The Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove at MOSI

offers a unique timeline of America's history as it was viewed by silent witnesses, trees. Our 17 trees in the grove are all seedlings of trees that witnessed amazing historic events or were associated with famous historical people. Imagine the sycamore that grew from seeds that went to the moon, a pine that watched a battle of the American Civil War, or the sweet gum that saw the flight of the first airplane. What wonders those trees witnessed and those same trees still live long after the events of history have passed. We can still lay our hands on their bark, sit beneath their boughs and take a few minutes out to learn and converse about great deeds and fantastic people which shaped our world.

List of Trees

1. Ft. Matanzas Red Cedar

2. Clara Barton Red Bud

3. Mount Vernon Holly

4. Andersonville Magnolia

5. Olustee Longleaf Pine

6. Chickasaw Plum

7. Dr John Gorrie Red Cedar

8. George Washington Carver Persimmon

9. Henry Ford Sycamore

10. Juliette Gordon Low Magnolia

11. Wright Brothers Sweet Gum

12. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Live Oak

13. Martin Luther King Jr. Sycamore

14. Moon Sycamore

15. Frank Lloyd Wright Ginko

16. Ray Charles Live Oak

17. Dick Bowers Sand Live Oak

A Time of Transition

MOSI is actively seeking funding to expand the educational, historical and artistic value of this free-to-the-public park. Plans exist to add signs, seating, artistic elements, ethnobotanical gardens and even wind instruments that will help to tell the stories of our trees. You can learn more about these planned improvements below.

Signs

Signs will contain information about each tree as well as images of the leaf, flower and fruit of each tree paired with an artist created image of the person or place to which our trees are connected. Local Tampa Bay artist Holly Bird has agreed to donate nearly the entire cost of the art creation for these signs.

Mural Painted Benches

MOSI is currently seeking funds to purchase cedar benches that will be mural painted by local artists for each of our Historic Trees. Once funds are obtained, MOSI will publish a call for artist plans, specifically seeking submissions from local Tampa Bay artisans to create a mural on this bench. Submitted plans will be reviewed and a favorite three to five plans will be chosen by a MOSI review team. Once these favorites are selected, MOSI will publish the favorite plans and invite the public and our MOSI guests to vote for a winning design for this bench mural. Once the winning design is chosen, the artist will be contacted and provided with a small stipend to help them realize their design. The final design sketch, a biography of the chosen artist and a photo of the completed bench will appear on this page.

Wind Instruments

MOSI is currently seeking funds to create artistic and hand made wind instruments for each of our Historic Trees so that each tree will have a unique voice and the grove will be filled with music. Once funds are obtained, MOSI will publish a call for artist plans, specifically seeking submissions from local Tampa Bay artisans. Submitted plans will be reviewed and a favorite three to five plans will be chosen by a MOSI review team. Once these favorites are selected, MOSI will publish the favorite plans and invite the public and our MOSI guests to vote for a winning design. Once the winning design is chosen, the artist will be contacted and provided with a small stipend to help them realize their design. The final design sketch, a biography of the chosen artist and a photo of the completed design will appear on this page.

Ethnobotanical Gardens

This project represents an opportunity to create a unique historical experience for tourists and residents alike here in Tampa Bay, bringing Florida’s history alive through plants.

What is Ethnobotany? Ethnobotany is the study of plants and their relationship to people and culture. Long before humans began to understand the engineering principles required to raise buildings, they were developing complex relationships with the plants around them. Those plants could provide food, medicine, and shelter. They could be used in ceremonies, for decoration, and even for communication. The history of a people is incomplete without an understanding of how they related to the plants in their environment.

The term was coined in 1895 by John William Harshberger, but the study of people and their plants has been around much longer. Explorers to every new part of the world documented the plants they found there and how native people used them. Catalogs of medicinal plants have existed for thousands of years. In the 1800s, the Victorian “Language of Flowers” allowed people to send detailed messages using bouquets, drawing on meanings that had been culturally established over many years. Ethnobotany is an integral part of historical study.

Why a Florida Ethnobotanical Garden? Ethnobotanical Gardens can help us make connections to people and their history in a very immediate and personal way. In our case, the historical trees create themes for examining Florida’s history and the plants that played a role in it. Plants were used by Floridians for food, medicine, and even industry, but they also could evoke feelings and emotions, and in some cases became inextricably linked with people and events. This collection of gardens would be an expansive look at the ethnobotany of Florida’s culture from prehistory to the days of space exploration - a unique way of experiencing history.