Big leaves and small leaves at Elmwood Cemetery

Tree # 94 Bigleaf magnolia

August 12, 2014 brought about 100 people to the glass-walled chapel/multi-purpose space just past the bridge entering Elmwood Cemetery. The topic was the yellow fever epidemic of 1878 (eerily mirroring the current ebola outbreak in Africa). Four authors who had written books and articles about this time were there to read from their works and answer questions. It was standing room only for the 5:30 panel presentation. Looking out the window onto the treescape at Elmwood Cemetery, a large bald cypress stood just to the west, Southern magnolias shaded gravesites in all directions, but just across the street to the south there was another type of tree, an unfamiliar large leaved tree. As the lecture ended I was heading out to check out this tree, but stopped to ask the Elmwood host where the Elmwood fringe tree was located. The fringe tree is one of two champion trees at Elmwood. I was disappointed to hear the fringe tree had died and had to be cut down. A new branch is growing from the stump, but the champ is dead. I do not know where another fringe tree exists in Memphis, so it may be a while to get that tree covered. But almost as a compensation the new tree was waiting across the road.

Bigleaf magnolia Aug. 12, 2014

This was a pleasant surprise. I had seen this tree before in Seattle (University of Washington Botanical Gardens, Washington Park Arboretum) when I was a student. I did not expect to see it in Memphis. In fact, the gardens there have an interactive map that is searchable for plants. I was able to type in Magnolia macrophylla and three locations appeared marked on this map (in the Magnolia section of the park).

The leaves ruffle in an unusual way in the wind

The plant's name Magnolia macrophylla recognizes its notable feature. The leaves can be over one foot long as shown below. If you think about it, large leaves are not common on temperate forest trees. Northern trees tend to be dominated by conifers with scale-like or needle-like leaves (spruce, fir, pine, cedar). Deciduous northern trees have small leaves too, like aspens, birches, willows and alders. Temperate trees have somewhat larger leaves, but not huge. Think oaks, beeches, maples. You don't generally get big leaves until reaching tropical forests. This tree is native the the southeastern US. The leaves are the largest of any native North American tree.

Some "macrophylla" leaves

Elmwood is a user-friendly place for tree lovers. Many trees have tags.

Tree #23 American holly (revisited)

A few paces from the bigleaf magnolia we find a small-leaved tree: American holly. We posted on American holly early in the blog. However, this particular tree has an amazing trunk shown below and I thought it worth placing here with its neighboring big leaf magnolia.

An eminently climbable tree like the E.H. Crump Park Magnolia, Aug. 12, 2014

American holly at Elmwood

Hollies are not fast growers, so this is a big tree.

Bradford pears at hoary age

Tree #93 Bradford pear

Spring in Memphis is peppered with white flowering trees before almost any other blooms can be seen. These are usually young trees that are highly symmetrical like a child's top upside down.  There is a large collection of these trees at the cloverleaf of Poplar and I-240. They are very showy in the spring. However, trees get old just like people and they lose their symmetry and a few branches and they get bigger. Here are two Bradford pears that have seen a few winters.

An old Bradford pear on Wildberry, August 2, 2014

Same tree from the other side

Looking out from the driveway

The rather large, cracked and weathered trunk

A tree with some character, like some people I know. This tree gave me some difficulty in identifying it since it is so large. It did not occur to me that it would be a pear. I was thinking the leaves looked rather like a linden or lime tree, those trees that line the Paris streets and are shaped into tall rectangular hedges. I was corrected by the owner who told me it was a Bradford pear and its twin in the same yard had already been taken down. He was not sure how long it would last.

Another Bradford pear across from our house is not quite as large, but it has seen some wear, including being run into by a car at one time. About half of this tree broke off in a storm making it very damaged looking, but it grew back and now it is quite full again.

Bradford pear at Satinwood Dr. and River Birch  Aug. 2, 2014

The many branched trunk on the Satinwood Bradford pear

A back view of the regrown trunk years after a large segment of the tree split off.

