Rochester Tree Project 
An old tree
This American basswood tree in a public park in Oronoco, just north of Rochester, may be about 175 years old 1. At this age, the tree had started growing before the civil war began, and before either of the Mayo brothers were born.
In addition, the tree has 3 growth formations that each have a startling resemblance to… the head of a moose.
Because of this, the tree has been given the nickname “The Moose Tree”.
The sign at the entrance to the city park includes a picture of a moose.
Growth formations
The tree’s moose head formations are the result of a tree’s defense mechanism called adaptive growth. When the tree has a weak area, and it will stimulate the growth of more wood in that area to strengthen and stabilize it. In the case of this tree, it is the areas of adaptive growth that have taken on the unusual shapes.1
One of the three growth formations resembling a moose head.
The basswood tree in an urban setting
The basswood tree is a popular urban landscape tree because its wide crown and dense foliage make it an excellent shade tree.2
Footnotes
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Finding Minnesota: Oronoco’s Moose Tree, CBS News, Oct. 03, 2011. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/finding-minnesota-oronocos-moose-tree/ (accessed Dec. 30, 2025). ↩ ↩2
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American Basswood - Tilia Americana, University of Minnesota Extension – Trees. https://trees.umn.edu/american-basswood-tilia-americana. (accessed Jan. 5, 2026).
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