Umbrella Magnolia - Magnolia tripetala

Magnoliaceae - Magnolia Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 62
Umbrella Magnolia
Magnolia tripetala

Spring

Umbrella Magnolia

The Umbrella Magnolia has smooth bark that gets a bit crinkled as it gets to be a big tree.

Umbrella Magnolia's large leaves

This tree has deep green leaves that can grow up to 24 inches. They are arranged in circles around the branch. The bark is smooth gray. The tree gives the appearance of an umbrella, thus the name. This tree has  an incredible white flower that blooms in May.

Umbrella Magnolia

Umbrella Magnolia

Summer

Umbrella Magnolia

This Umbrella Magnolia rises over the observation deck at the Botanical Gardens in Asheville, North Carolina. The Umbrella Magnolia has such lush leaves this time of year, that it actually acts as an umbrella and shades the beautiful deck at the Botanical Gardens. You can sit on the deck in the shade on a summer day, watch the birds, listen to the water and smell the fresh air. This image shows the seed pods growing on the Umbrella Magnolia during August.

Fall

Umbrella Magnolia

This Umbrella Magnolia lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.  ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

Winter

Umbrella Magnolia

 This Umbrella Magnolia tree lives at the North Carolina Arboretum.  NCarboretum.org

Umbrella Magnolia

For the love of the trees,
Becky

My drawing of an Umbrella Magnolia leaf in the fall.

Big Leaf Magnolia - Magnolia macrophylla

Magnoliaceae - Magnolia Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 61
Bigleaf Magnolia
Magnolia macrophylla

Spring

I will need to get out and photograph the Bigleaf Magnolia this weekend.  Check back.

Summer

The Bigleaf Magnolia has the largest leaf of any native tree in the Southern Appalachians.  These leaves can grow to be three feet long!

Fall

This Fall I will get out and photograph this amazing Bigleaf Magnolia.

Winter

The Bigleaf Magnolia

The Bigleaf Magnolia

This tree lives by the road that leads up to my house.  The buds are so interesting; they are white and fuzzy, pointy with a blunted end and so beautiful.  Big leaf magnolia is an endangered species in the wild.  It is interesting that this tree will start to flower when it is just 3 feet high.  This tree grows to be 40-50 feet high.

The Magnolia trees are a symbol of magnificence and beauty.  One look at the Magnolia's buds, flowers, and seed cones, and I could see why they are considered symbols of magnificence and beauty.

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world"  John Muir

For the love of the trees,
Becky

Fraser Magnolia - Magnolia fraseri

Magnoliaceae - Magnolia Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 60
Fraser Magnolia
Magnolia fraseri

Spring

Fraser Magnolia in May at the Asheville Botanical Gardens

Fraser Magnolia in May

Fraser Magnolia in bloom

Summer

Fraser Magnolia

This is one of the most beautiful trees in the Southern Appalachians. The leaves are distinctive, with  ear shaped lobes where the leaf meets the stem. The leaves are usually 8-15 inches long, crowded near the twigs tips . Large, fragrant, creamy white flowers appear in May. In August, there are incredible red cones which are the fruit of the tree and contains fleshy seeds. The bark is smooth and gray.

This tree is found in moist mountain forests. You can see many Fraser Magnolias along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina.

This tree is named for John Fraser who lived from 1750 - 1811. He was a Scottish botanist.

Fall

Fraser Magnolia leaves in late September

Fraser Magnolia in October

Fraser Magnolia

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

The Fraser Magnolia with the earlobe leaves.
If you want to see these leaves, you must hurry for they are falling off the trees as I type.
There may be a few left on the ground under the trees.
You can find this tree at the Asheville Botanical Gardens if you want to catch a glimpse of the beauty.
Becky 11-11-11

Winter

Fraser Magnolia

This Fraser Magnolia lives at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville.  http://www.ncarboretum.org/

Fraser Magnolia

Champion Fraser Magnolias

The national champion Fraser Magnolia lives in Raburn, Georgia. It has a circumference of 107 inches and is 92 feet high.

My favorite Fraser Magnolia to visit

My favorite Fraser Magnolia tree lives at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, North Carolina.  ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

For the love of the trees,
Becky

A Page from my journal...

Cucumber tree - Magnolia acuminata

Magnoliaceae - Magnolia Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 59
Cucumber tree
Magnolia acuminata

Spring

Cucumber tree at Asheville Botanical Gardens in April

Cucumber tree flower bud in May

Cucumber tree in May

Summer

The Cucumber Tree in the Summer.

Fall

I will get out and photograph and draw the fall Cucumber tree next fall.  Please check back.

Winter

The Cucumber Tree

The beautiful white elongated buds are easy to spot this time of year.  This Magnolia bud is shaped like an elegant warmly-dressed white gloved finger, that seems to be pointing out the winter landscape.

