Trees on the Yale Nature Walk

Photo of Honey Locust tree taken in mid spring

Honey Locust
triacanthos
Tree ID: 139
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 16, 2022
This Gleditsia tricanthos, or Honey locust, is located in a small green walkway between Winchester Ave and Lockstreet behind Yale Health. The honey locust is a deciduous tree native to central North America. However, it is highly adaptable to different environments, and has been introduced worldwide as an aggressively invasive species, considered as a nuisance by farmers as they grow quickly and outcompete grasses and crops. They can reach a height of around 20-30m; considering our tree is only 7.70m, it is most likely very young. Honey locusts have bright green, pinnately compound leaves which turn yellow in the autumn and are shed in the winter. They leaf out relatively late in the spring (May), when strongly scented, off-white-colored flowers appear. The fruit of honey locusts are flat legumes, which are eaten by herbivores who then excrete the seeds in droppings. The pulp on the inside of the fruit is sweet, where the name Honey locust originates, and has been used for food and traditional medicine as a sweetening agent by several Native American tribes.

Maidenhair Tree
Gingko bilboa
Tree ID: 141
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 16, 2022
Ginkgo biloba, also known as the maidenhair tree, is considered one of the oldest plants on Earth. This tree is native to China and is often looked at as “living fossil” since it is the last living species of the Gingkoales, an order which appeared over 290 million years ago. The actual maidenhair tree appeared later, almost 180 million years ago during the Jurassic period. These large trees reach heights of up to 50m in China, but in North America, their average height is between 20 and 35m. As a large, deeply rooted tree, the maidenhair is very resistant to extreme weather changes, making it the perfect tree to be planted between Yale Health and Science Hill. The tree watches over the stressed students rushing to Science Hill and it greets the hospital’s daily visitors, rain or shine.

Bur Oak
Quercus macrocarpa
Tree ID: 138
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 16, 2022
The bur oak is a large, deciduous, slow-growth tree with simple leaves and a uniform crown of thick, spreading branches. Bur oaks are extremely resilient, displaying high levels of fire-resistance (thick bark), cold-tolerance, aerosol and soil salt tolerance, and drought resistance (deep taproot), surviving even in mineral-poor soil. The Bur oak has monoecious character with imperfect flowers, with a strategy of masting. This means acorns are produced in large quantities every few years in order to overwhelm consumption by wildlife. Bur oaks have a lifespan exceeding 200 years, approaching 1000 years. It has a wide distribution in North America, being native to Eastern NA. Bur oaks initial height growth is normally slow for the first 3 - 5 years, dependent on environmental conditions (sun exposure in particular). Based on the height, diameter, and growth factor, this individual is approximately 12 years old.

Common Boxwood
Buxus sempervirens
Tree ID: 144
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 16, 2022
The common boxwood is a beautiful, thick shrub that provides clear aesthetic value to its surroundings. This particular shrub is displayed individually outside Yale Health, though they are commonly planted in close proximity to other common boxes to form a continuous hedge. We have named this shrub Penelope, and she adds great character to the landscape through her unpredictable and jagged form.

White Fringetree
Chionanthus virginicus
Tree ID: 135
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 15, 2022
The White Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) is a dicot, deciduous tree with grey bark. During the spring and summer the tree blooms with dark green leaves small white flowers that don nicknames such as "Snowflower Tree," "Flowering Ash," "Old Man's Beard," and "Grandfather Graybeard." The the height of our tree is 2.9 meters, but adult Fringetrees can grow up to 10 meters tall. The DBH is 0.040 meters (measuring the four bottom, thickest pieces of the trunk). The fruiting bodies appear as dark blue, oval shaped clusters of drupes. The Fringetree is related to the olive family, and the fruiting bodies reflect this similarity. As White Fringetrees tend to be late bloomers, we won't expect flowers on our tree until April or May, but are excited to smell the famously sweet fragrance when it blooms.

Wych Elm
Ulmus glabra
Tree ID: 133
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 15, 2022
Have you ever seen such a beautiful sight? If you answer that question with a yes, but you haven’t made it to the cross-section between Sachem and Prospect street, then you are lying. You will not see true beauty until you reach Ingalls rink. There lies, Petunia. This Wych Elm can be found outside "The Whale", a hockey rink located in New Haven, Connecticut. It thus can be referred to as the Guardian of the Whale, overlooking this ice rink's parking lot as well as the food trucks camped outside of Sachem St. The Wych Elm is a rather rare sight as it has been decimated by Dutch Elm Disease, a fungal disease that plagues elms since it arrived in the UK in the 1960s [1]. This tree can grow to a height of 30m [1] but currently stands at a small 2.5m. Make sure to swing by and take a look at it!

American Hophornbeam
Ostrya virginiana
Tree ID: 134
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 15, 2022
Beautiful little tree located outside of Pauli Murray, perfect size to hug. Friendly tree
picture of an eastern redbud

Eastern Redbud
Cercis canadensis
Tree ID: 136
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 15, 2022
The eastern redbud is a deciduous tree with a central leader and round/oval form. Its leaves are alternate, simple, heart-shaped, and range from 3-5 inches high and wide. The leaves take on an alternate form, and have entire margins. The apices are emarginate. The bases are cordate. This tree sits outside the Murray gate facing Sachem St and the food carts. 13.1 units DBH

American Bittersweet
Celastrus scandens
Tree ID: 131
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 15, 2022
This American Bittersweet is located outside the 'Whale' an ice rink considered a work of architectural majesty designed by Erno Saarinen. However, the real work of architectural splendor is this tree (a.k.a. Lillian) designed by nature.
Photograph of the red maple with full summer foliage

Red maple
Acer rubrum
Tree ID: 132
Prospect and Sachem
Date of tree entry: February 15, 2022
This red maple calls the patch of grass outside Ingall's Rink home, but its species can be found along the East Coast. Red maples have the greatest north-south range of any species that lies exclusively on the East coast of North America, growing in forest from Newfoundland down to the southern tip of Florida. Stop by in the autumn to see the red maple's signature flame red foliage.

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