A dendrology class recently discovered and documented a champion tree in a state forest in New Jersey:
https://stockton.edu/news/2022/dendrology-class-discovers-champion-tree.html
With the note that not all large trees are ancient, as one might expect, ancient trees are rather rare:
https://www.science.org/content/article/rare-and-ancient-trees-are-key-healthy-forest
As a city grows and its landscapes and habitats change from streams and forests and meadows to pavement and buildings and alleyways, what grows under the ground and on the ground changes. And those changes can be tracked by looking at old records – including books and articles and museum collections – to discover differences between then and now in the flora (the plants that grow there), the fauna (the animals that live there), the mycota (the fungi that live and grow there), and other biota (the biological organisms that are there), too.
Philadelphia, with its long history of natural history, is an uncommon place in this regard, when it comes to tracking down records of what was here before – including the mycota: https://fundis.org/resources/blog/120-rediscovering-philadelphia-s-1890-s-fungi-namp-project
The City of Philadelphia is developing a strategic plan for its trees, and a draft of the plan is available for viewing here:
https://sites.google.com/hinge-collective.com/philly-tree-plan/home
Additional information can be found here:
Rare plants and habitats can be hidden or found among landscapes in all kinds of places, and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources designates some of those places Wild Plant Sanctuaries … https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/Conservation/WildPlants/WildPlantSanctuaries/Pages/default.aspx
Landscapes and habitats and the plants among them are all firmly intertwined, and “the more time you spend looking for plants, the better you become at predicting what types of habitats are likely to support the plant species you’re seeking”, as Uli Lorimer wrote, in 2010: https://www.bbg.org/gardening/article/harriman_state_park
Every plant has a history, but some have a bit more than others do, as you can see and read, by clicking on this link: https://www.bartramsgarden.org/franklinia-series-finding-franklinia-alatamaha-part-one/
History is embedded in landscapes and waterscapes and persists through time, though generally only partially, and the marks that are left are different in different places:
Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia is an arboretum, and a virtual tour of the trees is available: https://www.woodlandsphila.org/arboretum
Urban environments are highly variable and therefore not only can have but need to have a diverse botanical palette to draw on, to build their ecological landscapes: https://www.ecolandscaping.org/08/designing-ecological-landscapes/landscape-design/urban-landscape-inspirations-from-native-plant-communities/
“Cities are constantly changing”, as Dr. Brenda Lin writes, and green spaces are always integral to the fabric and the history and the people in urban environments: https://blog.csiro.au/green-spaces-urban-environments/
Growing History 