After nearly 100 years of providing shade for generations of swimmers, Flo — the pecan tree that leans over Barton Springs Pool — will be removed from its perch this week.
In August, the tree was diagnosed with brittle cinder fungus, a disease known to cause wood decay and total tree failure. Despite the Parks and Recreation Department’s efforts to prolong Flo’s life, the tree will be removed on Thursday, Oct. 5 as a safety precaution.
Community members will say goodbye to Flo with a celebration of life today at 6:30 p.m., featuring a water blessing and eulogy speakers. Before Flo goes, we want to tell you a bit about the tree’s legacy.
Earliest photos of Flo show that the tree has been leaning over Barton Springs Pool for almost 100 years.
Photo via the Dewey Mears Collection
The earliest known photos of Flo date back to ~1925, and the tree began leaning over the pool since at least 1928. Flo survived a flood — which washed away a small wooden bath house — in 1935 and soon gained a retaining wall with updated stairs in 1946.
Flo was almost completely hollowed and filled on two different occasions.
Photo via Austin Parks and Recreation Department
Sometime between 1948 and 1958, Flo’s first supports were installed and the hollow cavity in its trunk was filled with bricks as a seal. In the mid-1970s, Flo was refilled with a combination of sand cement and pumice.
In anticipation of Flo’s eventual failure, a new tree was planted just uphill sometime in the 1970s or 1980s. Originally, the parks department planned to train the tree to lean, just like Flo. Decades later, Flo’s replacement tree is fully grown and healthy.
Once Flo is gone, the city plans to use the intact wood to memorialize the tree through creative reuse. In the meantime, the city is collecting memories and photos of Flo, which you can view here .