The White House with the National Christmas Tree

The White House with the National Christmas Tree
Originally uploaded by DCVoyager

As public Christmas trees go, the "national" tree on Washington's Ellipse is small, at 43 feet in height. It differs from nearly all of the others, however, in that it is a live tree, planted some years ago to grow into its role. It stands not quite alone at the northern end of the Ellipse, with a forest of small trees spreading out from its base. Each small tree represents a state, US commonwealth or similar entity, including one for the District of Columbia.

Each year, the trees are decorated in the same manner for the Christmas season. In each January, they are stripped for the remainder of the year, looking a bit out of place in the expanse of the Ellipse.

Washington institutions, both public and private, are cavalier about using the term "national," even when they are purely local. This collection of trees, however, is "national" in the sense that it sits on federal government land and is managed by a federal agency, the National Park Service.

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Please Congratulate DCVoyager / Bill for being chosen as our Blogged Featured Photographer in CHRISTMAS 2007!