Trees on the Yale Nature Walk

Red pine, also known as Norway pine or eastern red pine, is an evergreen conifer tree with a conical shape and a straight trunk. It is native to northeastern United States and parts of Canada, and it can be found from Newfoundland and Manitoba, all the way south to Pennsylvania, and west as far as Minnesota. It typically reaches heights of 50 to 80 feet, with some specimens growing up to 125 feet tall, though our specimen seems to be a baby at only around 12 feet so far. The bark of red pine is reddish-brown, giving the tree its name, and its needles are green, slender, and grow in bundles of two. The tree produces ovoid seed cones that have a beautiful scent! Enjoy this beautiful tree in every season and watch it grow throughout the years!

The Chinese Dogwood Tree, or Cornus kousa, is a small to medium tree originally native to East Asia. It was originally introduced to North America in the 19th century. It blooms in late April to early May. Kousa berries are soft, sweet, and edible, with a flavor that is similar to that of a persimmon. However, the seeds are attached to the pulp, making them difficult to be eaten directly. The berries have a hard rind, which is often discarded due to its bitter taste; however, the rind is also edible. The kousa is believed to have transmitted a deadly fungus to native dogwoods in the late 1900s. This anthracnose fungus started to destroy native dogwoods in the U.S. (Cornus florida). At the time, the kousa was not considered invasive, as the fruits of the kousa did not appeal to wildlife in America. Its fruit was the original food for monkeys in East Asia. The kousa population was subsequently planted in the U.S to help mediate the loss of native dogwoods, as botanists thought the population could be controlled and regulated (thinking it could not become an invasive species due to the lack of the necessary wildlife required to spread seeds and eat its fruit). In recent years, the kousa has evolved to no longer rely on monkeys to spread and reproduce. Today, the kousa is now considered invasive in the state of New Jersey, as some researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst believe there is often a lag between when a species is introduced and the time it takes to be invasive. The kousa was previously hailed as a substitute for the dying native dogwood population, but today, it poses a threat and is another invasive species. This particular Cornus kousa tree was approximately 5.55 m and had three large branches that branched right from the bottom. It had many different branches coming off it and a DBH of approximately 23.7 cm. As of April 22nd, 2024, it has begun to bud; however, it has not fully bloomed yet. We can expect the tree to bloom in the Marsh Botanical Gardens in the coming weeks.

The paperbark maple is one of the most beautiful of the maple family. Native to central China, this deciduous tree slowly grows up to 9 meters tall and 6 meters wide, with the trunk's circumference reaching 28 cm. The branches, which grow low to the ground, don trifoliate leaves, and the trunk is composed of orange to bronze papery bark that peels back on the trunk over time. The maple prefers full sun and moist soil for growth but will settle for partial shade as well. Though once common in central China, deforestation and lack of conservation has made it an endangered species in its native land, while it has become a popular ornamental tree around the United States.

The Cotoneaster dammeric is a species of flowering plant native to central and southern China. This shrub is a vigorous, dense, evergreen shrub with elliptic-oblong leaves. This plant blooms small white flowers in May, followed by red berries. At Yale, the Bearberry shrub is located throughout the Pauli Muarry and Benjamin Franklin walkway. The shrub is low growing and expansive covering much of the peripheral walk-way.