The famous apple tree of Newton in the garden of the University of Cambridge, England, was toppled by Storm Eunice, but fortunately, scientists had cloned two other trees.
In 1665, after graduating, Newton went with his family to the estate in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, to avoid an outbreak of the plague.
The apples are large, red with green hues, but have no special flavor.
After observing an apple fall from a tree in the garden, Newton began to ponder the force that pulled objects straight down to the ground. This was the beginning of the law of universal gravitation, which he published in 1687.
This apple tree has a long history, having been planted around 1650, but it was cut down in a strong wind during a storm in the 1800s.
Fortunately, scientists had cloned the apple tree earlier and sent saplings to several universities and research centers across every continent except Antarctica.
There is one sapling in Los Angeles, another at the Parkes Observatory in Australia, and even a seed from the apple tree was sent to the International Space Station in 2016…
One of the seeds was sent to the famous botanic garden at the University of Cambridge. In this garden within the prestigious university, scientists planted a replica of the apple tree.
However, during the recent major Storm Eunice, the ‘Flower of Kent,’ a replica of Newton’s famous apple tree, was knocked down.
Newton’s apple tree in the University of Cambridge garden was toppled by the storm.
The “Flower of Kent” apple tree was planted in the botanic garden of the University of Cambridge in 1954. The tree bears large, red-green apples, but they have no special flavor and are mainly used for cooking.
Samuel Brockington, the curator of the botanic garden at the University of Cambridge, stated that the iconic tree had stood at the Brookside entrance for the past 63 years and this loss is a sad event. He also shared that the botanic garden has had three replicas of the original tree, which has been part of their experimental research process over the years.
A representative from the botanic garden department of the University of Cambridge noted that they had recently observed that the apple tree had been gradually dying, and strong winds had knocked it over.
The representative stated: “We have another replica; Newton’s apple tree will remain in the garden, but sadly not in its familiar location.”
Recently, scientists have decoded the genetic sequence of the tree in the “Darwin Tree of Life” project. Therefore, the DNA data of the tree is now preserved forever.
