A Break in the Storm

Black Cottonwood in Autumn Gold

It’s taken me a few years to identify the Black cottonwood tree (Populus balsamifera spp. trichocarpa), also known as the Balsam poplar or Tacamahacca.

Shown here in its autumn glory of brilliant yellow, the Black cottonwood bears dark, green, glossy leaves in summer. I first began to notice these trees as small saplings with large, sticky buds. They seemed to disappear among the alders and evergreens in the summer, but in the winter and spring they stick out as strange, naked twigs... with big buds.



It wasn’t until the emergent individuals in our yard grew tall (7-8 meters among our tallest) and strong (on the fruits of the septic tank drain field) when I realized they might be related to poplars. Why? Because the leaves have a wonderful back-and-forth flutter in the wind, much like an aspen. They're especially audible with a nice summer breeze.



Poplar, aspen, cottonwood, and willow trees are all classified in the willow family, Salicaceae. My real breakthrough in identifying this tree came not from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees (whose many varieties daunted me) but from my newest book: Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

Not only does this book cover hundreds of plants which I recognize by sight and smell, but it also includes detailed descriptions for each plant beyond physiology and identification. According to Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, the gum, leaves, inner bark, and other parts of the Black cottonwood tree have traditionally been used in food, medicine and craft by many Native American people from this region.


I purchased Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast when I was buying the Washington and Oregon Recreational Pass including the America the Beautiful: National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass. I stocked up on these critical tools for my November West Coast road trip, for which I will be departing shortly. Stay tuned for tree blogging from Washington, Oregon, and California.

Festival of the Trees Returns to Via Negativa

I'm pleased to share that I have been invited to join Paul and Dave as a coordinator for The Festival of the Trees.

Most of you know how much I love this project, and I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute even more - all for the love of trees.

This month we return to Via Negativa where Festival of the Trees co-founder Dave Bonta will once again host your blog posts, podcasts, vlogs, photographs, and other tree-and-forest-related creations.

Here are a few words from Dave to help inspire you:

You remember the Once-ler, right? The bummed-out old narrator in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, who gives the boy the last remaining truffula-tree seed at the end of the book? I’ve been feeling a lot like that lately. Probably many of us do, watching the world’s forests burn or succumb en masse to new insect pests, new diseases, and stronger and more frequent storms. Will the kids “care a whole awful lot”? Will they care at all?

The next edition of The Festival of the Trees will return to my blog Via Negativa for the fourth time, and while I’m not suggesting themed submissions — all tree-related blog posts are welcome — I do expect that my gloomy, yet still desperately hopeful outlook on the future of trees and forests will color my presentation. A lot of forest activists like to cast themselves as the Lorax: “I speak for the trees!” But I’ve never presumed to do that myself. For one thing, the trees are quite capable of speaking for themselves, if we were only inclined to listen. And also, like the Once-ler, I have no illusions about my own culpability in the desperate state of the global environment.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

You don't have to be a nature blogger to participate in The Festival of the Trees. Create a story, poem, article, photograph, or any other tree creation, post it online, and send us the link. It's that simple!

You can also send us links of other tree-related goodies that you find online. It doesn't have to be your own.

Email links to: bontasaurus [at] yahoo [dot] com – or use the Contact form.

Deadline: November 29, 2009

Important! Put “Festival of the Trees” in the subject line of your email.

Have fun!

Forest Song

Forest Song

Lean back easy to the soil
let your elbows root
watch the clouds go by
for a few weeks.

Curl, wrap around a stump
reach your fingers to the sky
when it rains you can
open your eyes.

Stay, wait until it’s cold,
blossom underneath the waning
moonlight, where the
hemlocks come to sing.

Here, deep inside the night
listen for the creek
in the Earth where the
memories fit together.

* * *

Copyright © 2009 Jade Leone Blackwater
www.jadeleoneblackwater.com

Autumn Sunset Greetings