie to be exactly
what my second grade
friend advertised. It was
Learning in the
Rainshadow
My home
is situated in
the rainshadow of
The Sierra Nevadas;
And it is said we
move a little every year.
You must know that
I was born with
dirt and grime and soil and clay
deep in my veins;
it is the unescapable truth.
My body will always
belong to this place
situated in the shadow
of monoliths:
Pinyons and Junipers.
I will always be the child
with grime in her blood
and a mountain to her back
holding firm.
Whisper like the wind I know
Tell what I’ve learned
Hold your tongue
Throw the first punch.
-Kirsten Schuhmacher
5
both delicious and the
ingredients were simple
and healthy. I recommend
putting ground flax and
chia seed to avoid having
small seeds in what could
otherwise be a smooth,
naturally
sweetened,
healthy smoothie. I’ll be
thanking my second grade
friend for this one!
Important Dates
and
Updates
March 20 First Day of Spring
March 22 World Water Day
March 29 Tree Talk-Christoph Weber on tree
climbing and tree writing
April 6
Tree-Themed student art show
reception, 5:30-7:30 MIKC Rotunda
April 15 Tree Marker installation
April 22 Earth Day
April 26 Tree Talk-Rod Haulenbeek on
Nevada Big Trees
April 29 Arbor Day
May 7
Day at the Museum- 10:00-4:00
1 banana
8 oz. milk or almond milk
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. flaxseed
1 tbsp. chia seed
ice
honey to taste
peanut butter optional
What does a
tree do when
he likes a
girl?
He pines over
her
Arboreous
[ahr-bawr-ee-uh s, -bohr-]
adj. Living in or among trees
~Stay arboreous
Kirsten Schuhmacher
Editor