trees – Page 7 – Black and White

quercus macrocarpa

new leaves in April — Bur oaks primarily grow in a temperate climate on the western oak–hickory forested regions in the United States and into Canada. It commonly grows in the open, away from dense forest canopy. For this reason, it is an important tree on the eastern prairies, often found near waterways in otherwise more forested areas, where there is a break in the canopy. It is drought resistant, possibly because of its long taproot. At the end of the growing season, a one-year sapling may have a taproot 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in) deep and a lateral root spread of 76 cm (2 ft 6 in). The West Virginia state champion bur oak has a trunk diameter of almost 3 m–Wikipedia (10 ft).

If you are only going to plant one tree in this life, make it a quercus macrocarpa.

falling

q alba falls into water — There is always a larger older tree elsewhere. Who mourns this stately individual’s fall? The local squirrels and jays mourn. Very sad.

Slabtown

house in snow — canopy project sleeps for two more months

q phellos

21 inches of rain

dog living shoreline — 21 inches of rain in less than two months, the sea of green

Dendrochronology

a few good years — started growing 1st year of Obama presidency.

Each ring marks a complete cycle of seasons, or one year, in the tree’s life.[2] As of 2020, securely dated tree-ring data for the northern hemisphere are available going back 12,310 years.–Wikipedia

VDOT pruning master class

pruned lateral branches — One hears varying things about the Virginia Department of Transportation and trees. I have seen them prune trees with a bush-hog, a rotary mower on a hydraulic arm, whacking limbs off a tree, then moving on. I have heard VDOT credited with creating an acronym for trees, “FHO” (fixed hazardous objects). I have seen them do terminal pruning of trees, cut the trees at ground level that communities have loved and cared for.

Route 20 Monticello Gateway — Recently, I have heard VDOT praise the trees between Charlottesville and Albemarle in the median of Route 20. I like VDOT when they are in praise mode.

quercus phellos

q phellos Irvington — Safe to hug. Willow oak, Irvington, Virginia.

platanus occidentalis and FDR

I could never find sycamore sprouts because I didn’t know what I was looking for.

A sycamore can grow to massive proportions, typically reaching up to 30 to 40 m (98 to 131 ft) high and 1.5 to 2 m (4.9 to 6.6 ft) in diameter when grown in deep soils. The largest of the species have been measured to 53 m (174 ft), and nearly 4 m (13 ft) in diameter. Larger specimens were recorded in historical times. In 1744, a Shenandoah Valley settler named Joseph Hampton and two sons lived for most of the year in a hollow sycamore in what is now Clarke County, Virginia.[8] In 1770, at Point Pleasant, Virginia (now in West Virginia)[9] near the junction of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, George Washington recorded in his journal a sycamore measuring 13.67 m (44 ft 10 in) in circumference at 91 cm (3 ft) from the ground.[10]–Wikipedia

Gall

q alba leaves — My favorite oak tree has galls on some of the leaves. This the topside

oak leaves — this the underside. Hoping the hive mind can tell me the culprit. Prognosis?