Season Compare: Hertford Tree Memorial

I’ve been keeping an eye on the Tree Memorial in Hertford, North Carolina, hoping to catch all the cherry blooms. I was there most recently on Easter Sunday. Redbuds and some of the dogwoods were out, but the cherries had yet to show their full glory. Nonetheless, I still snagged a few shots to make a season compare.

Hertford Tree Memorial – December 7, 2008

Hertford Tree Memorial – April 12, 2009

More pictures of the Hertford Tree Memorial in December and in April can be found on my Flickr site.

Arbor Day: Wyoming

Cottonwood Canoe (Photo courtesy of wanna be davinci)

Happy Arbor Day, Wyoming! Wyoming celebrates its Arbor Day the last Monday of April, so Happy Arbor Day Wyoming! Like Kansas and Nebraska, Wyoming selected the Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) as its state tree. The North Dakota Forest Service believes “Cottonwoods contributed more to the success [of the Lewis and Clark] Expedition than any other tree!” Indeed, cottonwood played many roles. The bark and twigs were used to feed horses. The inner bark was a sweetener and had medicinal value for humans. The wood was used to smoke and weather proof clothing. Finally, cottonwood trees were dug out to make canoes. Since 80% of their journey was on water, the canoes provided by cottonwood (and later Ponderosa Pines) proved to be valuable assets.

To find out when your state celebrates Arbor Day, check out Arbor Day Dates Across America at ArborDay.org.

Arbor Day: Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota…. [Taking Deep Breath]…. Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin….. and U.S.A.

Happy Arbor Day! Today is the national Arbor Day for the U.S. In addition, numerous states have adopted the last Friday of April as their Arbor Day as well. That means there are a lot of trees to cover.

The Oaks

In 2006, Congress made it official. The United States of America had a national tree. The Oak.

The Angel Oak (Photo by zeynep’arkok)

Our nation’s affection for oaks could been seen well before Congress designated a national tree. Keffer Oak, Wye Oak, Emancipation Oak, Angel Oak. Just like a trusted dog, a loving cat or favorite automobile, we name our oaks.

The District of Columbia and a number of states selected an oak species as their state tree, four of which celebrate Arbor Day today.

District of Columbia Scarlet Oak (Photo by pellaea)

Connecticut White Oak (Photo by Tie Guy II)

Iowa Oak (Photo by lyle58)

New Jersey Northern Red Oak (Photo by Maggie and Her Camera)

Illinois White Oak (Photo by Tie Guy II)

The Pines

Five states celebrating their Arbor Days today selected a pine species as their state tree.

Idaho Western White Pine (Photo by axelkr)

Michigan Eastern White Pine (Photo by prefers salt marsh)

Minnesota Red Pine (Photo by esagor)

Montana Ponderosa Pine (Photo by keepitsurreal)

Nevada Bristlecone Pine and Singleleaf Pinon (Photo by jb18t)

The Spruces

Two states celebrating their Arbor Day today selected a spruce as their state tree.

South Dakota Black Hills Spruce (Photo by ragesoss)

Utah Blue Spruce (Photo by chefranden)

The Maples

Three states celebrating Arbor Day today selected a maple as their state tree.

New York Sugar Maple (Photo by RunnerJenny)

Rhode Island Red Maple (Photo by p-h-o-t-o-l-i-f-e)

Wisconsin Sugar Maple (Photo by poppy2323)

The Cottonwoods

Two states celebrating today share Cottonwood as their state tree.

Kansas Cottonwood (Photo by caddymob)

Nebraska Cottonwood (Photo by georgeogoodman)

The Threatened

Two states celebrating Arbor Day today find their state tree under attack. Massachusett’s American Elm battles the Dutch Elm Disease. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Eastern Hemlock battles struggles against the woolly adelgid.

Massachussetts American Elm (Photo by Mike Rollinger)

Pennsylvania Eastern Hemlock (Photo by Cornell Fungi)

The Rest

Even with all those other categories, we still have six states left celebrating their Arbor Day today!

Indiana Tuliptree (Photo by DarkGuru)

Delaware American Holly (Photo by Noël Zia Lee)

New Hampshire Paper Birch (Photo by backpackphotography)

Ohio Ohio Buckeye (Photo by JimmyMac210)

Virginia Dogwood

Texas Pecan (Photo by Old Shoe Woman)

To find out when your state celebrates Arbor Day, check out Arbor Day Dates Across America at ArborDay.org.

