Camo Pattern

Look at this gorgeous "camo" pattern on this sycamore tree!

250th Post Celebration Contest

Let's have a little fun!  In honor of my 250th blog post (see last post), I am giving away a free canvas and magnets.

How do you win one of these fabulous prizes?  Take the multiple choice quiz below and send your answers privately to sloughsleuth@gmail.com .  (Please do not post them in them in the comments on this page!)

The person with the highest score gets the canvas, and the runner up gets the magnets - your choices of photos from this blog.  If there is more than one person with the top score, the winners will be chosen randomly by drawing names out of a hat.  

So, read on and send me your answers, and thank you for visiting  my blog!  The contest closes March 1, 2014.

1.  What kind of bird is pictured above?
A.  Blue-footed Booby
B.  Magpie
C.  Song Sparrow
D.  Bobwhite Quail

2.  White kind of tree is pictured above?  (Note the thorns.)
A.  Honey Locust
B.  Aspen
C.  Walnut
D.  Oak

3.  What kind of fish is pictured above?
A.  Minnow
B.  Sturgeon
C.  Rainbow Trout
D.  Swordfish

4.  What insect is pictured above?
A.  Monarch Butterfly
B.  Grasshopper
C.  Dragonfly
D.  Staghorn Beetle

5.  What plant is pictured above?
A.  Jack in the Pulpit
B.  Wild Rose
C.  Wild Raspberry
D.  Pomegranate

6.  What kind of bird is pictured above?
A.  Pelican
B.  Killdeer
C.  Red-winged Blackbird
D.  Grackle

7.  What is the plant seed pictured above?
A.  Acorn
B.  Hazelnut
C.  Milkweed Pod
D.  Pumpkin Seed

8.  What animal's tail is pictured above?
A.  Raccoon
B.  Squirrel
C.  Muskrat
D.  Prairie Dog

9.  What kind of plant is pictured above?
A.  Fern
B.  Wild Raspberry
C.  Poison Ivy
D.  Common Reed

10.  What kind of birds are pictured above?
A.  Cedar Waxwings
B.  Red-tailed Hawks
C.  Tundra Swans
D.  Starling

Bonus question for extra credit!  What kind of plan is pictures above?

A.  Dandelion
B.  Crab Grass
C.  Sedge
D.  Rush

River Birch

Here are a couple of photos of river birch bark - such a great tree.  I love the peely look and the colors this tree provides, and it is one of the easier trees to identify.  I always feel like I am seeing an old friend when I come upon one of these.

Guess That Tree

Ok, folks, here we go.  Can you guess this familiar, native tree based on the photographic clues below?

Here is a picture of the fruit/seed, which last on the tree until late winter.

Here is a picture of the classic, mottled bark of this tree.

And here is a leaf.

You know this!  Think about it, and post your guesses in the comment section below, and thanks for playing!

Winter Sustenance

What's that in the snow?

It's pale yellow, and a bit  pulpy.  Any guesses?

Looks like pale broccoli - but it's not.

It's an Osage Orange that has been chewed to bits, probably by a squirrel, for a little winter sustenance.  Mmm, mmm, mmm!

Living History

The Osage Orange takes its name from the people of the Osage Nation.  The trees grew primarily in a swath of land running from southern Oklahoma and south-western Arkansas into eastern Texas.  It was well-known to native people, who prized the wood for bow making.  In fact, one of its other names is "bodark", from the French phrase "bois d'arc", which means bow wood.

Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis & Clark fame, obtained slips of this unique tree in early 1804, right before setting out on his journey.  It was a new species to him, and he sent the slips back home to President Thomas Jefferson, with whom he had lived and for whom he had worked as a secretary for two years.  Lewis called them Osage apples.  Sometimes today they are called hedge apples.

Both Jefferson and Lewis were naturalists.  Jefferson wanted to find a water route to the Pacific for his country, but he also had an interest in the new-to-him plants and animals that the expedition would encounter.  As a result, specimens of plants and animals were sent to him from the trail as often as circumstances allowed. The first shipment was in March of 1804, and included the Osage Orange cuttings.  During the two-year expedition, whole animals were prepared with taxidermy skills and sent back, as well as furs, bones, teeth, eggs, feathers, and plants, with written descriptions and sketches.  Theirs was a scientific journey of discovery, as well as a political one.

