Munday on Monday: Champion tree

IN THE NEWS: A cottonwood in a Kansas City park is named the biggest tree in Missouri.

An honor truly worth the wait:

To claim the biggest tree in state.

A title born of Mother Earth,

Of canopy, of height, of girth.

How brave this tree, to beat the norm,

Defying age and pests and storm!

I wouldn’t think an elm would dare

To claim such honor, wouldn’t care;

Nor maple, birch, nor oak that stood;

But still, I bet the cottonwood.

Don Munday

This story was originally published November 23, 2014 at 8:07 PM with the headline "Munday on Monday: Champion tree."