Tree of Heaven / Ailanthus altissima

Tree of heaven buds have a raised leaf scar. The bark of the tree is smooth.

Tree of heaven can thrive in most soil types and has been used in strip mine reclamation. It may grow from sprouting from roots and is a prolific seeder. The tree can withstand drought but not flooding.

Below is a photo of a tree of heaven that I transplanted in the spring of 1993 or 1994. It was knee high then. Now its 33' high with a canopy spread of 25' and a circumference of 29".

Fall Photos around the Block

Walnut: Bud and Bark

Continuing my bark and bud theme here is Black walnut.


The bud is fuzzy and light colored.


Black walnut bark has a cross hatch pattern.

"Many, O LORD my God, are ^(A)the wonders which You have done,
And Your ^(B)thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You
If I would declare and speak of them,
They ^(C)would be too numerous to count."
Psalm 40:5

Fallen Pawpaw Leaves

Hiking back to my work truck after lunch break, I came upon this group of Pawpaw leaves. Their size causes them to dominate the forest floor. They range from 6" to 12" long. These were closer to the 12" size. Here is the Missouri fact sheet on this tree.

Turtle

Redbud

Notice in this photo the bowl of the tree is cracked. I have found this in a number of redbuds. The wood is very hard which may cause cracking instead of flexing with the wind.

Red Bud is one of my favorite trees. I have a lot of them popping up in my back yard. It is a short lived tree and because of the irregular shape has no commercial value.

In the spring the buds can be seen in the winter woods budding out before many others trees start their activity.

The seeds may remain inactive/dormant for years.

They have been known to flower after 7 years though they do not produce fruit the first year.

I have found by trying to transplant Redbud from one part of my yard to another that they produce a deep tap root.



The older redbuds get the less tolerance for shade they have. What I have noticed that some redbuds start inside the forest edge but they branch out toward the edge of the woods.

I remember taking some photos of large redbuds in some woods near my house. But now they are gone to development. I have not run across the photos as of yet.

Redbud Cercis canandensis

Fact sheet

Books I've Read

Louis L'Amour "Last of the Breed"
An air force pilot shot down by Soviets and taken to prison. He is a Sioux/Cheyenne and breaks out of prison and eludes the search for him in Siberia.
Well written, fast read, clean.

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Golden Spruce by John Valiant
Interesting on the life along British Columbia.

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The Moccasin Speaks
Living as captives of dog solider warriors.

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In A Dark Wood by Alston Chase

A long book 421 pages but it was well written. Not a liberal view, showing how Preservation, conservation has progressed in the 20th century.

The battle over clear-cutting. Big business vs. big conservation agencies. The small business and forest workers have lost much. Earth First! and eco-terrorism and tree sitting.

I worked in Oregon forests off and on for 7 years, so I had some personal interest in the book.

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Forest and the Trees by Gordon Robinson
Life and Adventures of a Quaker Among the Indians by Thomas C Batty
"A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains" by Isabella L. Bird

Books on my wish list

An interesting book called "Between Earth and Sky" is blogged here. I have not read the book but am thinking about it. The ultimate objective of the book is to instill a sense of mindfulness about the importance of trees and forests – the lungs of our Earth.

Another book on my wish list is "The Urban Tree Book" by Arthur Plotnik

Books in my Library
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
Roadside Kansas A Traveler's Guide to its Geology and Landmarks by Rex C. Buchanan and James R. McCauley
A Treasury of Outdoor Life Edited by William E. Rae 1898 - 1981
Jack London Stories of Adventure
Sportsman's Guide to Game Animals by Leonard Lee Rue III
The Complete Guide to Hunting by Arthur L. Cone Jr.
Mammals of North America by Victor H. Cahalane

The Life of the Forest by Jack McCormick
America's Seashore Wonderlands
Deep-river Jim's Wilderness Trail Book
The Great American Forest by Rutherford Platt
Plant Pruning in Pictures by Montague Free
Purple Martin by J. L. Wade

Guides and Texts
Shrubs and Woody Vines of Missouri by Don Kurz
Trees of Missouri by Carl Settergren and R. E. McDermott
Trees of Missouri By Don Kurz
Missouri Trees by J. E. Wylie And Ramon Gas
Trees and Shrubs Peterson Field Guide
Trees of North America Golden Field Guide
A Key to Missouri Trees in Winter by Jerry Cliburn & Ginny Klomps
Keys to Woody Plants by W. C. Muenscher
Fruit Key & Twig Key to Trees & Shrubs by William M. Harlow
Birds Of Eastern And Central North America Peterson Field Guide
Birds of North America National Geographic Society Field Guide
A Guide To Field ID of Birds Of North America A Golden Field Guide
A Field Guide to Western Birds Peterson
The Encyclopedia of Birds Edited by Dr. Christopher M Perris & Dr. Alex LA Middleton
Botany An Introduction to Plant Biology
Reader's Digest North American Wildlife 2,000 plants and animals
General Ecology by S. J. McNaughton & Larry L. Wolf
Forest Ecology by Stephen H. Spurr & Burton V. Barnes
High School Biology
Wild Edibles of Missouri by Jan Phillips
The Common Rocks and Mineral of Missouri by W. D. Keller

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.

Sunlight Shinning Through The Woods

Hike along Missouri river

My dog and I started hiking along the path following the Missouri river.

When we came to the end of the trail, you can see the bridge where we started. It looks closer than we walked. The trail weaving causes a longer walk than it appears. We sat down along the river and rested. My black lab is not too friendly with water. I threw a stick in the river, she jumped into get it and went under. That was enough for her, she turned around and got out.

Hiking further into the park we left the river and headed to some bluffs. To the left was cane grass and to the right it appeared to be a planted weed for the whole field was covered with it.

Getting to a stopping point I tied up the hammock and rested. My dog was bushed and went to sleep under the hammock.

We followed the tree line as far as this photo shows on the way back.

It was a good day off.

Moon Set

Photo taken at 6:22 AM September 26th 2007
Photo taken 6:23 AM September 23rd, 20007

The moon went down fast after I took these photos.

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him? "
Psalm 8:3,4

Cattails on Frozen Swamp

Link to use of cattails.

Forest Edge

A lot of times woods will present an imposing front that will discourage people from entering. But after you get through the forest edge the forest opens up. The photo below is about 50' inside the forest edge of the photo above.

What happens is the availability of light. Along the forest edge trees put out branches to catch the light all the way down to the forest floor. Inside the forest light sometimes will not get down very far so the trees shed their branches below because they are not producing without sunlight.

When I enter these woods it is almost like going into another world.

Walking by faith can be like this at times. God may lead you to do something and you are afraid to follow that leading. But when you do things fall into place. God will direct you how to go as you follow His directions.

"Isaiah 30:21 "And you ears will hear a word behind you, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right or to the left."