Shag Bark Hickory Fall Color

Deuteronomy 18:10
“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,"

White Mulberry

I went back to the Mulberry to ID it. It was not easy for me to find. I found it on the third attempt. I enjoy walking through these woods but it was interesting to see how hard it was to find this tree.

This leaf might causes me to think this tree is a red Mulberry.


My thinking was this was a Red Mulberry. But it turns out to be a White Mulberry. Why?

Red Mulberry White Mulberry
Leaf hairy beneath Leaf- not harry beneath
even base uneven bases
buds greenish brown dark borders Buds red brown
Bark red brown smooth ridges Bark Yellow brown bark


The uneven base of this leaf might cause me to think this is a Red Mulberry.


Psalm 5:3
"In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch."

River Bottom Woods

Hiking along a stretch of woods by the Missouri river I came across this multi stem Mulberry. I was not sure what kind of Mulberry it was. I later went back looking for the tree and could not find it. I will try again from the same direction I did the first time.


Later on my hike I came across these Silver maples. I do not remember seeing any of these along this stretch of river. There are plenty of Box elder maple to be seen, I was surprised to see these.


Looking down at the river there is a patch of Black willow. This is the only tree sized willow that grows around here. Willow is the only tree growing along this stretch of river. It can withstand more flooding than most trees.

Ezekiel 17:5
" 'He took some of the seed of your land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water,

Urban Fall Color Maples

Tall Paw Paw in Fall Color

Driving on a back road I saw these Paw paw in Fall color. I don't usually see Paw paw this tall. They usually grow under other trees.

Recap, News and Blogs

Body Soul and Spirit blog had a good article on Simplicity. She added quotes and they were great.

Here is an interesting group of ideas on solitude.

Katy Trail and Solitude

I was told about this old rock quarry east of Clifton City. I enjoyed walking around this area. I would like to return.



I ride a bicycle for many reasons. Solitude is one of them.

A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more quiet until in the end he realized that prayer is listening.

Soren Kierkegaard

In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds.

Richard J. Foster

Loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is inner fulfillment.

Richard J. Foster


"In the early morning, while it was still dark Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." Mark 1:35
"But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray." Luke 5:16

Fall Ash Tree

I noticed this tree driving by in the morning at work. The morning sun was on the tree and the color was extra brilliant.

Psalm 72:17
"May his name endure forever;May his name increase as long as the sun shines;And let men bless themselves by him; Let all nations call him blessed."

Fall Colors

Honey Locust Fall Color

Fall Color of Ash Trees

Fall Color of Sugar Maples

I took these photos of Sugar Maples. The small tree on the right I took a close up of the leaves in the photo below.


Again here is a photo above of maple and the leaves of that tree below.

Recap, News and Blogs

C'mon Let's Plant a Tree has interesting articles on tree planting. They also have interesting nature paintings.

Here is a blog, called Rurality, with game camera photos of armadillo.

Here is a site on American Impressionism. Some very well done art work.

I was browsing trees, if you please and I saw the book "The Tree" by Colin Tudge.
I looked it up at my library and I will check it out to read. After going to the library I realized I checked this book out and was bogged down reading it. I came across another book on the shelf next to it called, "Trees: Their Natural History" by Peter Thomas

God's Wonderful Creation blog has a sweet group of star fish.

The Wanderin' Weeta blog has a good entry on Snow geese. "Snow Geese! Thousands of Snow Geese!"

Katy Trail North of Sedelia

Photos from my Katy Trail ride N of Sedelia.

Bitternut Hickory Turns Early

I ran into this bitternut hickory October 11th. It was one of the first trees to turn this year.



If you click on this photo you will see the distictive bud that makes this tree a Bitternut hickory.

Black Oak

In the Missouri Ozarks, Short leaf pine was logged out between 1890 and 1920. Scarlett oak and Black oak moved into replace the pine. Now these trees are in decline and government agencies are making an effort to replace the oak with pine.



I came across this tree while I was riding the Katy Trail. I had stopped and locked my bike to a tree and walked into the woods. The hike brought me up a hill which winded me. I was already tired because of the long ride on my bicycle.

Black Oak Bark

The bark is more blocky than other oaks. Red oaks have more streaky bark while White oaks have more flaky bark. Older Bur oak has blocky bark but its leaves are distinctive.

Black oak is more drought tolerant than Northern red oak and about the same as White oak.

A lot of regeneration after clear cutting are sprouts from stumps or damaged advance regeneration. Sprouts will grow fast because of the large root system they have to draw from.

Black Oak Leaf

Black oak grows best in moist well drained soils but because of competition it dews better in clay dry hillsides.

The tree is a persistent sprouter.

Black oak is distinguished from Scarlet by having angled buds where scarlet does not. And Black oak has hairy end buds and Northern red oak does not. The bark of black oak is dark and blocky.


Isaiah 61:3
"To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."

Black Oak Tree

The double tree that makes a V is the Black oak.

Black oak Quercus velutina

It will grow up to 70' tall
It has a relative short live span of less than 120 years.

Back oak is not used as an ornamental because of its slow growth and lack of fall color.

Black oak on upland dry sites usually is of poor quality. 1/3rd of the Black oak is canceled out of commercial quality because of fire scars or bug infestation damage from branch stubs.

Black oak begins to produce seeds about age 20. Best production of seeds are between the ages of 40 to 75.

Insects, squirrels, deer turkey, small rodents, and birds consume many of the acorns.

To compete successfully in a new stand the advance regeneration of Black oak should be at least 4-5' tall.

Acorns germinate in the spring. Best conditions are when seed is in contact with our covered by soil, with a light layer of litter over them.

Recap, News & Other Blogs

American Forests has an interesting Youtube video, called:
Nature and the Human Network in the Piedmont Crescent. 9:55

Weather looks favorable for autumn color.

Interesting article how Beetles use a fungus to their advantage.

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

I have some posts coming up this week on Black oak. After writing and studying about this tree I will be more aware of it and will be keeping an eye out for more of them.

I enjoyed my study of Bald cypress. Not living where these trees naturally grow hinders my ability to get good photographs but it is a unique tree.

Here is the best article of the week. 10,000 Trees blog has an article called " The 12 Most Magnificent Trees in the World" Largest tree, tallest tree, biggest spread of a tree, the oldest tree. etc.