March 20, 2011
And some close-up views.
April 11, 2011
April 26, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Spring emerges in the Norway maple
I have been tracking the progress of the Norway maple by my house.
March 20, 2011
March 25, 2011
April 14, 2011
April 17, 2011
April 20, 2011
April 22, 2011
April 24, 2011
April 26, 2011
And some close-up views.
April 11, 2011
April 17, 2011
April 20, 2011
April 22, 2011
April 24, 2011
April 26, 2011
March 20, 2011
And some close-up views.
April 11, 2011
April 26, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Boxelder flower
I saw many flowering boxelders at Peebles Island, especially in the grassy area by the riverside.
Tree with yellow buds
At Peebles Island today, there was a tree with yellow buds.
The trunk looked like this:
The trunk looked like this:
A flowering tree at Peebles Island
I think these flowers are on the same tree that I wrote about on February 27 (the first of the two described in that post).
Emerging flowers on a tree at Peebles Island
Emerging flowers on a tree at Peebles Island:
The trunk of the tree looks like this:
The trunk of the tree looks like this:
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Bark on trees by the river at Peebles Island
When I was at Peebles Island yesterday, I saw a lot of trees right next to the river that had bark like this:
This is the same tree I wrote about in my September 26, 2010 post. It's the second tree observed in that post, and the one that Bob said might be hackberry.
This is the same tree I wrote about in my September 26, 2010 post. It's the second tree observed in that post, and the one that Bob said might be hackberry.
Red trees in Connecticut
When I went to Connecticut on Saturday, April 16, I saw that the trees across the street were red. Maybe they are red maples.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Catkins
I had read about catkins as an attribute used in winter identification, so when I was walking at Peebles Island on April 2, I was excited to find a tree that had them.
Today, I looked in my tree books. I learned that trees that have winter catkins are birch, hop hornbeam, and alder. I concluded that the tree in the above photos seems to resemble sweet birch (also known as black birch or cherry birch). I did some reading about birches and then went to Peebles Island again today. I observed the same tree I had photographed two weeks ago and observed more carefully the pattern of the catkins. There tend to be two catkins right on the end, a third just behind those two, and sometimes a fourth behind the third. I also read today that older sweet birch trees have scaly bark, and I noticed trees with the same type of catkins that had scaly bark. Another thing I had read was that the twigs smell and taste of wintergreen. I broke off a twig from one of the trees. I didn't notice any smell, but after a little bit of chewing, I got the wintergreen flavor.
I saw many of these sweet birches around Peebles Island, especially on the top of the cliff, above the river. There were often hemlocks nearby, closer to the river, more on the side of the cliff than the top.
Today, I looked in my tree books. I learned that trees that have winter catkins are birch, hop hornbeam, and alder. I concluded that the tree in the above photos seems to resemble sweet birch (also known as black birch or cherry birch). I did some reading about birches and then went to Peebles Island again today. I observed the same tree I had photographed two weeks ago and observed more carefully the pattern of the catkins. There tend to be two catkins right on the end, a third just behind those two, and sometimes a fourth behind the third. I also read today that older sweet birch trees have scaly bark, and I noticed trees with the same type of catkins that had scaly bark. Another thing I had read was that the twigs smell and taste of wintergreen. I broke off a twig from one of the trees. I didn't notice any smell, but after a little bit of chewing, I got the wintergreen flavor.
I saw many of these sweet birches around Peebles Island, especially on the top of the cliff, above the river. There were often hemlocks nearby, closer to the river, more on the side of the cliff than the top.
Birches
I had been thinking that birches that are white and peeling are paper birch, and birches that are white and smooth are gray birch. Around work, I often see trees with bark which is white and peeling, so I thought they were paper birches. However, I noticed that they had a reddish tint to them, which was different from the paper birches I saw growing up. So I looked in the books, and it seems they are called river birches or red birches.
Commonly found types of birches:
Maine last December:
River birches at work:
Sources:
Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Trees.
Symonds, George W. D. The Tree Identification Book.
Commonly found types of birches:
- Gray birch, white birch, oldfield birch: Saplings have dark reddish brown bark with lighter lenticels. Older trees have white or gray bark, with black patches. Tends to be smaller tree than other birches. Smaller catkins. Catkins tend to be individual rather than in clusters. Leaf is triangular.
- Paper birch, white birch, canoe birch, silver birch: Saplings have dark reddish brown bark with lighter lenticels. On older trees, usually bark is white and peeling, but some may retain the reddish, unpeeling bark typical of younger trees. Larger catkins. Leaf rounded, with pointy tip.
- Black birch, sweet birch, cherry birch: Young bark is smooth, old bark is scaly. Larger catkins. Leaf resembles elm. Twigs have wintergreen odor.
- Red birch, river birch: Young bark is peeling, reddish, yellowish, gray. Old bark is scaly, gray. Smaller catkins. Commonly cultivated. In the wild, grows in southeastern US on stream banks and river floodplains.
- Yellow birch, gray birch, silver birch, swamp birch: Younger trees have bronze bark which may or may not be peeling. Older trees have gray plated bark that may peel. Larger catkins.Leaf resembles elm.
Maine last December:
River birches at work:
Sources:
Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Trees.
Symonds, George W. D. The Tree Identification Book.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Blooming of the forsythia
The forsythia bloomed yesterday! I first saw it when I got home, but it was already dark, so I didn't take the picture until this morning.
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