Stumpy, the gnarled, old cherry tree, is gone. But its clones — little Stumplings — live on

WASHINGTON — Stumpy lives on!

The stunted and gnarled cherry tree that became an unlikely social media celebrity was cut down after the 2024 National Cherry Blossom Festival, along with more than 100 other trees, to make way for a massive repair project on the crumbling seawall protecting the Tidal Basin.

But thanks to the efforts of the National Arboretum, little Stumplings — actually clones of the tree — have taken root and could be returned to their parent's home in the next couple of years.

Earlier this year, workers collected multiple clippings and samples from Stumpy, transporting them to the Arboretum in a protective cooler.

In a tree-mendous story of survival, those clippings have been replanted and nurtured to the point where the Arboretum now has five small self-sustaining plants in its care. The process was complicated and delicate with no guarantees that it would actually work, said Piper Zettel, a horticulturist at the Arboretum.

''Rooting the cuttings of woody plants is not a guaranteed success. Timing and the condition of the cutting material are probably the most critical elements, but many variables could have influenced the results of this process,'' Zettel said.

In horticultural terms, the original Stumpy is referred to as the ''parent plant.'' However, the five young seedlings under the Arboretum's care are closer to being Stumpy's clones than its children, since they are genetically identical to the original.

The rooted cuttings are still vulnerable and will require years of patient nurturing before any of them are ready for their public debut. The National Park Service, which oversees the Tidal Basin in front of the Jefferson Memorial, is targeting spring 2026 for the completion of the seawall repair project — anticipating a larger-than-usual flood of tourists that summer for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

However there's no guarantee that Stumpy 2.0 will be ready for replanting by that deadline.

''The new trees have a long way to go, but we are doing all we can to ensure NPS receives strong, healthy and vigorous trees,'' Zettel said. ''The process takes a long time as trees grow very slowly. We need to be patient.''

Stumpy became a social media star during the pandemic. Its legacy has spawned T-shirts, a calendar and a fanbase. News that 2024 was Stumpy's final spring prompted people to leave flowers and bourbon and had one Reddit user threatening to chain themselves to the trunk to save the tree.

At the Tidal Basin, the long-overdue seawall repair project kicked off in earnest Thursday with the official launch of construction. Rather than use a golden shovel or cut a ribbon with oversized scissors, National Park Service officials chose to paint one of the 90-foot tall metal piles gold. Observers applauded as the golden metal cylinder — one of about 700 that will be used — was inserted into the ground by a giant construction crane.

''This has been a long time coming,'' said Catherine Townsend, president of the Trust for the National Mall, which uses private donations to support the publicly funded NPS projects. ''It's hard to see all these construction fences and cranes, but it has to happen.''

The $133 million project to repair the seawall has been desperately needed for years. In addition to standard deterioration, the actual water level has risen by about 13 inches since the seawall was originally constructed in the 1940s. As a result, the Tidal Basin waters have been overflowing the wall twice a day at high tide, blocking pedestrian pathways and soaking the cherry blossom tree roots with destructive brackish sea water.

''It was a sad moment for us to have to cut down so many cherry blossom trees,'' said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. ''Stumpy is a real symbol of resilience, simply for having survived in those conditions.''

While the Park Service is aiming to have everything completed by spring 2026, the construction work will inevitably impact the 2025 cherry blossom season next spring.

''We just ask that people be patient, because on the other side of this is going to be improved facilities and an improved visitor experience,'' Sams said.