Chionanthus virginicus fringe tree

The native fringe tree has leaves and flower panicles up to twice the size of those of the Chinese tree. Campus’s sole specimen is a sapling planted in 2023 in the Thomas Church Garden, the courtyard just north of Building 320. This was the species in Church’s original 1967 plan, though its more popular Asian cousin, C. retusus, has been used for the past few decades instead. A location on Quarry Road near Hoover Pavilion was landscaped away.

Also see:

• 28 Feb 2000. Cardinal Chronicle: Thomas Church. Stanford Report. “In late spring, Chinese fringe trees blossom into a spectacular show of white flowers in Geology Courtyard behind Building 320.”
• Jan/Feb 2003. He Changed the Landscape. Raymond Hardie, Stanford Magazine. “The campus was overrun with automobiles and ‘backyard junk.’ Then Thomas Church came along and dreamed up a peripatetic’s paradise.”