I was hiking in Tallapoosa County on Saturday. The sourwoods were strikingly beautiful--they are one of the most common trees I see in the Longleaf pine forest. Some were 40-50 feet in height. I thought I would share these photos:
Beautiful sourwoodsEast Central Alabama
Here is another. You can just see the white drooping clusters of flowers.
I have been marginally successful growing sourwoods at my home south of Birmingham but they won't thrive the way these do. They really like the iconic "red dirt" of East Alabama.
Here they line both sides of an inviting path. I need to get out there more often!
Those are really nice.
If they're flowering now just as the leaves fall, when do the seeds ripen?
Resin
Resin, that made me pause because I usually see the flowers (on smaller trees) in late summer and the brown capsules in early winter. These are so tall that I could not get close. I think what I was seeing last weekend were seed capsules because they are almost white before they start to ripen.
Incidentally, in Alabama sourwood honey is considered the best and sells at a premium price. I think the old timers made a tonic similar to root beer from them also.
I saw plenty of "root beer trees" (sassafras) on that hike as well. Here is a photo of the pretty yellow color. I wanted to take one home but they don't transplant well:
Here is a sourwood I played on growing up--it has a peculiar horizontal curve in the trunk, not seen here, which made it rather like a horse's back. It must be really old. Unfortunately it was damaged in a tornado last April. I just recognized it last weekend as a sourwood.
It appears to be recovering, though:
It has been around longer than I have and may outlast me yet.
Thanks!
Quote from passiflora_pink :
Incidentally, in Alabama sourwood honey is considered the best and sells at a premium price. I think the old timers made a tonic similar to root beer from them also.
Just like heather honey over here - same family Ericaceae.
Resin
I found a closeup from September of last year of the unripe seed capsules. They are white and resemble the flowers from a distance:
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