Category Archives: Trees
Arboreal bear
Todd Crabtree, a naturalist extraordinaire and botanist at Tennessee’s Division of Natural Areas, sent me the following photos as a follow-up to my discussion of bear corn. Todd was leading a hike above Abrams Creek during the annual Smoky Mountain … Continue reading
Posted in Mammals, Travels, Trees
Tagged ash tree, bear, smoky miountains, smoky mountains
10 Comments
Hatchling
A chestnut oak seedling emerges from the sloughed remains of winter. A mighty good sight. Chestnut oaks (and their cousins in the “white oak” group) send down roots in the fall, racing against rodents. Once rooted, the seedling can survive … Continue reading
Posted in Plants, Trees
12 Comments
Serviceberry: preaching the gospel across the Appalachian Mountains
Serviceberry roared into flower this week, going from bud to bloom in a few hours, or so it seemed. From a distance these small trees present puffs of bright white in the dusky woods. Seen close, the flowers are indecently … Continue reading
Red maple: the burn begins, warblers drawn to the heat
Gentle, domesticated plants are singing springtime songs, lifting gardens with flowers and newly emerged leaves, but the forest is wintry, especially in the uplands. Mountain slopes may glow with ephemeral wildflowers and buckeye saplings, but the rolling tabletop of the … Continue reading
Posted in Plants, Trees
Tagged cumberland plateau, maple, migration, sewanee, sexual systems, warbler
13 Comments
Dead wood, ashes.
One of Shakerag Hollow’s giant trees has fallen. An ash that until last week held its arms in the highest reaches of the canopy now sprawls across the forest floor, its body utterly torn. I’ll go back soon and “measure” … Continue reading
Posted in Beetles, Plants, Shakerag Hollow, Trees
Tagged ash, borer, dead wood, old growth, sewanee, shakerag hollow
17 Comments
Fog happens, and the woods rise into it.
The overlook at Green’s View offered an interesting prospect this morning. The hundred mile view was shortened by the enveloping cloud to less than one hundred feet. The fog penetrated the forest, hazing and graying views through the trees. The … Continue reading
Posted in Fungi, Shakerag Hollow, smells, Trees
Tagged ascomycetes, shakerag hollow, spring ephemerals
13 Comments
Shelf fungus as a rain shelter for woodpeckers?
Older black locust trees in our region are often rotten on the inside. Fungi worm through the tree trunks, digesting their cores. When these fungi are mature enough to reproduce, they sends filaments (hyphae) to break through the tree bark. … Continue reading
Posted in Archosaurs, Fungi, Trees
12 Comments
Beech
The woods are mostly bare and gray, but American beech still shines. The trees, especially the young trees, retain their coppery leaves until spring. Beech is the bright ornament of the dark woods, gold leaf flecking the gloom. The leaves … Continue reading
Fifty Shades of Grey: Woodland Edition
Sitting in the woods with my class last week, I was struck by how grays had come to dominate. The light environment is transformed. Of course, a “fifty shades” wisecrack had to work its way into my impromptu lesson on … Continue reading
Posted in Fungi, Lichens, Mammals, Rocks, Shakerag Hollow, Travels, Trees, Water
30 Comments
Forest on Whidbey Island, Washington
An empire of moss and broadsword ferns. Douglas fir trees bend the sea wind. Reams of gold leaf — bigleaf maple — drop through thickets of hemlock and cedar. Kinglets hammer the forest’s ceiling with sharp brads of sound. Then … Continue reading
Posted in Bioacoustic revelry, Moss, Travels, Trees
22 Comments