Phytoremediating Doritos Bags and Soda Cans

In addition to recycling baldcypress trees, nature can also clean up contaminants, preventing them from seeping into the water table. The process is called “phytoremediation“. Here in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, the U.S. Coast Guard base is using willow and poplar trees to clean up an old fuel farm site.

Phytoremediation at Work in Elizabeth City, North Carolina
(Photo by Ryan Somma)

On an evening walk at Camden Causeway Park a few weeks ago, I saw another example of Elizabeth City trees participating in a cleanup effort. From what I can tell in my five months here, the Camden Causeway Park tends to be especially prone to litter. Just as trees absorb metal blazes, fences and even gravestones, the trees at Camden Causeway Park aren’t deterred by the garbage they encounter on the swamp floor. As the trees grow, they simply trap the debris in their network of roots.

It is the fallen individuals that expose the trees as trash collectors (not to mention how extensive the litter is). With their roots exposed, you can see all the items they picked up through the years. Beer cans, soda bottles, honey bun wrappers, potato chip bags, you name it.

More Garbage than a Backpacking Trip!

Through phytoremediation, trees can clean up some pretty dangerous metals and chemicals.

Apparently, they can tackle American junk food packages as well. : )

Recycling Baldcypress Trees

Happy Earth Day!  Today, events will be held around the world to raise awareness about the environment.  There will be discussions about sustainability and recycling will be a hot topic.  A number of communities are holding recycling events.  Abbottford, British Columbia is doing an open house at their recycling facilities and Stuyvesant, Pennsylvania is even conducting something called a “recycling race”.

Nature has been a predecessor and on more than one occassion, the inspiration, of human processes and products.  Velcro was inspired when George de Mestral and his dog kept picking up burrs in the Alps.  Mimicking the bumps on humpback whale fins may prove to increase the efficiency of wind turbines.  And when it comes to recycling, once again nature serves as an excellent role model.

Here in Elizabeth City, North Carolina I get to see nature recycle with almost every outdoor adventure.  In particular, I witness reuse of the beautiful baldcypress trees.  Baldcypress trees can grow in water.  When the tree dies, other species find the remains to be attractive real estate in the swamps and rivers.  I definitely expected to see moss, but I do have to say I was surprised by how commonly shrubs and trees take root in old stumps.  The recycling effort isn’t offlimits to the animal kingdom.  Barnacles and Canadian Geese are involved as well.

In celebration of Earth Day and the power of recycling, here are photos of nature reusing baldcypress trees.

Moss Takes Over Fallen Tree, Lassiter Swamp

Small Plants Find a Home, Camden Causeway Park

Shrubs on a Safe Platform, Merchant Millpond

Pine Tree Thrives, Merchant Millpond

Tree Inside a Tree, Newbold-White House

Baby Tree, Perquimans River

Barnacles, Pasquotank River

Canadian Goose Nest, Merchant’s Millpond

Arbor Day: Colorado

The National Christmas Tree (Photo by M.V. Jantzen)

Happy Arbor Day, Colorado! Colorado celebrates its Arbor Day the third Friday of April, so Happy Arbor Day Colorado! Colorado selected their state tree in 1939. They picked the Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens), a tree first discovered on famous Pike’s Peak.

Although there are a number of species that are popular as Christmas trees, it’s a Colorado Blue Spruce that has the honor of being our National Christmas Tree. It was planted in 1978 at The Ellipse, a garden behind the White House. The tree was 15 years old and 30 feet tall when it first arrived in Washington. Presidents have come and gone and the tree has been a first hand witness to changes in lighting technology. In 2007, after 29 years of service, this Colorado Blue Spruce found itself decorated with LED lights for the very first time.

To find out when your state celebrates Arbor Day, check out Arbor Day Dates Across America at ArborDay.org.

[Hemi-]Parasite at Work

On Valentine’s Day, I pointed out that a romantic symbol, mistletoe, was actually a parasite.  Although mistletoe does make some of its own energy through photosynthesis, its roots also bore deep into the bark of the host tree and snags nutrients away.  It’s been called the “Vampire Plant” and the etymology of scientific name is particularly fitting.  The genus, Phoradendron, derives from Greek and means “Thief of Trees”.

