Trees on the Yale Nature Walk

Tree ID: 93
Date of tree entry: February 5, 2019
While strolling to the Marsh Botanical Gardens, you can spot this beautiful yellow birch perched in the middle of a sloping hill just off of Prospect Street, near the parking lot of the gardens. This tree can be distinguished because of its complex system of multiple, twisting trunks and of its unusual bark, which has a yellow-gold color, the namesake of this tree. Parts of this bark are almost flake-like, peeling away if touched! Scratching on the birch’s twigs may also give off the scent of a winter-green oil, a kind of natural perfume. Pointy flowers known as catkins, which resemble slender cones, become increasingly apparent in warmer months, so keep your eyes out for those. In the summer and fall especially, this tree provides a wonderful sanctuary for anyone looking for a bit of solace and shade in the sometimes chaotic Elm City, so come pop a squat!
Tree ID: 82
Date of tree entry: April 15, 2018
The Tilia platyphyllos, or Large leaf Linden, is a deciduous tree that is known for the large, pyramidally shaped shade it generates with its foliage (although, it is not observed in these photos because it usually blooms around June). When in bloom, the leaf venation is palmate along a midrib. In June, it blooms pale yellow flowers that droop and has fragrant that attracts bees for pollination. This flowers turn into small, cream colored fruits. The stems turn a reddish color in late spring/early summer to a a dark grey in the late fall.
Tree ID: 85
Date of tree entry: March 28, 2018
The lacebark pine, also known as Bunge's pine or the white-barked pine, is a pine tree native to the mountainous regions of northeast and central China. It can reach heights of 25 m and can withstand temperatures down to -26 degrees Celsius. It's known for its trademark "lace" bark--its bark is grey-green but can peel to reveal pale yellow "scales," which often turn olive brown, red, or purple when exposed to light. It is often cultivated as a part of ornamental gardens and is a symbol of longevity.
Tree ID: 91
Date of tree entry: April 11, 2018
Hi! My name is Holly and I am an American. I am a hard-core dicot with my roots in eastern and south-central United States, from coastal Massachusetts south to central Florida, and west to southeastern Missouri and eastern Texas. I'm trying to em-bark on the next stage of my life, and the first step is branching out with my relationships. Looking for a male Ilex opaca who wood want to go with the phloem, get trunk with me on weekends, and pollinate my flowers every night ;-) This may sound sappy but I promise my love will be evergreen. Look out for me on Tinder!!!
The American persimmon on February 8, 2018
Tree ID: 90
Date of tree entry: April 10, 2018
This tree produces fragrant flowers that are dioecious, meaning that each tree only has one gender of flowers. At around six years of age, American persimmon trees can produce round orange fruits upon pollination by wind and insects.
Tree ID: 87
Date of tree entry: April 9, 2018
The California Incense-Cedar is a fire tolerant plant native to forest fire prone California. The tree has many attractive features that has made it an important tree for indigenous tribes. Today, it is grown all over the world for its aesthetically pleasing addition to gardens. It can reach heights of 40-60 meters and diameters as large as 3 m.
Tree ID: 88
Date of tree entry: February 7, 2018
With branches broader and more open than many other species of juniper, the Arizona Cypress is often used as a windbreak tree and can be found in western Texas, the southern High Plains, and the arid American Southwest, where it can tolerate the hot, dry conditions (1). The Arizona Cypress var. arizonica grows 20-25 m tall with a diameter of up to 75 cm (10). The tree is sometimes cultivated for use as a Christmas tree (2)
Rose acacia, Bristly locust
Tree ID: 86
Date of tree entry: February 7, 2018
Rose acacia, Bristly locust . This flowering shrub grows up to approximately 6 meters tall, featuring dark green, compound pinnate leaves on bristly stems, with clusters of fragrant, pea-like, rose-pink flowers that attract bees and butterlies in the late spring and early summer. The Rose acacia can tolerate poor, dry soils, and its flowers bloom either during late spring or early summer, and it's growth rate is relatively fast and moderate. Bristly locust is perhaps the best erosion control shrub for steep sloping sites with active erosion. It provides quick, woody, vegetative cover on droughty, critical areas needing stabilizing cover. In comparison with most other shrubs it will excel in seedling vigor. It has the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil, and with light shade it does not inhibit growth of annual and perennial herbs. SOURCE: https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_rohif8.pdf
Tree ID: 84
Date of tree entry: February 7, 2018
The Weeping Willow-leafed Pear (Pyrus salicifolia) is a weeping shaped, deciduous tree native to the middle east and eastern europe. It can be found in woodland and stony areas. P. salicifolia can grow up to 25 feet, however the weeping variety commonly reaches 15 feet. It is hermaphroditic and has white flowers with five petals in the spring and pear-like, green, inedible fruits in the summer. This tree has extensive roots which can help prevent erosion, but it is also very vulnerable to fireblight.
Tree ID: 83
Date of tree entry: February 7, 2018
The Japanese red-cedar, otherwise called the "Japanese sugi pine" - known to the Japanese as Sugi - is a large evergreen tree which is native to Japan, can reach up to 70 m in height, and can reach trunk diameters of 4m. It serves as the national tree of Japan and is often planted around shrines and temples. Although it is an evergreen, some of the foliage has been known to bronze in cold winters. It is a pyramidal and sometimes irregular evergreen conifer with tiered horizontal branching. It is often found in moist forests that have deep, rich, well-drained soil. The bark is a red-brown color and peels in vertical strips. The needle like leaves are approximately 0.5-1 cm long while the globular seed cones are 1-2 cm in diameter and contain about 20-40 scales. The Japanese Red Cedar is often cultivated in China and planted in rows for timber production in many countries, which is why it has been deemed “economically productive”. The timber is fragrant, weather and insect resistant, soft, strong, and has a very low density, which makes it useful for furniture making and home construction. Our Japanese Red-Cedar won't reach the height of a full grown Red-Cedar since cultivation in the US is associated with much smaller (50-60 ft) versions. They are a monoecious species which reproduce via wind-based pollen and seed dispersal. The Japanese Red Cedar is susceptible to Phytophthora root disease, Armillaria root rot, and Juniper blight.

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