Leaves are shiny dark green with a little curl at the edges

Closeup of the leaves showing a fine serration

I will try to revisit these trees next spring and get some flowering pictures.

Going, Going, Gone

Tree# 92 Red Maple

At the southwest corner of Kirby Parkway and Poplar Pike there grew a fine maple with an almost hair-like quality to its foliage. Rather than having branches lifting up to the light, the ends of this tree's branches tended to drape in rich clusters, lining up to make blocks of green braids. This tree was definitely on my list. I intended to photograph it. Then imagine my dismay to come home one Sunday afternoon and find it as a bare trunk with ropes dangling. 

Captured in its last moments, Sunday July 27, 2014

I had to get the camera and go back before it was all gone, to document what was left of a 20 year casual companion. I had driven by this intersection since January 1994, not really paying any attention, except occasionally when coming from the west. That was the best side to see the tree.

With a green halo from the tree in the background, only a skeleton remains

There had been a storm in the spring and a large branch had fallen from the back of the tree, facing the house. The owners probably had to look at that scar every day and could not stand it, but it looked perfectly fine from the street.

Looking toward the Carre Four mall and another tragedy, the closed Borders Book Store

These are not the pictures I would have chosen to post of this tree, but now they are the last and only pictures I could get. Sometimes I feel like an old man scanning the obits for news of a friend. 

A heap of trash on the curb

This tree (leaves seem to be red maple) should have outlasted us all.

Coping with oaks

Oaks are some of the hardest trees to identify.  They are easy to identify as oaks, but there are so many of them and their leaves can be very similar. I have already posted several oaks, some of which I have put a tentative ID on.

Tree #89 Blackjack oak

On the corner where Black Oak becomes River Birch, July 6, 2014

How appropriate that that this blackjack oak is on Black Oak.

These leaves have a triangle shape very wide at the end narrow at the bottom.

The full tree, rather dwarfed by the larger oak behind it

Tree # 50 revisited, Black oak

In the April comes to Memphis post, tree #50 is tough case to identify. The leaves are somewhat ambiguous.  The best option is to wait for some acorns, though some oaks do not produce acorns for 20 years. At first, I thought this might be a cherry bark oak, but after looking at "Identifying Oak Trees Native to Tennessee" I think that is less likely. Based on the leaves, I now think this is a black oak. I took the picture of this tree because of the odd ribbing in the trunk.  I thought that would make it easy to identify, but no source talks about this feature.  There are trees like this with ribbed trunks at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, but they are not labeled. 

Tree # 90 Water oak

Water oaks are easy to identify because of their rounded lobes with only shallow indentations.  There are no pointed tips on the leaves, so these are in the white oak group. 

Water oak leaves seen from below May 15, 2014 at St. Francis Hospital on Primacy Parkway

Higher branches still show the smooth rounded look of the leaves

The whole tree

The trunk, with lichens

Tree #58 revisited Willow oak

Another easy identification is the willow oak, with leaves like a willow. I had posted this tree on my trip to Holmes Park. The willow oaks were also the trees my neighbor nearly killed by putting rock salt down the toilet to prevent roots from growing in his pipes. These trees have made a strong recovery. 


Tree #78 Sawtooth oak


This oak was detailed in a trip to the farm.  Recent updates now include the immature nuts and a mature acorn.


Tree #91 Southern red oak (The Semmes Oak)


My son Adam reported a large oak on Semmes south of Carnes, on the border of Orange Mound. This tree was measured for circumference and it was an impressive 284 inches. The diameter 284/pi = 90.4 inches.  Based on a published growth factor of 4.0 for red oaks the age of this tree is estimated at 90.4x4.0 = 361 years. The date of origin would be 1653. We looked up the champion Southern red oak and it is about four feet larger in girth, so this tree is probably not a champion tree for TN, but it may be one of the oldest trees in Memphis and Shelby county. 

