Basswood vs. Mulberry

Sometimes when I see these leaves on the ground I get confused if it is a basswood or mulberry. Here is a contrast between a basswood leaf and a mulberry leaf. Notice the mulberry leaf has predominate small veins while the basswood leaf seems smoother. Click on photo for larger view.

Horrizonal Eastern Redbud

We saw this Red Bud tree on a trail. The tree had to grow a long ways before it turned back up. It was bent over but it wasn't killed by the trauma. The branches grew up to get to the light.

What might of happened, the tree got bent over and the branches that were now going sideways died and the new growth of branches growing up survived.

Even with a trauma the tree was not giving up but continued to live. This reminds me of some people. They face unbelievable odds but continue to thrive.

Black Cherry

This is a photo of a Black cherry sapling.


This photo shows one of the ways to ID this tree. The underside of the leaf is hairy by the midrib. Click on the photo to enlarge. You can see the hairs on the midrib near the base of the leaf.

Duckweed Info / Lemnaceae

Duckweed is the common name of the family Lemnaceae.

Here is a local pond I noticed that was covered in this scum. My interest was perked when I read about it in RoundRock Journal. It is interesting written journal of a couples experiences on some rural property they have purchased and visit from time to time. They describe their efforts to improve and experience nature.

My dog Molly and I drove out to this area to find the pond and take some pictures. We hiked up and down some loess gullies. And encountered one interesting water fall on the way there.


Here is some splashed up against a log. There are a large and small leaf of this plant
Click on photo to see a closeup view. These small leaves float on the water for they have air inside.

One type of duckweed called lesser duckweed has very small flowers. Being small they are carried by animals to other places.

Edit: A blog called Niches has a comment on duckweed. He says, "Koi are vegetarians, primarily, so they may be feasting on the duckweed." This may be why one pond without Koi has duckweed and another pond nearby with Koi does not have duckweed.

Below are some links about Duckweed.

The Charms of Duckweed


Botanical Facts


Duck Weed Control


Wikipedia article


Duck weed used as a bio cleaning agent


Aquaguide Duckweed and Watermeal Control


Aquatic Plant and Fish Habitat management

Waterfall

Interesting waterfall below my duckweed pond.

Blown Down Hackberry

This tree has not been down long, because there are green leaves on the tree.

Website with many LInks

Alliance for Community Trees
Tree by Tree, Street by Street

Fall Colors

Late afternoon sun highlights the yellow leaves in this maple forest.


Here is a fun photo of a maple that has its yellow leaves amplified in the late afternoon sun.

Urban Forests link

Here is a link to a web site that deals with urban forests. The title of the page is:


Effects of Urban Forests and their Management on Human Health and Environmental Quality

Golden Tree / Koelreuteria bipinnata.

Here is the Golden tree that I took a photo of in late July. This latest photo was taken on October 19th 2007.


Here is a close up of the seed pods.

The Muddy MO

Photo taken October 16th 2007 10:56 AM the day after some heavy rain.


Photo taken October 20th 2007 8:47 AM a few days after a heavy rain.

Both photos were taken from the exact same spot.

I was wondering if the settings were different on the camera because the water color in the top photo is a lot darker. But if you look at the color of the sky and trees they are close. It is not just the driftwood but the mud in the water that is interesting.

Lake and Trail Photos

A recent trip to Watkins Mill State Park. The lake just after sun up.

Following a trail

The Life and Adventures of a Quaker Amoung the Indians

I found by chance by looking among the library stacks another Western Frontier Library book.

"The Life and Adventures of a Quaker Among the Indians" by Thomas C. Battey





As always click on the photo to make it larger to read.



There were descriptions of the landscape which were also interesting. The best part of the book showed how a God fearing man could bring peace to Indians being goated into war.

Carbon Calculator

American Forests has a carbon calculator that tells you how many trees you need to plant to counter balance your carbon footprint. My family needs to plant about 100 trees a year to counter balance our carbon footprint.

New List of Environmental Groups

At the bottom of this page is a new list of environmental organizations. Links to each one was added. I am sure there are many more, but these are the ones I had a list of.

I will be checking these links and adding to them.