Fraser Fir - Albies fraseri

Pinaceae - Pine Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 67
Fraser Fir
Albies fraseri

Spring

Fraser Fir female cones

This Fraser Fir lives on a mountain near Asheville.  There is so much new life happening this time of year.  There are new female and males cones growing.

Fraser Fir male cones

Summer

Fraser Fir in the Summer at the higher elevations on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Fraser Fir in the Summer at the higher elevations on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Fall 

Fraser Fir

This tree lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens in the woods on a quiet winding path. This tree usually grows at a higher elevation. It is doing well where it lives perhaps because it is in a cool shady wooded area.  www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

One can always identify the Fraser Fir by its needles. They are round ended and not sharp; making them friendly to the touch. They grow in a way that reminds me of the part in a person's hair when they part their hair in the middle of their head. The needles are flat and they are fragrant. There are also two distinct white lines on the underside of each needle. I have a time seeing these lines; however, with a hand lens or microscope you can see them quite well. While looking in my microscope I found it so interesting that the fir needles are stemless. The Hemlocks and Spruce needles all have little stems connecting them to the twigs.

Winter

The easiest way to identify a Fir tree is by observing that fir cones stand upright on the branches, and fir needles are flat and friendly.  You can differentiate Fir from Spruce for Spruce cones hang down and their needles are sharp and round.

The Fraser Fir is named after the Scottish botanist, John Fraser (1750–1811), who made numerous botanical collections in this region.

The Champion Fraser Fir Trees

North Carolina's Champion Big Tree Database

Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri)

County: Jackson
Town: Cashiers
Owner Name: High Hampton Inn & Country Club
Nominator Name: Ken & Pam Knox
Native:  Yes
Directions:  High Hampton Inn, approximately 1.5-2 miles South of Cashiers on East side of Rt. 107; tree is in front lawn of Inn and next to golf course.
Latitude:  35� 05' 54.07"N
Longitude:  83� 04' 56"W

http://www.ncforestservice.gov/Urban/tree_detail.asp?Tree_ID=6

The American Forest Champion Fraser Fir lives in Virginia.    It is 96 feet tall and has a 116 inch circumference.
http://www.americanforests.org/big-trees/fraser-fir-abies-fraseri-2/

My favorite Fraser Fir Tree

My favorite Fraser Fir Trees live on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the higher elevations.  The Richland Balsam trail has beautiful Fraser Firs living all along the trail.  

For the love of the trees,
Becky

My teacher at Tremont in the Smokies, Ken Voohris, says you can tell the Fraser Fir
 from the other conifers by the needles.
The Fraser Fir needles are flat, friendly, and fragrant.  Find a Fraser Fir and notice the needles.

Green Ash - Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Oleaceae - Oilve Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 66
Green AshTree
Fraxinus pennsylvanica

The Green Ash Tree leaves often have 7 leaflets in their compound leaf.  The margins are serrated and the branches are opposite.  Maples, Ashes, Dogwoods, and Horsechestnuts and Buckeyes are the most prevalent trees with opposite branching.
(from my journal)    

Spring

The Green Ash - Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Summer

The Green Ash Tree
The Botanical Gardens of Asheville

 ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

The Green Ash Tree has shiny green leaves above and paler beneath; leaves are opposite and pinnately compound. They usually have 7 leaflets. They are paired except at the end. The twigs are green and become gray with age. They are slender and hairless. The bark is gray, furrowed, and has a reddish inner bark.
The winged seeds, called samaras, are eaten by birds and small mammals. Whitetail and mule deer browse the twigs and foliage.

Fall 

Green Ash
This Green Ash lives at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville

Winter

The Green Ash at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville

"The ash grove, how graceful, how plainly 'tis speaking,

The harp through it playing has language for me;

Whenever the light through its branches is breaking,

A host of kind faces is gazing on me.

The friends of my childhood again are before me,

Each step wakes a mem'ry, as freely I roam;

With soft whispers laden, its leaves rustle o'er me;

The ash grove, the ashgrove alone is my home."

Welsh folk song from the 1700's called Ash Grove.

The Champion Green Ash Trees

The champion Green Ash lives in Cass, Michigan. It stands 98 feet tall and has a circumference of 271 inches.
The Ohio Champion green ash tree is in Warren, Ohio. It is 229 inches in circumference. It is 117 feet tall.

My favorite Green Ash Tree

My two favorite Green Ash Tree live at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville and the other by by the Oakley Buncombe County Library.  I will be photographing and drawing the one by the library this year.  Please check back.
For the love of the trees,
Becky

from my journal

White Ash - Fraxinus americana

Oleaceae - Oilve Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 65
White Ash
Fraxinus americana

Spring

White Ash Tree
Fraxinus americana

The leaves are opposite, with 5-9 compound leaflets. The leaves are entire or slightly toothed. The tree usually grows up to 80 feet and 2-3 feet in diameter.

Summer

The White Ash Tree

The "keys"are 1-2 inches long; they are brownish now in the summer with a narrow wing that hang in clusters. Each key contains one seed. These previous year's keys stay on the tree through the winter and will fall when spring comes. I have read about people making pickled ash keys for their salads that are delicious.