 

The Semmes oak from the north July 20, 2014

The base of the tree North view

View from the south

Closer southern view

My son Adam and Merlin for scale showing the amazing 7.5 ft diameter trunk

The whole tree July 20, 2014

Summertime and the livin' is easy

Tree # 83 Weeping willow

I am sitting on my deck under the arbor covered by the Lady Banks rose (vine #2 and see also tree 51c, in view from my seat) listening to Keith Jarret playing "I loves you Porgy" (perfect summertime music) and writing about summertime trees. What could be a more perfect summertime tree than a weeping willow?

Weeping willow at a small lake in HarborTown, behind the Montessori School.

These trees are usually near water, and they have a tendency to seek water. If you have one in your yard it is likely to clog you water drain pipes and require a visit from the Roto Rooter man to clear them. Our neighbors had a similar problem with three old oaks in their yard. The man who cleared the pipes for a hefty fee recommended they flush rock salt down their toilet several times to keep the roots from growing back. They followed this advice and in the spring their oak trees all looked dead, so they called a tree expert. He came and fertilized the trees and gave them a resuscitation.  To our astonishment that actually worked, so be careful about salt down the drain to discourage root growth in your pipes.

Weeping willow in a gated community on Poplar Ave. south side of street, east of Kirby Parkway.

This sunny landscape next to a lake reminds me of the movie "Picnic" (1955) with William Holden and Kim Novak.

It would be great to be "messing around in boats" as Ratty would say (Wind in the Willows,  1908)

Time for seersucker suits and a mint julep on the verandah. 

Weeping willow trunk, July 5, 2014

Tree # 21 revisited. Crepe myrtle (summertime version)

We saw crepe myrtles in the winter (Tree #21) to show their seed pods.These trees are the quintessential Memphis summertime trees. They can be found everywhere, often within any 360 degree view in Memphis. The trees are heat loving. They do best when every other plant is wilting. 

Lilac colored crepe myrtle off the R parking lot at UT Health Science Center, July 1, 2014

Crepe myrtles come in several pastel colors. They also are best displayed in clusters of two or three. Give them enough room to grow.

More lilac colored crepe myrtles (two) dominate the corner of Hickory Crest and Wildberry, July 5, 2014

Here you can see the effect of clustering in a former yard of the month. 

July 5, 2014, next door to Lord of Life Lutheran Church on Black Oak

 

Fuchsia colored crepe myrtle in the R lot at UT Health Science Center July 3, 2014

Slash Pine Cove crepe myrtles July 5, 2014

Madie Cook's crepe myrtles on Slash Pine Cove are flourishing in the summer heat.

Light pink crepe myrtles at the CarreFour shopping center Kirby Parkway and Poplar, July 6, 2014

The CarreFour mall has about 80 of these light pink crepe myrtles throughout the rows of parking spaces. Near the Poplar entrance there are three fuchsia colored plants that must be replacements. The next picture shows a row of the pink ones.

I have included representatives of five basic colors: white, light pink, lilac, fuchsia and red.

Along the Memorial Park Cemetery across from the Olive Garden, July 6, 2014

Same row of red crepe myrtles, closer view

Flowers, note the yellow centers

Eastward view of the crepe myrtle row

Closeup of the flowers. Each flower has six colored petals surrounding yellow anthers.

The close up shows the anthers as bright yellow.  These are not easy to see from a distance, but all the different colored flowers have the yellow anthers.  Also notice that on this plant there are some lighter pink flowers mixed with the mainly red flowers. This may be a popular red variety called Dynamite.

Tree #84 Fig

Rather large fig tree in HarborTown July 2, 2014

This tree is doing well, but the cold winter did damage another friends even larger tree, leaving several dead spots.

Figs growing on the tree

A second view of the fig

The fig actually has the flowers inside (so you never see fig flowers) and they must be pollinated by a fig wasp. Figs are among the earliest cultivated plants, apparently domesticated 1000 years before wheat. Not surprising then that Adam and Eve are depicted as wearing fig leaves in their exit from the Garden of Eden.