The slips had originally come from an Osage village about 300 miles west of St. Louis.  They were obtained by Pierre Chouteau, of the great fur trading family headquartered in St. Louis.  Lewis got them from Choteau and sent them to Jefferson.  Some cuttings were sent to Bernard McMahon, a Philadelphia horticulturist.  To this day, you can go and see Osage Orange trees from these first slips, growing in the St. Peter's Episcopal Church yard, and at the University of Virginia, founded by Jefferson - pieces of living history.

Whirlybirds

Every time I verify a fact that I think I know about some plant or animal, I always end up learning lots more than I thought I would.  And that's one of the reasons I love keeping this blog.  Take wind dispersal of tree seed pods, for example.

These seed pods are called helicopters or whirlybirds.  I found them scattered like gems on the shore, practically pulsing with the new life within.

Notice the crook in these pods.  This allows them to be acted upon by the wind in the same way that a helicopter rotor moves through the air.

Others are called spinners, flutterers, gliders and parachutes.  Each category has pods of a certain shape and design, which affects how they maneuver through the air as they make their trip earthward.

Little Pine Cones?

For a long while now, I have seen what I thought were tiny little pine cones on the ground, on certain trails that I walk.  I always seem to notice them when I am in a hurry to get somewhere, and haven't had time to stop and really investigate.  When I did have a few minutes to spare, I would try to photograph them, but my photos always turned out blurry.  Such a disappointment, since the tiny little cones are perfectly enchanting.

I ran into one of these tree again the other day, when I had a long wait in front of me.  With more time on my hands, I began to really look at the cones and where they came from.  It was only then that I realized the tree they came from was deciduous, and not an evergreen!  You can see a good picture of the leaves here:

Well, I finally put a name to the face!  This is an alder tree, and those are NOT pine cones!

There are three major types of alder trees in the continental United States.  Red alders are found almost entirely in the northwest.  Black alders are grown mainly by landscapers.  And then there are grey alders, which I think is what I have photographed here.

The cone-shaped objects are actually the fruits of the tree, and contain tiny seeds within them.  Now I know!

Leaf Litter

This kind of litter I can deal with!

Thorn In My Side

See those thorns?  That's called a "diagnostic feature".  Typically the thorns run from 4 - 8 inches long.  Not a tree you'd want to hug if you got lost.  And not a tree you'd really want in your yard or pasture, either.

This is a honey locust.  Those thorns are sharp enough to flatten your car tire, and can do real damage to a person, even when wearing thick boots.  You can see why farmers consider this tree a menace.

Most honey locust trees have thorns, but a small percentage do not.  There is also a thornless cultivated version, sold from nurseries.

The species name is Gleditsia Triacanthos, from the name of German botanist, Gottlieb Gleditsch, and Greek words meaning "three-spined".  (The thorns often grow with three prongs.)

The thorns are green when new, red when mature, and grey as they become aged and brittle.  All three can puncture your skin and leave you with a nasty wound.

The honey locust is actually part of the legume family.  Consider it a gigantic pea plant.  You are probably familiar with the long, leathery pods.

Their contents are eaten by foxes, squirrels, deer, and birds.  They are also edible to humans.  They have a sweet taste - hence the common name of "honey".  If you get hungry, just be sure you don't mix the honey locust up with the black locust, whose fruit should NOT be eaten.

Green Bean Tree?

Recently spotted a tree that seemed to have green beans growing on its branches.  Take a look:

I knew there had to be an interesting story behind this tree, and there was.

It's a catalpa tree, and native to North America.  According to my online research, the real name for this tree should have been "catawba", but the botanist who first described it made a transcription error, and it came out "catalpa".  The tree is now known by both names, and they relate directly to the name of the Catawba Indians.