The Ash tree has an interesting sex life. It may be male one year and female the next. It may also grow the female flowers on part of the tree and the male flowers on another part of the tree. It does take at least 30 years for the trees to start producing the flowers. These tree can live up to 250 years.

There is a Emerald Ash Borer insect that has been killing the Ash trees in the Northern and Midwest regions of the United States. This beetle is native to Asia. The larvae of this beetle burrow into the bark of the Ash tree causing the tree to starve and then die. 40 million Ash Trees have died since 2002 due to this beetle infestation in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and other parts of the United States and Canada. There are several treatment programs that have been helpful. Treatment program research is till underway.

There is a National Ash Seed Collection Initiative in Ft. Collins, Colorado, that is collecting, freezing, and storing the seeds for future research and development if this becomes necessary.

Fall 

The White Ash Tree in October

This White Ash tree lives by my house in Asheville.  It is starting to change to it's fall colors.

Winter

The White Ash Tree

The limbs and twigs and leaves all grow opposite each other. The trunks of this tree are usually very straight and tall. The bark is tight and uniform; the color is light brown to dark brown in older trees. The older trees develop a bark with diamond-shaped ridges.

The Champion
White Ash Trees

The Champion White Ash lives in Morris, New Jersey. It is 115 feet tall and has a circumference of 255 inches. You can read more at https://www.americanforests.org/big-trees/white-ash-fraxinus-americana-2/


The Champion North Carolina Tree lives in Forsyth County and is 100 feet tall and has a circumference of 206 inches.  You can read more at http://ncforestservice.gov/urban/nc_champion_big_trees_database_search.asp

My favorite White Ash Tree

My favorite White Ash lives besides my house.  I will be seeking another favorite one that lives in a public park or nature center.  
For the love of the trees,
Becky

This is a page from my journal on a fall day.

Fringe Tree - Chionanthus virginicus

Oleaceae - Oilve Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 64
Fringe Tree
Chionanthus virginicus

Summer

A Fringe Tree at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.

30021 Chionanthus virginicus, a photo by horticultural art on Flickr.

Fall 

I will out and about in the fall photographing and drawing the Fringe Tree, please check back.

Winter

I will out and about in the winter photographing and drawing the Fringe Tree, please check back.

Spring

The Fringe Tree

March is quite an interesting month.  You can see by this photo that the Fringe tree is still in what I call winter mode.  It is waiting, like the oak trees, who are still holding onto their leaves.  The Red Maples are in full spring mode with incredible red flowers right now.  It is amazing how nature works with all the budding that takes place in a certain sequence enabling all the wildlife to have food and habitat all year round.

The Fringe Tree
This Fringe Tree lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.  http://www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/

The Champion Fringe Trees

The American Forests Champion Fringe Tree lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.  https://www.americanforests.org/big-trees/fringetree-chionanthus-virginicus/
This tree is 45 feet tall.  The link has a great photo of the tree.

The North Carolina Forest Service Big Tree Program also has a Champion Fringe tree.  http://www.ncforestservice.gov/Urban/tree_detail.asp?Tree_ID=585
This tree is 25 feet tall and lives in Elizabeth City, NC.

" By recognizing these champions, we recognize the beauty and critical ecosystem services provided by our biggest and oldest trees."  https://www.americanforests.org/explore-forests/americas-biggest-trees/

My favorite Fringe Tree

My Favorite Fringe Tree lives at the Botanical Asheville of Asheville.  It lives by the parking lot by a trail leading to the Sunshine Meadow.  I hope you can find this one; if you need help finding me, let me know.
For the love of the trees,
Becky

Red Mulberry - Morus rubra

Moraceae - Mulberry Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 63
Red Mulberry
Morus rubra

Spring

 Red Mulberry - Morus rubra

This Red Mulberry lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.  www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

The buds had not opened when I photographed this tree around the end of March.

 Red Mulberry - Morus rubra

Summer

Red Mulberry Tree 

I stood under this tree on a hot day in June, and the beautiful tree gave me a shady place to get out of the heat.

There were berries in the tree, red and purple mulberries.   I tasted a mulberry; it was so sweet!   I know why people make mulberry wines, pies and jam.  The berries ripen in June; they are red and purple oblong-shaped fruit. Birds and humans and probably any animal that can reach or find these berries love them.
The green leaves are toothed and heart shaped. Some of the leaves are lobed; the leaves have a rough texture and are hairy underneath.  They have pointed tips.
The twigs have a milky sap when broken.

Taste the natural, fresh tastes of summer. Smell the flowers and herbs of summer. Feel the breeze of summer winds and the heat of the summer sun on your skin. Look and listen to all the birds and insects that are flying and singing day and night. After the sensory awareness, your heart will always feel light.

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

Fall 

The Red Mulberry

The Red Mulberry

The Red Mulberry tree that I love to photograph and sit with lives at John C. Campbell School. On the day I photographed this tree in September; the leaves were almost all gone with only a few remaining.  The ones that are left are yellow and looked sparkling in the sun today.  folkschool.org

Winter

I will get out and photograph and journal about this tree this coming winter.  Please check back.


For the love of the trees,
Becky

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.

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...