Historical Name: Montpelier
Common Name: Red Maple
Latin Name: Acer rubrum
The President James Madison Red Maple stands at Montpelier, the sprawling Orange County, Virginia estate of one of the nation’s founders. Madison spent much of his life at Montpelier formulating his thoughts about democracy and government. Although he served two terms as president, his greatest contributions to the United States were his writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Madison was a great orator who relied on his speech rather than a commanding presence to put forth his ideas. This tree grew from a seed taken from the President James Madison Red Maple, and was planted into UCNJ’s Historic Tree Grove in 1997.
(text adapted from American Forests)