Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Tree ID

Last Wednesday I was returning from the grocery store after picking up the final few things I always seem to forget for Thanksgiving and I took the scenic way home. I drove by some trees that were so interesting I had to turn around, park, and get out to take a better look.

It was the incredible bark that attracted me.




They were growing in clumps of two, three, and four in front of a doctor's office building.



Most of them had brown, horizontally peeling bark, and then I saw this most intriguing one at the end of the row.





This clump of three brown-barked trees and one white-barked really captivated me, so I gathered a few leaves to try and identify them. That one white tree looks exactly like chocolate crinkle cookies, but I resisted heading back to the grocery store for those ingredients. 



The leaves I collected along with the Trees of North America told me that the trees were most likely yellow birches. There was just one more piece of information that I needed; how did the twigs taste? My trusty tree guide said that "slender twigs have a wintergreen flavor", so I went back to taste a few twigs. Sure enough, they did have a faint but distinct wintergreen taste. I even found out that I could make wintergreen extract, but since they aren't my trees, I don't think I'll be snapping off twigs to try this. (I'll just drink the called-for vodka instead.)

I still can't explain the chocolate crinkle tree (maybe a regular paper or white birch?) growing in the same clump with three yellow birches, but a little tree mystery doesn't make them any less beautiful. I think I'll go back in the spring to get a better look when they have new green leaves and maybe even taste a few more twigs.

9 comments:

  1. From the bark and the way they grow in clumps, I'd have guessed river birches. They're really popular around here. We had several at our old house (they are great for cool summer shade) but you know, I've never tasted one!

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  2. I have an app on my phone called Find That Garden and it identifies flowers, trees, etc. I used it last spring when Dale and I went for a walk and I wanted to identify a tree. I snapped a photo of the bark and it knew immediately what kind of tree it was. Your search is old school and more satisfying, I think.

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  3. I was going to guess river birch, too. Except for the chocolate crinkle one . . . Sometimes nurseries mis-mark similar trees, and it doesn't become apparent until they're a bit more mature. (We have a church near us that has an entire row of cornelian cherry trees --- with one crabapple in the bunch. So obvious during the spring blooming -- when all of them are covered in pink blossoms. Except that white crabapple!)

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  4. I vote for white birch. I cannot believe you tasted a tree :) I haven't done that one yet :)

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  5. I am picturing you standing there tasting twigs. ;)

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  6. I love that you tasted the tree! Nature adventures are the best. We had a woodpecker / blue jay stand-off on the feeder the other day. We were all riveted!

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  7. We have a bunch of these in our yard, planted by a previous owner. They are supposed to be bird-friendly (I guess they dig for bugs in the bark?). The bark is lovely. But man, they shed a TON of twiggy branches every time the wind blows. I like how they look but they are kinda messy!

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  8. Okay, can I just say that I sincerely love that you have The Guide to Field Identification of Trees!! Just saying - that is AWESOME! And, YOU TASTED THE TREES! I bow to your superior awesomeness!

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  9. Thank you to the scientist within you, I now know a tree can taste link wintergreen!

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