American Chestnut - Castanea dentata

Fagaceae - Beech Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 34
American chestnut
Castanea dentata

Spring

American chestnut on the Blue Ridge Parkway in May

The American chestnut tree once numbered an estimated 3 billion trees. The chestnut blight and mass cuttings of these trees  in the early 20th century left us with only a few large American chestnut trees in the world today. The trees now only grow up to 20 feet or so and die. There is research and programs that exist that are working to restore the American chestnut.  http://www.acf.org/

Summer

Photos and images to be added as I create them.  So, hopefully, coming in the Summer of 2018.  Anyone want to donate an image to the blog?  Just let me know.


Fall

The American chestnut.  Photograph by Mac Post.

The American chestnut.  Photograph by Mac Post.

Mac took these photos while on a hike at Tremont in the Great Smokey Mtn. National Park.

The American chestnut does not live to be a tall and mighty tree as it once did on earth. There are a few surviving large American chestnut trees today in various parts of the United States. The American chestnut Foundation is working to see that we do not lose this incredible tree. Today they grow to become only very small trees, and then stop growing; this is due to the chestnut plight. You can read more about the American Chestnut Foundation at http://www.acf.org/. If you think you have found an American chestnut tree, they will help you identify the tree.

Winter

Young American chestnut fall leaf - Photo by Robert Priddy
www.robertpriddyphoto.com

This American chestnut is a very young tree planted last year at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville.  http://www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/

Young American chestnut twig- photo by Robert Priddy
www.robertpriddyphoto.com

The American chestnuts trees were known for their nuts that are encased in a spiny husk. If one finds an American chestnut in the Smoky Mtn. National Park that has a diameter of greater than ten inches, the park asks you to report it to a ranger or visitor center. There is much research under way to try to find a way to protect the American chestnuts from the fungus that killed so many.

For the love of the trees,
Becky

American chestnut's prickly burr

Black Locust - Robina pseudoacacia

Fabaceae - Bean Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 33
Black Locust
Robina pseudoacacia


Spring

The new spring leaves on the Black Locust Tree

Black Locust Flowers

Summer

Black Locust thorns. 

Black Locust in the summer

Fall 

Black locust bean pods in the fall.
drawing by BPConrad
from a "Naturalist Journey for Paul, Monica, Oskar, and Alex"
by RPPriddy 

Winter

The Black Locust Tree
This Black Locust Tree lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.  www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

For the love of the trees,
Becky

Kentucky Coffeetree - Gymnocladus dioicus

Fabaceae - Bean Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 32
Kentucky Coffeetree
Gymnocladus dioicus


Spring

 Kentucky Coffeetree - Gymnocladus dioicus

 Kentucky Coffeetree - Gymnocladus dioicus

The Kentucky Coffeetree leaves are described as being alternate, bi-pinnately compound.  The leaflets are ovate shaped and two inches long. wedge-shaped or sort-of rounded at base, with wavy margin and a pointed tip.

I found some pods on the ground under this tree with some beans still inside.  Did you know that the early settlers of our country used these beans to make coffee?  They actually do smell a bit like coffee.

Kentucky Coffeetree  Pod

Summer

One of the three champion Kentucky Coffeetrees as found on the National Register of Big Trees at www.americanforests.org, is located in Montgomery, MD.  It is 186 inches in circumference and has a height of 106 feet.

This incredible tree has large bipinnately compound leaves and leathery pods that stay on the trees for most of the year.

Kentucky Coffeetree

Fall

The Kentucky Coffeetree

This Kentucky Coffeetree lives at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, North Carolina. ashevillebotanicalgardens.org


Winter

The Kentucky Coffeetree - Gymnocladus dioicus.  Photo by Robert Priddy - www.RobertPriddyPhoto.com

The Kentucky Coffeetree - Gymnocladus dioicus

This Kentucky Coffeetree lives at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville.  NCArboretum.org

For the love of the trees,
Becky

Honey locust - Gleditsia triacanthos

Fabaceae - Bean Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 31
Honey Locust
Gleditsia triacanthos

Summer

The Honey locust bean pod in the Summer

Gleditsia triacanthos, Honey Locust

Fall
to be added,,,,

Winter

The Honey Locust Tree

Each season this tree is going to be quite different. Right now, it is leafless and there are many thorny spikes growing right out of the trunk.

This Honey Locust tree lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens in Asheville, North Carolina.
www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/

Spring
to be added...

For the love of the trees,
Becky

Redbud - Cercis canadensis

Fabaceae - Bean Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 29
Redbud
Cercis canadensis

Spring 

The Redbud Tree with newly opening heart-shaped leaves.

The Redbud Tree growing new pods in April

Redbud, Cercis canadensis

Red Bud, Cercis canadensis, Brasstown, North Carolina

Summer

The Redbud leaf glowing in the sunshine.

The Redbud pods swaying in the breeze.

Fall

The Redbud Tree Pods in September

The Redbud Tree in September

This tree amazes me...in the fall it is so so very different from all of the ways it looks in the other seasons.  This season, the redbuds are filled with brown seed pods....and I mean filled.  The heart-shaped leaves are starting to turn darker this time of year.   I am going to plant seed pods near my house this fall.  I love the way this tree changes so much each season.

Winter

Redbud Bark

For the love of the trees,
Becky

Mountain Laurel - Kalmia latifolia

Ericaceae - Heath Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 25
Mountain Laurel
Kalmia latifolia

Spring

Mountain Laurel, Kalmia latifolia

Mountain Laurel, Kalmia latifolia

These small trees are filled with flowers in May and June.  You can find many Mountain laurels throughout the Botanical gardens of Asheville; that is where these photos were taken.

The beautiful flowers display mother nature's stitching as each flower has intricate stitching in each flower.
http://www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/

Mountain Laurel

The Mountain Laurel is usually a large shrub that lives in thickets.  However, it can grow up to 25 feet tall with a single trunk that is 10 inches in diameter.  The flowers are pink and white and red with pink lantern-shaped buds.

Summer

Mountain Laurel - Kalmia latifolia

Mountain Laurel - Kalmia latifolia

Fall

Does anyone have a photo or drawing they would like to add to my project for the Fall Mountain Laurel or Winter Mountain Laurel? If not, I better get busy!


Winter


For the love of the trees,
Becky

Black Gum - Nyssa sylvatica

Cornaceae - Dogwood Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 22
Black Gum
Nyssa sylvatica

Spring

Black Gum leaves and flowers in May at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.

The vibrant green leaves of the Black Gum tree stand out in the forest in the spring time.  The small flower clusters are still on the tree in May.  This Black Gum tree lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.
http://www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/

Summer 

The Black Gum Tree in the Summer

The Black Gum Tree in the Summer

Dark spots often decorate the Black Gum leaves.

The beautiful Black Gum tree stands with its branches straight out from it's trunk.  It paints it's leaves with dots of color and then changes to brilliant orange and red.  It is said that migratory birds feast on the fruit of the Black Gum, for they see the color from high in the sky.  The fruit is one of the first fall tree fruits to ripen.

Fall

Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica

Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica

Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica

Winter

The Black Gum Tree Bud

The Black Gum Bark

This beautiful tree has bark that looks like little rectangular blocks seperated by deep crevices. This Black Gum tree is the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina.

Another good way to ID a Black Gum tree is by the horizontal arrangement of the branches to the trunk.

Do you know how to imitate a Black Gum tree?

For the love of the trees,
Becky

Always appreciate the beauty of nature that surrounds us.

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."
Ralph Waldo Emerson