The San Diego Botanic Garden has planted a tree rooted in history.
That tree is a descendant of one of under 200 trees still alive in the Hiroshima area after the atomic bombing that occurred on Aug. 6, 1945 — nearly 80 years ago.
A volunteer campaign called the Green Legacy Hiroshima Initiative is working to spread the seeds of Hiroshima's atomic bomb survivor trees throughout the world.
"When we started Green Legacy Hiroshima, there were 170 A-bomb survivor trees," said Nassrine Azimi, the initiative's co-founder. "These are trees labeled as such by Hiroshima City, within a two-kilometer radius of the hypocenter. Now, there are 160."
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
On Saturday, people gathered to watch the planting of the historic tree, which happened as ceremonies took place in Hiroshima.
“This is such a historic moment with the way the world is today and the tragedy of Hiroshima — that tree actually survived," Sharon Monet, a visitor at the garden, said. "I felt very emotional during the ceremony."
More trees that are descendants of the trees that survived the atomic bombing will be planted in the near future.
Local
"We are growing these seeds that we received from Japan so that we can send out these survivor trees to places all over the United States so that others can understand the power and hope of these trees," said Ari Novy, the president of San Diego Botanic Garden.