This tree is also sometimes called the Indian Bean Tree, the Cigar Tree, the Monkey Cigar Tree, and the Fish Bait Tree.  This last name comes from the fact that catalpa caterpillars make excellent fish bait.  So much so, in fact, that some fisherman plant these trees in order to have a ready supply of bait on hand.

How many of you have heard of this tree before and knew it by sight?

Odd Leaf

Have you ever seen a leaf like this one before?

I never had, until Hyperion and I were taking a walk recently, in Illinois.  We came upon this tree, and the leaves all looked like they had had their tops cut straight off.  Barring some maniac with scissors, we knew this must be a natural phenomena and took these photos.  I was surprised that Hyperion couldn't identify this tree on sight.

Next came the investigation.  Through very clever deductive work (and some handy field guides, and Google searches), we were able to name our find.  This was yellow poplar.

Yellow poplars are sometimes known as tulip trees.  Their blossoms bear a resemblance to tulips.  They are not true tulips trees, but are really in the magnolia family instead.  They are also sometimes called canoe trees, and I'm sure you can guess why.  These trees are known for their great height - being among the tallest in North America, if not the tallest.  Yellow poplars are not as common as oaks and maples, and are rare west of the Mississippi River.  I was glad to have seen one, and should now be able to identify it any time I run across one in the future.

The Buttonbush

Saw this cool tree yesterday.  Found out it is a Buttonbush.  It grows in the water, or in wet soil, and that's where we saw it - along the river.  It is called a bush but can grow into a tree of 12 - 15 feet.

The perfectly round, white flowers are about the size of a ping-pong ball, and are covered with a beautiful fringe of styles - like a pin cushion.  These ripen into green fruits, which can remain on the tree throughout the fall, eventually turning brown.  I've never noticed these amazing flowers before, and upon seeing them, I felt like I was looking at something from fairyland.

This is a native species, and very useful.  Wood ducks nest in it, butterflies feed on the flower nectar, waterfowl eat the seeds, and deer browse on its leaves.  When growing in water, its lower portion provides a home for tiny organisms that are eaten by fish.  They are also called Button-Willows, and Honey Bells.

Mulberries

At scout camp last week I was pleased to find a mulberry tree right in the midst of our camp.  It helped provide shade, and was filled with berries.

This was a red mulberry tree, which is native.

There are also exotic, white mulberry trees, which were brought into the U.S. in the 1700's, the late 1820's and at other times, in hopes of using them in silk production.  The favorite food of the silk worm, by far, is the white mulberry leaf.  They will also eat red mulberry leaves, and interestingly, Osage orange leaves.  Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, imported mulberry trees and silkworms to the Utah territory in the 1850's, and members of the church there produced their own silk for about fifty years.

The fruit starts out white, then changes to red, and finally becomes a deep purple, as you can see in the photo, below.  The dark berries will stain your fingers but their sweetness is well worth it.

The ripe fruit drop to the ground, which is where I first noticed them in our camp.  They attracted raccoons and skunks, but these foragers only came around when we were all quietly resting in our cots.

I did not need to go so far afield to get photos of mulberries, as we have a tree growing in our backyard, but somehow I have never taken the time to photograph it.

Sumac

Here's another little friend of mine - sumac.

I've always liked sumac because it is easy to identify.  There's an absolute jungle of shrubs and trees out there in the world, and they can all look the same, but not sumac.  It's very distinctive, with its red bobs, which are called drupes.

The drupes can be used to make a kind of lemonade.  They have also been used as a spice, and a dye.  However, you'd want to be very sure what kind of sumac you were using.  Consult an expert to avoid ingesting anything toxic.

One common types of sumac is smooth sumac.  Another is staghorn sumac, which has a fuzzy texture to its branches, like velvet on antlers.  You can see that in this photo:

Sumac grows in stands.  You might see cutleaf sumac, a domestic variety, where the leaves are toothed, or jagged.  And then there is poison sumac, which has white drupes.  Avoid that like the plague.

The word "sumac" traces its etymology down through the ages, back through Old French,  Medieval Latin, Arabic and finally back Syriac.  I loved learning this, because I had figured it was a Native American word.  And what do you think that original Syriac word "summaq" meant?  Red.