Bottlebrush Buckeye - Aesculus parviflora

Hippocastanaceae - Buckeye Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 49
Bottlebrush Buckeye
Aesculus parviflora


Spring

Bottlebrush Buckeye in the Spring

Summer

BottleBrush Buckeye in the summer.

Fall

Bottlebrush Buckeye.  Incredibly beautiful lemon Yellow and green in the fall.

 Yet,  just you wait till summer and this tree has bottle brushes all over it.

Winter

Bottlebrush Buckeye in the Winter

The Bottlebrush Buckeye - Aesculus parviflora

North Carolina Aroboretum in Asheville, NC.

ncarboretum.org

For the love of the trees,

Becky

Yellow Buckeye -Aesculus flava

Hippocastanaceae - Buckeye Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 48
Yellow Buckeye
Aesculus flava

Spring

This tree has bark that shines when the sun's light touches it.

Summer

The Yellow Buckeye has compound leaves with 5 leaflets joined at the center. This tree has toothed leaflets and the leaves and twigs grow opposite on the twig.

The Yellow Buckeye tree is in full flower at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville

Yellow Buckeye

Fall

The Yellow Buckeye Tree at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.
http://ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

Yellow Buckeye's nut-like seed

This Yellow Buckeye lives at  Clingman's dome in the Smoky Mountain National Park. 
You can see how the changes of the seasons are evident in the leaves.

Yellow Buckeye, Aesculus flava

There are quite a few Yellow Buckeyes  up at Purchase Knob in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  These are the buckeyes that are soon to fall off the tree that live at Purchase Knob.

Yellow Buckeye in the Fall on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Winter

I will be out photographing and drawing the winter time Yellow buckeye tree soon.  


For the love of the trees,
Becky

from my journal...

Sweetgum - Liquidambar styraciflua

Hamamelidaceae - Witch-Hazel Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 47
Sweetgum
Liquidambar styraciflua


Spring

Sweetgum bud, opened, showing both new leaves and flowers a photo by Martin LaBar on Flickr.

Leaves: The leaves are light green in the spring, alternate and simple. They have a distinct star shape with five points and deep V-shaped sinuses. The edges are finely toothed.
Twigs and Buds: The twigs and buds have a distinct pleasant odor when scraped with your fingernail or broken.


Summer

The name, Liquidambar, says it all. The resin of the Sweetgum tree is indeed a "liquid ambar".
The aromatic resin can be harvested from the tree trunk and used as incense, perfume, jewelry, soap, medicine, and adhesive.

The Sweetgum Tree in July.  Photo by Robert Priddy

The leaves have become a darker green since the spring. Some of the leaves have little tears and holes since they have been on the tree since spring. There is an incredible difference on the summer tree - the little green balls with the spikes. So beautiful!

The Sweetgum balls hold seeds, and the balls protect the seeds by the prickly spikes. These seeds hold the life of a new tree and they are also nourishment for birds and small mammals such as chipmunks and squirrels. There can be up to 50 seeds per ball. My daughter called it, "A holder of seeds" in a beautiful art piece she gave to a few years ago.

Sweetgum trees are the home for the caterpillar of the beautiful and romantic Luna Moth. The luna moth will live only a brief moment in time, coming out of it's cocoon by the light of the summer moon, finding its mate and flying together for a night and day before laying its eggs to begin life anew the following year....now, that is truly the essence of living in the moment.

I will be looking for the Luna moth this summer emerging from the Sweetgum Tree that lives by my house.

A Sweetgum leaf  in July

Fall

The Sweetgum Tree in October

The Sweetgum Tree in October light.

The Sweetgum tree is beginning to change color.

Winter



Height of a fully grown tree: Usually 80-100 feet in height and 2-4 feet in diameter.
Bark: Gray, furrowed with ridges.
Twigs: Frequently have corky ridges.
Fruit: Spiky balls will be hanging from the tree into the winter months. The trees are usually at least 30 years old before forming the spiky balls. The fruits are spherical up to 1.5 inches and have sharp points.
Buds: Large terminal buds are present.

Many wildlife eat the Sweetgum balls for nourishment in the winter. Birds and squirrels and chipmunks live around Sweetgum trees to reap the benefits of the nourishing value of the Sweetgum balls.

The gum produced in the bark has been used as chewing gum and also medicinally for sore throats, coughs, and colds. The essential oil of the leaf contains similar properties to Australian Tee Tree oil.

This Sweetgum ball has landed on a burning bush where it is resting on this cold January day. 

Champion Sweetgum Tree

The Champion Sweetgum tree lives in Burlington, New Jersey. It is
115 feet tall and has a circumference of 230 inches. See www.americanforests.org for more information on this national champion Sweetgum tree.
www.americanforests.org


For the love of the trees,
Becky

Liquidambar styraciflua

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment, wisely and earnestly."
Budda

Witch-Hazel - Hamamelis virginiana

Hamamelidaceae - Witch-Hazel Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 46
Witch-Hazel
Hamamelis virginiana


Spring

Witch-Hazel tree in the spring

The Witch-Hazel tree is identified in the spring by the leaves. These leaves are wavy toothed with uneven bases. The leaves are a dull dark green above and paler beneath. The leaves are 3-5 inches long and 2-3 inches wide. This tree is a small tree, 20-30 feet high and a diameter of 4-8 inches. The twigs are slender and zig zag.

