This tall Tulip Poplar tree is a legend in New York City. Called the Queens Giant, also known as the Alley Pond Giant, it is the oldest tree in the city area. It is estimated to be between 400 and 450 years old and was well established by the time the first English settlers came to displace the native Matinecock peoples from what is now Queens, New York, near Little Neck Bay. It is hard to find, thankfully.

Its hollow core is scorched from fires set by careless visitors. Just a few metres away up a steep bank is a highway where drivers flash by unaware of this rare window to a past age. The Tulip tree has bark that drips a wax-like sap. Fittingly, the final stitched image reminds us of a Jasper Johns encaustic painting.