Lightning hits one of Iowa's largest catalpa trees

State of play: A large section of the tree was damaged, and it’s unclear whether the tree is a total loss, cemetery historian Mike Rowley tells Axios.

Zoom in: Northern catalpas are distinctive for their broad, heart-shaped leaves, white flowers and long, dangling seed pods.

• The Woodland Cemetery tree was almost 79 feet tall and had an 18-foot trunk circumference.

The intrigue: It was featured in the DNR’s Iowa Outdoors Magazine last year in a story profiling Mark Rouw, a DSM resident who has searched for Iowa’s biggest trees for decades.

• “One limb is so massive that if it were its own tree, most would marvel at it,” according to the article.

What they’re saying: Rouw tells Axios he’s been “close friends with that tree for decades” and was reluctant to see the damage.

• He doesn’t expect the lightning strike to kill the catalpa immediately, but said it is likely “the beginning of the end” because the damage will make it vulnerable to decay.

• Cemetery manager Ganesh Ganpat tells Axios he believes the tree may now be Iowa's second-largest northern catalpa, based on the city's latest research and records from the state's Champion Trees program.

What we’re watching: Whether Des Moines decides the tree can remain standing or must be removed.

• As of Monday, city staff were still assessing the damage and had not yet determined the tree’s fate.