I knew about mistletoe’s deviant habits back on Valentine’s Day, but at the time I hadn’t seen the theft first hand.  All the mistletoe I had run into had the anonymity of height on its side.  It was perched so high up in the tree branches, I couldn’t see what it is up to. That changed in March.  Ryan Somma and I took the dogs hiking on the Lassiter Trail at Merchant’s Millpond State Park.  Near the end of our journey, we passed by a patch of mistletoe that didn’t have the altitude aspirations of its kin.  This one was close enough to see.

Me Shooting Mistletoe (Photograph by Ryan Somma)

And all the details were on display. The smoking gun. You could see how the plant dug down into the tree and cracked and damaged the bark.

Emerging from Bark

Details

It wasn’t long after my first post, I got to see mistletoe in action.

A parasite at work.

Silo Tree Additions – April 13, 2009

Another tree has been added to Silo Trees of the U.S. listing. This one does not add a new state, but it is still a milestone! This is the first photographer that I did not directly solicit on Flickr! Special thanks to Phil Houtz from Wild Rye for referring this tree my way. And what a great find by Homer-Dog from Homer’s Travels!

This tree was discovered by Homer-Dog at Homer’s Travels. It’s across the road from a B-24 Memorial, south of Walnut, Iowa. Photograph courtesy of Homer-Dog. Hat Tip, Wild Rye.

More photos can be found in the Trees in Silos Flickr group. If you spot a silo tree you’d like to share, let me know… or be like Phil from Wild Rye and let the photographer know about me!  Either way works!

Arbor Day: West Virginia

Final Four 2009 (Photo courtesy of Clifford Salyer II)

Happy Arbor Day, West Virginia! West Virginia, home to at least one silo tree, celebrates its Arbor Day the second Friday of April, so Happy Arbor Day West Virginia! After a vote done by civic organizations and public school students, West Virginia selected the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) as its State Tree in 1949.

Sugar Maple is a source of delicious maple syrup, but today I’m going to highlight another use of the tree– sports flooring. Sugar Maple’s traction and flexibility has made it the sports floor of choice for over a century. Nalini Nadkarni explains in her book Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees:

It is close grained, hard fibered, and free from slivering and splintering, characteristics that help reduce the incidence of injuries.

Nadkarni goes on to share a study on handball players which indicates that athletes have a much lower risk of injury playing on wooden floors as opposed to artificial flooring. It should be no surprise then that the species has remained as popular as it is. In 1997, the U.S. alone installed nearly 23 million square feet of maple sports flooring.

Twelve years later in 2009, the wood is still coveted. In fact, a very high profile maple floor was installed in Detroit, Michigan a little more than two weeks ago. Made by Horner Flooring, the floor for this year’s Final Four…Sugar Maple.

Final Four Floor 2009 (Photo courtesy of Ty Hardaway)

To find out when your state celebrates Arbor Day, check out Arbor Day Dates Across America at ArborDay.org.

Arbor Day: Washington

Western Hemlocks (Photo by DC SL)

Happy Arbor Day, Washington! I am a mere eleven months older than my sister, Carolyn. And as children I was a bit… bossy. I would delegate out the roles during playtime, making sure the choice parts were delegated to yours truly. I’ll be Yogi Bear, you be Boo Boo. I’ll be Cinderella, you be Prince Charming. My authority even extended to the tricky topic of love. One evening after watching an episode of Dukes of Hazzard, I declared my undying love for beautiful and lovely Bo Duke. To my dismay, my sister agreed. She also fancied Bo Duke.

“You CAN’T like him!” I snapped, “He has blond hair and I have blond hair. You have to like Luke Duke.”*

And before I knew it, my sister had a devoted crush on goofy and gross Luke Duke. How crazy is that? I mean, the man obviously had cooties.

Both poised at the top of our nation’s west coast, Oregon and Washington are kinda like siblings. Oregon, as a state, has about 30 years on the younger Washington and apparently has the same amount of influence as I did as a child. In 1946, an Oregon newspaper made fun of Washington for not having a state tree. The Portland Oregonian suggested one:

The Western Hemlock.

Oh there were other trees in the running, like the Western Red Cedar, but in 1947 when Washington made its State Tree official, they picked:

The Western Hemlock.

Luckily for Washington, the Western Hemlock is a great tree. It is the largest member of the hemlock family. Its cambium and needles are edible and it is an important timber product.

Much more palatable than that awful Luke Duke.

To find out when your state celebrates Arbor Day, check out Arbor Day Dates Across America at ArborDay.org.

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*Thanks to the Hair Color Flip Flop, I do believe my sister is now free to admire Bo Duke.