A trip to the farm

Tree #75 Southern hackberry tree (Celtis laevigata)

On June 14 Susan, Sienna (my daughter) and I visited our friends Dennis and Mark at their working farm in Somerville, about 40 miles from Memphis.  It is officially called the Oaks at Winfrey Farm, 10 miles south of I40. In addition to being a very cool place, with solar powered chicken coop etc., it is covered in trees, some of which I am still working to identify. One that caught my eye right away was this one, a hackberry tree. It has these peculiar ridges of bark that are in layers that look like a topographical map.

If you blew these ridges up they might be like the ice wall in Game of Thrones.

A broader view of the hackberry trunk June 14, 2014

The leaves of this hackberry

My daughter bought me a book for my birthday called "Guide to the Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines of Tennessee" by B. Eugene Wofford and Edward W. Chester.  The book is very useful for identification of trees in and around Memphis. Three hackberries are described: Southern, Northern and dwarf. This one was clearly not dwarf. The bases of the leaves are lanceolate on the Southern hackberry and more heart shaped on the Northern hackberry. Also the location fits the known habitat for a Southern hackberry.

Tree #76 Black walnut

Harvesting and dehusking the black walnuts from this tree can leave your hands black. Dennis said he planned to use the black dye from the walnut husks to stain concrete.

Juglans nigra June 14, 2014

Closer view of the trunk

The leaves are pinnate also seen in hickories and pecans (see next picture).

Dennis in his formal overalls and boots. Leaves of the black walnut with some rusty bells.

Tree #77 pecan

Pecan from a distance. Another visit will be needed to get closeups.

Pecan is in the same genus Carya as hickory. When I was a graduate student in San Antionio we had a pecan in the backyard of our rental house.  The landlord reserved the right to harvest the pecans.

Tree #78 Sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima ) leaves are similar to American chestnut (Castanea dentata) also similar to to Allegheny chinkapin (Castanea pumila) and chestnut oak (Quercus prinus).

Straight out the backdoor one runs into this tree

The leaves are quite distinct on his tree (see below) and it should not be too hard to identify (little did I know).

Saw-toothed leaves with strong ribs

The leaves are similar to Allegheny chinkapin (tree #72), but it is not exactly the same. consulting Wofford, this looks like American chestnut and this is supported by looking online at images of American chestnut. Once common, the American chestnut has been devastated by chestnut blight. It is often only seen as young shoots growing from stumps, as the older trees die off from the blight. 

Breaking news: Dennis says this is a chestnut oak that has similar looking leaves. The proof is in the nut. I have not seen these. I will update here as I get info.

Dennis sent these pictures he took of the growing acorns and a mature acorn. This proves it is an oak and not a chestnut. A comment from a viewer identified this as a sawtooth oak and not a chestnut oak. The sawtooth oak is an Asian tree and so not in the tree guides I have been using for North American or Tennessee trees. I do thank the viewer for this helpful identification of this tree.

Growing acorn

Another tree like this was seen at Elmwood Cemetery on Aug. 12, 2014 with similar mossy fingers around the growing acorn (unlabeled tree).

Small branch with growing acorns

The final product is an acorn, not a chestnut

Dennis conveyed the information that a property called Chestnut Hill about 2 miles up the road from his farm does have American Chestnuts lining the driveway. I would like to see those sometime.