Tombstone Is Home To The World’s Largest…

Tombstone is arguably Arizona's most famous town. Starting with the legend of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in 1881, the town has grown to become the Old Western town.

Nowadays, it's a major tourist attraction for those seeking the thrill of the new frontier, but it also harbors one of Earth's most jaw-dropping natural wonders.

The World's Largest Rose Tree

In 1884, just three years after the famous O.K. Corral Shootout, Henry and Mary Gee immigrated for Scotland to Tombstone. When they arrived, they stayed at the Cochise Boarding House, ran by Amelia Adamson. Mary and Amelia became close friends, and, in 1885, Mary's parents sent her clippings from her childhood garden.

As a token of their friendship, Mary gave Amelia a clipping of the White Lady Banksia Rose Bush that she had planted in her youth. Amelia and Mary planted the clipping in the Boarding House's back patio, and to their surprise, the plant flourished.

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Becoming a World Record Holder

It wasn't for another few decades, in 1933, when the tree was officially named as "The World's Largest Rose Bush" by columnist John Hix. Three years later, the former boarding house, now a hotel, was renamed to The Rose Tree Inn.

The Underside of the Tombstone Rose Tree's Canopy

The Inn has gone through several changes, being turned into a private residence in 1954, but the Rose Tree has remained open to the public regardless. It's been listed in Ripley's Believe It or Not as well as the Guinness Book of World Records, where it has never been challenged. Now, the Tree is part of the Rose Tree Museum, allowing guests to see above and below its massive canopy, especially popular when it blooms in March and April.

[Rose Tree Museum]