Category: flora

quercus macrocarpa

The leaves are 7–15 cm (3–6 in) long and 5–13 cm (2–5 in) broad, variable in shape, with a lobed margin. Most often, the basal 60% is narrower and deeply lobed, while the apical 40% is wider and has shallow lobes or large teeth. The flowers are greenish-yellow catkins, produced in the spring. The acorns are very large, 2–5 cm (0.8–2 in) long and 2–4 cm (0.8-1.5 in) broad, having a large cup that wraps much of the way around the nut, with large overlapping scales and often a fringe at the edge of the cup.–Wikipedia

Bur oaks bear seed up to an age of 400 years, older than reported for any other American oak. The minimum seed-bearing age is about 35 years, and the optimum is 75 to 150 years (5,16). Silvics Manual Volume 2. Hardwoods. USDA

defying expectations.

nineteen

albemarle square lone shade tree
It was a Republican president who drove the largest expansion of parkland ever (YAY! TR! Teddy!). It was a Republican who started up the EPA.

How many Republicans can you fit under a single tree in a parking lot? At least nineteen.

When did it become a bad thing in the Republican mind to be an environmentalist?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is an agency of the U.S. federal government which was created for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.[2] The EPA was proposed by President Richard Nixon and began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate.– Wikipedia

Arbor Day

tree stewards at Riverview with schoolkids
Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards coordinated with City schools, had five stations set up in Riverview Park, doing art, planting trees (19+), learning arboreal things.

planting big tree
Charlottesville Parks and Recreation planted a large diameter platanus occidentalis in Quarry Park, Girl Scouts planted five saplings, Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards unveiled a plaque designating the big Sycamore in the background as a landmark tree. Virginia Department of Forestry recognized Charlottesville as a “Tree City” for the 7th year running. Tree Commission boss and former CHO mayor Elizabeth Waters on hand as well as Councilor Kathy Galvin.

CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE PROCLAMATION ARBOR DAY
WHEREAS, in 1872, J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees; and
WHEREAS, this holiday, called Arbor Day, was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska; and
WHEREAS, Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world; and
WHEREAS, trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the
temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife; and
WHEREAS, trees are a renewable resource giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires, and beautify our community; and
WHEREAS, trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community; and
WHEREAS, trees, wherever they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual renewal;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Satyendra Singh Huja, Mayor of the City of Charlottesville, Virginia, do hereby proclaim April 26, 2013 as
ARBOR DAY in the City of Charlottesville, and I urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day and to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands; and
FURTHER, I urge all citizens to plant trees to gladden the heart and promote the well-being of this and future generations.
Signed and sealed this I5th day of April, 2013.
Satyendra Singh Huja
Mayor

Johnson School Grove
This part of the world supports giant trees though the trend is toward cloned runts, patented biology, mini-trees. You’ve heard the slogan “right tree right place”. If you are a big, long lived native tree, back of the bus, off the bus, get on down the road. Git!

q macrocarpa
Influence your surroundings. Right infrastructure in the right place. Plant a giant. It will outlast you and the transmission lines.

That I may not denigrate foreign beliefs and may not poke fun at my own faith. The Gods look with grace upon those who plant trees along roads, in homesteads, at holy places, at crossroads, and by houses. If you wed, plant a wedding tree. If a child is born, plant a tree. If someone beloved dies, plant a tree for the Vėlė (shade of the deceased). At all holidays, during all important events, visit trees. Prayers will attain holiness through trees of thanks. So may it be!–Lithuanian Prayer

John S. White house

left quercus alba?
The John S. White House at 854 Locust Avenue was built by the prominent real estate lawyer and postmaster John S. White in 1903, just after he purchased the land from G. R. B. Michie. White was in business with William F. Long, for whom Long Street was eventually named. In 1910, White lived in the house with his wife, an infant son, his single brother-in-law, and two female African American servants who acted as nurse and cook, respectively.
Set far back from the street on a large lot and shaded by mature trees, this two-story, two-bay, house … has a hipped roof and is constructed of brick laid in common bond and painted. The north bay of the facade projects slightly and has a full pediment filled in with fish scale shingles; a hipped-roof, semi-hexagonal bay is attached to the north elevation; and a two-story, hipped-roof, two-bay addition is attached to the south elevation, set back from the facade and facing the street. A hipped-roof porch with slender Tuscan columns shades the recessed south bay and abuts the north bay of the facade. The south bay features the double glass doorway and a two-light transom. The 2nd floor of the south bay has a pair of narrow one/onesash
windows. The north bay features a single two/two-sash window on the 1st floor and a narrower one/one-sash window on the second. All of the windows have louvered shutters. The fully pedimented gable of the north bay retains the overhanging eave and cornice that characterizes the rest of the building, is filled in with wooden fish scale shingles, and has a small fanlight at its center. The roofs of both the porch and the house itself are covered in asphalt shingles. A modern, wooden ramp leads to the front entrance from the north side of the house. A one-story kitchen wing and a back porch are attached to the rear of the house.– (excerpted from the Martha Jefferson Historic District National Register of Historic Places registration form authored by Lydia Mattice Brandt PhD)

hedera helix

ivy in trees

It is an evergreen climbing plant, growing to 20–30 m high where suitable surfaces (trees, cliffs, walls) are available, and also growing as ground cover where there are no vertical surfaces. It climbs by means of aerial rootlets with matted pads which cling strongly to the substrate.–Wikipedia

Lots of ivy in CHO. UVA is smart, they keep it off their buildings.
Wikipedia continues:

In the United States, H. helix is considered weedy or invasive in a number of regions and is on the official noxious weed lists in Oregon and Washington. Like other invasive vines such as kudzu, H. helix can grow to choke out other plants and create “ivy deserts”. State and county sponsored efforts are encouraging the destruction of ivy in forests of the Pacific Northwest and the Southern United States. Its sale or import is banned in Oregon. Ivy can easily escape from cultivated gardens and invade nearby parks, forests and other natural areas. Ivy can climb into the canopy of trees in such density that the trees fall over from the weight, a problem which does not normally occur in its native range.For this reason, it is especially important to remove ivy from trees, creating “survival rings”. In its mature form, dense ivy can destroy habitat for native wildlife and creates large sections of solid ivy where no other plants can develop.