When my children were young, I used to pay a nickle to the kid who first identified the tree that I pointed to. We would be wandering along the trail and I would ask, "What kind of tree is that?" It was as an adult that our eldest daughter Kayden mentioned that she never once earned a nickle in this way because her younger sister Helen always answered correctly first. Kayden apparently felt that Helen and I shared some special talent when it came to Nature Finds. I was at that time forced to fess up that I actually knew relatively few trees and had only pointed out the ones that I was certain that I knew.
Here is my case for Tamarack: Tamaracks are cold tolerant to -65 degrees and hail from Canada. Canada is close to Vermont and VT is cold. Tamaracks prefer wet soils with a high (acidic) PH. The tree in question is at the Vernon Dam picnic area which is arguably a dry site but overlooking the river near Eastern Cottonwoods which also likes wet sites. There are pines in the area too, pines like acidic soil and Tamaracks are related to pines. Though a softwood, Tamaracks lose their needles in the winter, this tree was bare, so this tree isn't a Conifer unless it is dead. My last two pieces of evidence are just as compelling, I didn't recognize the bark on the tree and it had amber colored pitch oozing from it. Pines ooze and Tamaracks of course are related to pines.
Wayne's case for anything but a Tamarack: Tamaracks are shaped like a spruce tree and this tree definitely is shaped like a hardwood tree. Wayne argues that this tree is too tall to be a Tamarack, Tamaracks are 80 feet and less. I'm terrible at judging these sorts of things so I concede the point. I once bought a sofa for my living room wall...let's just say that it didn't end up there. Wayne thinks that the Tamarack's bark should look more like a White Cedar or an Eastern Hemlock. Lastly, Wayne noted that this tree is Deciduous and dormant.
So there you have it; it's definitely a Tamarack or definitely anything but. I'm leaving it up to the readers to decide. If Wayne earns more nickles than I, then he gets to buy me ice cream at Cold Brook store this summer, then we'll sit under that tree to enjoy it.
Update: Wayne now thinks it is a Black Cherry and I'm holding him to that guess because I still get ice cream. -Norma Manning
 |
| Bark |
 |
| Absence of lower branches, no needles or leaves |
 |
| Thick amber colored pitch oozing out of a wound |
 |
| Branches in the crown |
Cynthia J. Hill Both of the trees in contention, have an alternating branch pattern. However, I think I see a black knot high up in the branches which would make me guess it might be a black cherry.
ReplyDeleteImage may contain: sky
Very interesting. And you owe Kayden a few nickels. And that tree needs to exfoliate that bark.
ReplyDelete