On a different forum here, I was asked how I identified a certain tree. The query came quite astoundingly, since the questioner had this tree in their landscape but ascertained no comparable qualities.
Plant do the darndest things.
So - here I'll offer some images of that same species. Expound upon your thoughts.
This tree is located in Chickasaw Park, Louisville KY, next to the pond. It has been growing there likely for about 30 years, when the last major renovations/improvements were implemented in the mid 1980s.
Here are some more images of this plant - taken today. Pardon the poor light in the canopy pictures.
First things first: I am so impressed with the use of a hairy forearm to display the foliage and leaf arrangement. Only a true plantsman would think of something like that.
I am not nearly good enough at identifying trees to nail this one, but I'll go way out on a limb and say it's something Betulaceae. I'll really put myself out there and guess it's Betula, Alunus, or Corylus. I'd better stop here before the limb breaks.
Doesn't that just make the buds and petioles pop? I'm thinking patent - or trademark at least.
You are in the correct territory. I suspect you've seen this plant before, but the species won't likely be common (if at all) as far north as you. You have many of its cousin brethren relatives in your native populations.
Here are a few more cues/clues...
I'm thinking Castanea somethingorotherus?
I like the forearm too. I have found my autofocus cameras, especially the iPhone, are unable to focus on a twig close up, and focus on the background instead. I see a lot of out of focus pics on DG due to this problem, especially on the plant ID forum. I think the hairs could be useful that way, and give the camera something to focus on in the proper plane! My forearms are not hairy, but I have a mole or two that might help (ahem "Beauty Mark").
ooooh crosspost, now there are more clues. I will get to work.
Got pubescence? Ya, you betula!
Betula nigra, got it at pic #4 in the first post. Nice specimen!
Resin
So, I thought betula nigra also, but was put off by the branching pattern. I'm sure it's because I haven't seen mature betula nigra specimens. How does a plant which is so widely recognized in suburban landscapes around here as a multitrunk cluster of sparsely branching trunks end up in maturity as a single trunk with bulky lateral branches 10ft off the ground?
Resin is spot on.
This tree is right at home on this site, with constant moisture and deep alluvial soils in which to sink its roots. As renovations occur in this part of the park to rejuvenate the pond, we will likely include many more of this species in the final plantings.
I posted this to show what a run-of-the-mill seedling River Birch can look like. It will have River Birch leaves, River Birch buds, and River Birch reproductive parts.
It will also have River Birch bark - though not what many believe to be the required handsome peeling papery salmony cream color bark which is the defining quality of many/most named selections of Betula nigra (think Heritage®, Dura-Heat™, etc.). In fact, this large plant had only one small part of one branch with this characteristic - a suckering stem shown in the very last image I posted above.
So - all River Birch, like most all other plants, are not created equal. This is why observing more than just the grossest/most obvious features is how to really learn about plants and their identities. Even the named clones mentioned above eventually mature in their oldest parts (trunks, larger limbs) out of the decorative peeling character, and develop the ridged furrowed platy look on those parts of the plant - if they indeed live long enough.
If pests don't shorten their lives, the rigors of ice storms can wreak havoc on their slender twiggy branches - often leaving them looking like storm-ravaged umbrellas. River Birch are really a pioneer level woody plant, and usually grows fast/lives hard/dies young.
Hmm...maybe a Betula nigra 'Bob' is in order...
River Birch are really a pioneer level woody plant, and usually grows fast/lives hard/dies young.
Hmm...maybe a Betula nigra 'Bob' is in order...
Thank you for this little lesson. I learned something. As part of my self-imposed lesson I looked for on-line tree keys, and found a few, plus some sites with good photos. Interestingly, I found a nice little tree key put out by the Ohio Public Library, that worked perfectly! I didn't trust it though, because I have found that so often my keys in books do not include cultivars or exotic introductions, so I get it wrong. This one could be useful if you are somewhere with only your cellphone and want to identify a tree.
http://www.oplin.org/tree/index.html
p.s. There is a bridge they named 'Bob' somewhere in Colorado.