The twigs of the Witch-Hazel tree have been used as divining rods since the 1400's. These divining rods were used to locate water, metals, gemstones and grave sites.

The Witch Hazel Tree

Summer

The Witch-Hazel leaf in the summer.
  The uneven base and wavy edges are two ways to identify this leaf.

The Witch-Hazel Tree

The Witch-Hazel Tree

This photo was taken near Mount Pisgah on the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday. What an interesting tree this is. This time of year some Witch-Hazel leaves have little hats on them. They actually look like little Halloween witch hats.

Fall

The Witch-Hazel Tree

The Witch-Hazel Tree

This tree has seed pods that naturally explode and fling their seeds 20 feet away. Lots of tricksters have been known to scare people with exploding witch hazel seed pods.

The Witch-Hazel has interesting yellow flowers that are quite stringy which appear from October to January, quite different from other trees. A good id tip for the month of Feb. is that the brown bark is often spotted. The leaves which are wavy and approximately 5 inches long, turn yellow in the fall. They will more than likely remain attached to the tree during the entire winter.

The leaves, twigs, and bark can be made into an extract that used as a topical astringent and to treat bruising on the skin. Many products are made today from the witch hazel tree for the skin and various ailments.

Winter

The Witch-Hazel Tre

This Witch-Hazel lives at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville.  http://www.ncarboretum.org/

This is the season the Witch-Hazel is filled with yellow flowers.  I find it so amazing that the flowers are blooming in the winter when the rest of the forest is just starting to bud.

The Witch-Hazel tree provides much needed food for migrating birds and insects in the late fall and winter since this tree flowers very late in the year. 

The Witch-Hazel Tree - Hamamelis virginiana

For the love of the trees,
Becky

From my journal...

Black Oak - Quercus velutina

Fagaceae - Beech Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 45
Black Oak
Quercus velutina


Spring

Black Oak - Quercus velutina

The last season's Oak leaves stay on the tree long into spring. Some of them hang on until the new leaves pop out on the limbs. The leaves are deeply lobed with pointed ends with sharp bristles. The buds are long, angled and hairy. The leaf scars are half round.

Did you know that 350 plus species are supported by the oak tree? Thousands of acorns are growing on the oaks where I live. Thousands - the wildlife can eat for a winter from these acorns. Another example is that 350 species of insects live in the oak trees ....these insects support the birds that live in the oak trees.

The Black Oak that lives in front of my window has beautiful opening buds today. 

 Colors of red and green and yellow.

 

The Oak Tree is the Official National Tree of America. You can view the press release on the Arbor Day Foundation Website: www.arborday.org

Summer

The Black Oak Tree - Quercus velutina

The leaves are full and glowing with life, and the acorns are young and growing. Shade is a blessed event under a mature summer Black Oak tree.

Treat the earth well.

It was not given to you by your parents,

it was loaned to you by your children.

We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,

we borrow it from our Children.

~ Ancient Indian Proverb ~

A Black Oak Gall which is probably the home to the Cynipid Wasp Larva.

Fall

The Black Oak Tree in October

This Black Oak lives at 6000 feet above sea level on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.  My husband, Robert, and I were up there last week watching the beautiful sunrise.  After the sun came up, I noticed this Black Oak tree had a congregation of beautiful bugs with amazing red markings.  These bugs are the Oak treehopper nymphs.  Most unusual and very beautiful!

Winter

The Black Oak Tree has a color of bark appropriate for it's name, Black. This tree grows up to an average of 80 feet high with a diameter of 2-4 feet.
The acorn of the Black Oak has a cap that covers about half of the acorn.
The end buds of this tree are densely hairy and sharply angled. This is a distinguishing feature between this tree and the Red Oak tree, for the Red Oak Tree has a hairless end bud that is not angled.


Champion Trees

The Champion Black Oak Tree can be found in Hartford, Connecticut. It is 80 feet high and has a circumference of 347 inches. It won the title in 1989.
https://www.americanforests.org/big-trees/black-oak-quercus-velutina-2/

For the Love of the Trees,
Becky

Post Oak - Quercus stellata

Fagaceae - Beech Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 44
Post Oak
Quercus stellata


Spring

Post Oak a photo by Mary Tricia on Flickr.

Summer

Post Oak - Quercus stellata

Post Oak Tree

The Post Oak tree is a medium sized tree that usually grows up to 40 feet with a diameter of 1-2 feet.
The leaves can be 2-6 inches long. They have distinctive cross-shaped lobes. The leaf is rough textured and the underside is hairy.

Fall

The Post Oak Tree at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.

The Post Oak Tree at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.

The Post Oak in the early fall.  This Post Oak lives in  Arkansas.

Winter

Post Oak
Winter Pine cone collecting

For the love of the trees,
Becky

from my journal