I have a shameful confession to make: I don’t know much about trees.
OK, maybe oaks. In the middle of summer, I can spot an oak or a maple and make a guess at an elm — elms have kind of oval-shaped, pointy leaves with saw-toothed edges, right?
But in the middle of winter, I am in awe of the person who can point to a tree a hundred yards away and say, “Let’s head over to that walnut.” From where I stand, that person might as well be Daniel Boone.
In the winter, my known classifications of trees can be summed up as big, small and dead — though on that last one I don’t always trust my judgment.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Living in Brown County for over two years now, I feel kind of ashamed I haven’t learned more.
So when Jeff Riegel, vice president of the Stone Head Nature Conservancy, told me about a tree identification hike at the 122-acre Stone Head Nature Preserve in January, I knew I needed to go.
Stone Head, as many of you likely know, is a bit of a drive from anywhere, even Nashville. Yet, as the the nature preserve came into view, I was suddenly worried I wouldn’t find a parking space.
I didn’t expect a tree identification hike to draw so many people.
The ones I met came from all around the area. I didn’t recognize any of them, which is an increasingly odd experience for me in Brown County.
Well, there was one, Mike Kelley, who recently handed over care of the preserve to the recently-formed conservancy. Kelley has planted many of the trees on the preserve himself, but even he felt he could learn more.
As we started down the trail, I stole glances at the books that others leafed through. Should I have a book?
Ralph Unversaw, a Department of Natural Resources naturalist who was leading the hike, pointed out a tree. A man in front of me said something in Latin too quickly for me to process, and I began to feel a little out of place.
But then, a short time later, a woman asked if pawpaw fruit could be used for anything. Now, I may not know trees, but if you can turn it into a dessert, I know about it.
Suddenly, I realized there were plenty of us there just trying to get a foot in the door on understanding the world outside.
I have to admit, I learned to look at trees in a whole new way, even if I’d need my notes or a book to put the information to much use.
Well, some things stick out, such as how young beech trees hang onto their leaves in winter rather than dropping them. Add that to smooth bark and leaf buds rolled up “like cigars,” and I walked away from Unversaw’s talk feeling fairly confident I could pick out a beech tree in winter.
And it turns out even little things such as twigs can help to tell trees apart.
On cottonwood trees, the twigs form a kind of “J” shape, Unversaw told us. The new growth has ridges that can be felt with the fingers.
They also have large, pointed terminal buds at the ends, which will become leaves in the spring.
But maybe one of the easiest hints to the kind of tree isn’t anything about the tree at all. Is the tree in a dry, raised section of land? Less chance it’s cottonwood, which prefers damp soil, such as around the Zimmerman Wetland at the nature preserve.
Hickories, on the other hand, are going to take some time for me to get a handle on. Turns out that shellbark hickory actually has shaggier bark than shagbark hickory.
I do not find that helpful, you people who name things.
But shellbark grows well in areas such as wetlands, and shagbark prefers drier soil, so, that helps a little. And if that’s not enough, the nuts on shellbark are larger and more difficult to crack.
One young man there with his brothers and father held up a twig tipped with a large gall — a kind of knot of wood surrounding the twig, usually caused by insect infestation. The boy wanted to know what kind of tree it came from, and Unversaw looked around for a tree to match it with.
“Oh no,” the boy interrupted, “I brought it with me. We call it the ‘wood microphone.'” His father said he and his brothers were always carrying twigs with them.
The group smiled and laughed, and I remembered sticks and rocks and odd shaped bits of nature I would find as a child. When did I stop being that curious?
Unversaw told the group that without more features, it was difficult to guess what kind of tree the twig came from. Identifying trees — especially in winter — takes multiple features into account.
I wasn’t surprised that even bark holds hints, though I didn’t know identification might take a little digging. Unversaw pulled a small piece of the outer bark off of an elm and showed the group the reddish and whitish stripes.
Those stripes in the bark are indicators that a tree is an American Elm, he said. A woman from the group said she always thinks of the American flag as a way to remember.
And there was so much more information — more than I’ll ever remember from one encounter.
I found out that sassafras could be confused with walnut on first glance, but the orange color inside of the bark stands out. Perhaps even more so, sassafras stands out because every part of the tree has a pleasant aroma, from the lemony smell of the leaves and twigs to the pine-scented bark.
In Louisiana, people actually use the leaves to flavor gumbo, Unversaw said. Yeah, I didn’t have to look at my notes to remember that one.
After the walk, I joined the group defrosting by the campfire near the parking lot. A line formed to one side of people asking Unversaw additional questions. I have to admit, I went for the hot chocolate line first.
Riegel stood next to the fire, telling people more about the conservancy, which only took over care of the preserve from Kelley in the last few months. They can always use volunteers for work days, he said.
I’ll be honest, I hate doing things. I’m the kind of guy who’d pick a nap over a trip out for ice cream. But, maybe 36 is too young to be acting that old.
Maybe I need to come back out for the “March Fun (work) Day,” as the folks at the conservancy call it — even if I question putting those two words so close together. Maybe I can learn something. Maybe I’ll find a new favorite twig to take to someone who knows better than me and ask, “So, what’s this one?”
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More information about the Stone Head Nature Preserve and the conservancy:
Webpage: stoneheadconservancy.wordpress.com
Facebook: facebook.com/StoneHeadConservancy
Email: [email protected]
Events:
The Stone Head Nature Conservancy will host a March Fun (work) Day at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 12 at the preserve, at the junction of State Road 135 South and Bellsville Pike. Check Facebook for updates and weather delays before heading to the event.
On Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11, the conservancy plans to host Nature Awareness Days. Details will be on the conservancy’s website as they become available.
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