Tree # 85 Sassafras

Sassafras mixed in with another plant (possibly a hickory) July 5, 2014

When I was living in Virginia, we had a wooded section on the back of our property where some small sassafras shrubs grew. My father made us sassafras tea on some occasions. The plants were easy to recognize by their mitten shaped leaves. The leaves have variable numbers of lobes making them stand out among the other understory plants. I remember liking this "tea" made from the roots.  In our modern world, the word came down that components in the plant were carcinogenic (safrole), so its use in making root beer commercially was banned by the FDA.

Another view of the same plant on Hickory Crest near the entrance to Holmes Park

There is another sassafras tree I have enjoyed for several years. It has been growing clandestinely behind an electrical box on Black Oak (across from the white crepe myrtle above). Either the owner or the electric company (MLGW, Memphis Light Gas & Water) decided to cut this tree down, which they did.

Sassafras stump sending up shoots July 6, 2014

I remember my shock at finding the tree in a heap on the curb for trash pickup. It made me angry that someone would cut a favorite tree. HA! Life does not surrender so easily and the sassafras is coming back. Score one for this sassy plant, carcinogens and all.

Life pursues the imperative to grow

 The leaves of sassafras are dried to make filé gumbo, a spice used in cajun cooking.

The rumor that living close to high voltage can be harmful is apparently wasted on this sassafras shrub

Tree #86 Weeping mulberry

Weeping mulberry on Sunset in Germantown July 5, 2014

The mulberry is the exclusive food for silkworms. Without it we would not have silk. So think about the interdependence of life. Many of our luxuries like silk and many of our banes (cocain, heroin) are derived from plants. Fabulous that  there are so many (~350,000 species of flowering plants). 

Second view showing the gnarled trunk of this Morus alba 'pendula'

Unfortunately, the fruits of the tree are messy and they stain driveways and can be tracked into homes on feet. Our next door neighbor had a beautiful specimen in her yard like an eight foot high umbrella, but she had it cut down. Even my parents had a mulberry (not the weeping variety) in Scottsdale, AZ and they also cut it down. I guess if you are not making silk the tree has less appeal. 


Tree # 87 Bottlebrush buckeye


At Holmes Park, just behind the cypress bench there is a bottlebrush buckeye. On the fifth of July this plant was begining to flower, but the flowers were not white and full yet.

I plan to revisit this plant in a week to get a picture of the mature flowers.

Bottlebrush buckeye closer view

Closeup of the flower spike July 5, 2014

This plant is only a few paces from a red buckey shown as tree #57 in our earlier post about a visit to Holmes Park. 

Red buckeye that flowered in mid April. This photo taken on July 5, 2014

I revisited the bottlebrush buckeye to photograph the flowers in full bloom.

Bottlebrush buckeye July 13, 2014

Closeup of the mature flowers July 13, 2014

 

Tree #88 White pine


The authoritative book on Tennessee trees by Wofford and Chester says there are only 6 native pines in Tennessee and only two are found in West Tennessee, Loblolly and Virginia pines.  These two pictures are of a tree planted at the same place as the weeping willow at the top of the post (off Poplar Ave just east of Oak Hill, south side of Poplar). 

White pine, 5 needles per fasicle, cones shown below, July 5, 2014

A second view of this pine planted in a landscaped park by a small lake east of Wellton Dr. on Poplar

The problem with landscaped areas like this small park is the trees obviously came from a nursery and they do not have to be native to TN. I need to get some needles and maybe a cone to help in the identification.

On a second visit I checked the needles and found they were five per fasicle. Pine needles are grouped in clusters with a defined number per bundle or fasicle. There is only one TN pine with five needles per fasicle, the white pine Pinus strobus.  I also got a cone and it matches images of cones from white pines. 

Cones of the white pine, July 13, 2014

 So now I need to find a Virginia pine.