Historical Name: Alex Haley
Common Name: Silver Maple
Latin Name: Acer saccharinum
Alex Haley’s roots reach back to his home in Henning, Tennessee. As a boy, Haley spent summer evenings on the front porch listening to his grandmother, Cynthia Palmer, tell him about ancestors Kunta Kinte and others who became characters in his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “Roots.” The Alex Haley Silver Maple stands in front of Haley’s boyhood home. The tree’s limbs spread out over the yard. Although Haley died in 1992, his legacy continues to provide inspiration to all Americans. This tree grew from a seed taken from the Alex Haley Silver Maple, and was planted into UCNJ’s Historic Tree Grove in 1997.
(text adapted from American Forests)