Thursday, May 04, 2006

Mystery Elm Tree, I Presume?









What we have here is another mystery tree as I mentioned yesterday, but one for which I am leaning strongly towards elm tree as its identity.

Pennsylvania is home to both the
American Elm and the Slippery Elm (among others), but for now I haven’t got a clue as to whether this tree is one of the two, or another type of elm entirely.

I do know that it’s gorgeous! Standing tall between the
beech and the sycamore I’ve recently introduced you to, this tree once cradled a treehouse for my landlady’s son in his youth. Even without all its leaves on, this supposed-elm-tree is rapidly providing a lovely bit of shade in the northeastern corner of the farm.

What really takes my breath away with this particular tree is not only its elegance, but also those crazy green rosettes of “flowers”. They are actually more like seeds surrounded by circlets of paper-thin petal, all bunched together at the end of the twigs. It will be interesting to see whether those stick around, or grow into something different in coming weeks.

Clearly more investigation of the leaves, bark, fruit, and growth habits of this tree will be required in order to distinguish it from other elms. I’ll have to get back to you on the true identity of this one, but as always please feel welcome to add your own suggestions!

2 comments:

  1. Hello JLB,
    What beautiful pictures!
    This may be right out of sync but when I was a little girl growing up in Malaysia, part of my childlike dream was going to England (where I now spend a lot of time) to fulfill my dreams. When I look back, my dream was influenced by the inspiration of generous forests. Enid Blyton the famed children's writer and my favourite storyteller, promoted her share of oak, chestnut and apple trees together with delightful conker games with fervour. I still remember too, scores of tales on fairy teas, toadstool rings and wooded hideway homes for animal talkies, that were all nestled under trees. Warm regards,

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  2. Greetings Susan, and welcome! Your comments are perfectly relevant! I know just what you mean about how stories about forests can influence your dreams. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

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