The Cucumber Magnolia is one of the approximately 100 species of Magnolia that live on our planet.

Cucumber Tree, cucumber magnolia, Magnolia acuminata, 

Cucumber Tree, cucumber magnolia, Magnolia acuminata, 

Cumcumber tree - Magnolia acuminata

For the love of the trees,
Becky


The fall color of the leaves of this tree is yellowish brown.  
There are very large , healthy Cucumber Magnolia trees at the Asheville, NC Botanical Gardens.

Tulip poplar - Lirodendron tulipifera

Magnoliaceae - Magnolia Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 58
Tulip Poplar
Lirodendron tulipifera

Spring

Tulip poplar in the spring in North Carolina

Tulip Poplar young leaves by Robert Priddy

Summer

The Tulip Poplar Tree in July.  Photo by Robert Priddy

www.RobertPriddyPhoto.com

The Tulip Poplar flower.    These flowers attract birds including hummingbirds, cardinals, finches.

Fall

The Yellow Poplar Tree in the Fall

As I walk by the giant Tulip tree, the leaves blow in the wind.
The sound of fall's crackling leaves surrounding me.
The leaves fall over my body on their way to earth.
I pause as the leaves drift over and around me.
The Tulip tree reminding me to take the time to pause; to enjoy the moment.

Winter

The Tulip Tree dried seed holder

The Tulip Tree can be identified in the winter by looking for a straight and tall tree that still has dried brown seed holders hanging up high in the tree.

 from my journal while at Tremont in the Smoky Mountain National Park

A wooden rocking chair seems to beckon to me onto the porch.  I sit down, close my eyes, and take a deep cleansing breath.  As I open my eyes, I see the Smoky mountains surround me; they are encased in an evening fog.  The air is cool, almost cold as I feel the air enter my lungs.  I can not seem to get enough of the clean air inside of me.  It is like my body has been waiting for this moment for hours or days.

I  hear only sounds of nature.    The sound of water as it flows over rocks and boulders, the sound of dripping water as it falls from the branches of the trees onto the earth.  There are sounds of bird chatter and calls.  


I see Hemlocks, sweetgums, oaks, tulip poplars, sycamores, and ironwoods shrouded in mist.  A bird flies by as I rock in this chair.

I am aware of my breath and my heart beating as I sit here.    I am the only human in sight.  Why do I let so many days go by in my life that I do not still my body enough to hear my own heart beating or listen to my breath as it goes in and out? I am grateful for this quiet winter's day in the Smokies.  Find your moment.

For the love of the trees,
Becky

From my journal

Sassafras - Sassafras albidum

Lauraceae - Laurel Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 57
Sassafras
Sassafras albidum

Spring

Spring Sassafras Flowers, Asheville, NC

In spring when the Sassafras flowers are blooming; their yellow-green color lights up the mountain side.  This Sassafras tree lives on the mountain beside my house near Asheville, North Carolina.

Sassafras flowers - Asheville, NC

The spring sassafras tree will have green twigs that smell fruity or spicy when scratched.

The tree grows to 60 feet tall and will grow up to a diameter of 1.5 feet.

Summer

One of the Sassafras trees that live on the Mountain at Priddy Woods.

The Sassafras Tree in this photo is covered in the late Summer's day sun.  You can make a delicious sassafras tea from the roots of the saplings.  Gently pull the sapling from the ground and wash the root.  Boil the root for about 20 minutes, take out the root to use another few times.  Then, enjoy the tea.  You can also make root beer by adding a little honey and chill.  I took a class in the Great Smoky Mountains with Ila Hatter.  The class was on wildcrafing; she made Sassafras tea for us.  I enjoyed the tea so very much.

You can read more about Ila at http://wildcrafting.com/

Sassafras, http://ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

Sassafras, http://ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

Sassafras, http://ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

Fall

The Sassafras Tree in October

Sassafras Tree in October
http://ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

This colorful Sassafras lives at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville. I walked in the gardens today, and enjoyed the fall tree colors all around me against a beautiful blue sky.
Becky - October 2010

The Fall Sassafras tree

  The beautiful Fall Sassafras tree is colored in orange and yellow.

Fall Sassafras albidum

Winter

Sassafras in late winter
Photo by Robert Priddy

The Sassafras Tree

The Sassafras tree always brings a smile to my face. If you wonder what I am talking about; go find a sassafras tree and see for yourself.

The Spicebush caterpillars main host plant is the Sassafras tree and this little caterpillar always appears to be smiling.

Thank you to Jerry Butler at the Univ. of Florida for the spicebush caterpillar photo.  http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/spicebush04.htm

For the love of the trees,

Becky