Even after fire, I-17 tree decorated for season

Many of us this time of year probably feel a little bit like the tree that stands in the median along Interstate 17 near Sunset Point.

We’re burned out.

But unlike some of us, the juniper that has become known as the Mystery Tree is still putting on its best this Christmas.

For yet another year, the tree has turned into something of a landmark for holiday travelers as parties unknown have decorated it with ornaments, keeping up a decades-long tradition that had been imperiled — and not for the first time — by wildfire.

Firefighters managed to save the tree when a blaze spread through the area north of Black Canyon City in August.

The tree has survived fires in the past, too. A 2011 wildfire burned right up to its trunk, scorching lower boughs and some lower branches.

Arizona’s official state balladeer, Dolan Ellis, wrote and released a song chronicling the tree’s history earlier this month.

In the ode to the tree, which he has named Scrubby, Ellis celebrates this random, caring act for a piece of the landscape that could otherwise easily blend in with the rest of Arizona.

“Scrubby is a cedar tree and no one knew his name,” Ellis sings. “Till someone decorated him, and gave him pride and fame.”

The conifer appears to be a one-seed juniper, formally known as Juniperus monosperma, a member of the cypress family.

It does not so much resemble a Christmas tree as a tumbleweed, which may be fitting for Arizona.

Passersby say the effects of fire are evident but add that it is still decorated this year. It can be seen in the median near Milepost 254, just north of the Sunset Point rest area.

The Arizona Department of Transportation tweeted out a photo of the tree on Tuesday depicting it in what must have been a cheerier year. It looked resplendent, bedecked in ornaments and a star on a sunny day.

Once someone pointed out that the photo doesn’t reflect how the tree looks this year, ADOT tweeted that the photo was, in fact, old.

Some said it had fewer ornaments this year and looked a little burned.

Still, the mystery around this tradition persists. It remains unclear who, exactly, decorates the tree. Tom Foster, a retired ADOT engineer, told The Arizona Republic in 2011 that he knows some of the people behind the annual tree trimming, but he says he isn’t about to kill the magic by telling.

“It may be elves,” Foster suggested.

The tree is decked for other occasions, such as with red, white and blue for Independence Day.

But the decoration of the tree, indestructible as it is, certainly seems like a Christmas miracle this holiday season.