Trees on the Yale Nature Walk

Tree ID: 67
Date of tree entry: February 8, 2017
The Eastern Ironwood, known also as the American Hophornbeam, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Hophornbeam, Ironwood, or Leverwood, stretches over much of the Eastern United States with its attractive foliage and bell-like inflorescences. Be sure to come in the summer to admire its attractive yellow-green color and festive white flowers. The tree has 3 trunks, arising from the main trunk at 17.5 cm, probably after coppicing. The estimated DBH is 0.1414 m based on calculations given by Hari.
Tree ID: 70
Date of tree entry: February 8, 2017
The apricot tree is a small tree with a dense, spreading canopy. Also known as the ansu apricot, Siberian apricot, or Tibetan apricot, its origin is not exact due to its extensive prehistoric history of cultivation, but it is almost certainly somewhere in Asia and commonly thought to be Armenia. In modern times, it is most heavily cultivated in the Middle East, Western Asia, Northeastern America, and Eastern China. Apricot trees are perennials, meaning that they can live for very long periods of time; apricots usually live between 40 and 150 years. The apricot is native to a continental climate with cold winters, but is somewhat versatile and can grow in more Medeterranian environments as long as they have a suffient dormant period. The apricot is quite cold-hardy, more so than most other drupes including the peach, and can withstand temperatures as cold as −30 °C.
Tree ID: 71
Date of tree entry: February 8, 2017
The Leyland Cypress is the hybrid cross between Monterey cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa, and Alaska cedar, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis. It is a tall and slender evergreen tree, and is very popular to plant as a screen or wind breaker because it forms a dense barrier, and can grow well in a variety of soil and climate conditions. In the Marsh Gardens, it is ironically planted in the middle of a relatively open area, so it does not serve its usual purpose as a wind breaker whatsoever.
Tree ID: 69
Date of tree entry: February 8, 2017
The Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), also known as the southern cypress, is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae that grows on saturated and seasonally inundated soils in the lowlands of the Southeastern and Gulf Coastal Plains of the United States. Because of its high presence in the south, it is the official state tree of Louisiana. The bald cypress is a large slow-growing and long-lived tree typically reaching heights of 30–35 m (100–120 ft) and a trunk diameter of 1–2 m (3–6 ft). The bark is gray-brown to red-brown, thin and fibrous with a stringy texture, having a vertically interwoven pattern of shallow ridges and narrow furrows. The leaves are alternate and linear, with flat blades borne on the twig that are spirally arranged on the stem, but twisted at the base to lie in two horizontal ranks, 1–2 cm long and 1–2 mm broad. The main trunks are surrounded by cypress knees, which come up from the surface at a distance from the trunk. Baldy cypress is monoecious. This species is a popular ornamental tree, grown for its light, feathery foliage and orange-brown to dull red fall color.
Tree ID: 59
Date of tree entry: February 7, 2017
"The shadow of the walnut tree is poison to all plants within its compass." --Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) This imposing tree is located in the gaggle of trees behind 245 Prospect. Unsurprisingly enough, the Eastern Black Walnut is most well known for the fruit it produces--the walnut. While walnuts do not have a strong smell, the leaves, stems, and fruit husks have a spicy odor. Eastern Black Walnuts can live as long as 130 years. Eastern Black Walnuts are allelopathic, meaning that they excrete chemicals that harm competition that is "within its compass."
Tree ID: 61
Date of tree entry: February 7, 2017
This lovely black cherry stands next to a home on Mansfield Street. The wood is rich and reddish-brown, highly valued for use as hardwood in North America. This species is bittersweet, in more ways than one: the tree's fruits are edible and can be eaten raw—they are used to flavor rum and brandy ("cherry bounce"), as well as to make jellies and wine—but the roots, bark, leaves, and twigs can be highly toxic to wildlife, due to the presence of cyanogenic compounds. The tree has been introduced to Europe, where it was once prized for its handsome blooms and foliage, though the tree's trunk is not especially showy. The species has succeeded as an invasive species in England and continental Europe — far outside its natural range, in Southeastern Canada and the the Eastern States. In English, the tree has known many different names: Wild cherry, black cherry, mountain black cherry, and rum cherry.
Tree ID: 62
Date of tree entry: February 7, 2017
This gigantic London Plane tree sits on the corner of Mansfield and Woodland, just a few blocks up from Ingalls Rink. Its beautiful green bark and rich texture provide this residential area with a touch of nature. Intertwined with the power lines that run parallel to the street, its bare branches reach over 50 feet high, which is slightly smaller than the average height of 60-100 feet tall. This tree's habitat is commonly urban, which allows this London Plane to reside comfortably on the outskirts of the bustling city of New Haven. Its branches have been barren for quite some time due to the winter season, but the multicolored, camouflage-patterned bark is a year-round spectacle.
Tree ID: 27
Date of tree entry: April 21, 2016
This tree not only has an English and Latin name but also a Japanese name: koyamaki. In an area in Japan known as Mt. Kiso, locals put koyamaki branches on the graves of their loved ones because they believe that these branches can lead spirits back to the land of the living. The koyamaki is a coniferous evergreen that only grows wildly in two areas of Japan. Originally, the tree populated North America, Europe, and Asia but became extinct in Europe during one of the glacial periods. It is known as a living fossil, in that it has inhabited the earth for at least 230 million years. The species has been around since the Jurassic Period, and its image serves as the crest for Prince Hisahito of Akishino, who is third in line to become emperor of Japan. The trees prefer to live in moist, acidic soils in direct sunlight, and they can grow to heights as high as 27 meters. In the United States, however, they typically do not exceed nine meters in height. Often, an individual tree can survive for over one hundred years. These trees tend to be expensive and hard to purchase, since they grow so slowly. The tree is the only member of the sciadopityaceae family.
Tree ID: 51
Date of tree entry: April 20, 2016
This American witch-hazel tree resides in the Grove-Street Cemetary, on the grave of Kingman Brewster, the seventeenth President of Yale University. The tree itself is small, with a short base and a number of stems and branches growing from that point. Its flowers are usually yellow in bloom, but sometimes shade towards orange and red.
Tree ID: 56
Date of tree entry: April 20, 2016
This species of spruce tree is native to the Rocky Mountains. Due to its ornamental value, blue spruce has been introduced to locations far beyond its native range. "Pungens" in Latin refers to the stiff and sharply pointed leaves. This blue spruce sits center-west of Grove Street Cemetary in full sunlight. Its stiff, horizontal branches lend an air of solemnity to the landscape.

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