Doggone it, I should have taken some pics of our Georgia state tree while I was in the lower third of the state.
It's the Live Oak, and to grant it justice, a magnificent choice except for the fact that the northernmost two thirds of the state doesn't have it. I recommend the state of Georgia cede that lower part to Florida.
Then what for the remaining, northern part? Tulip poplar sounds reasonable. A honeytree, magnificent speciment? Something that actually lives in 2/3 of the state? Yeah!
Wayne, Live oaks are majestic, I didn't realize they did not grow throughout GA. I vote for Tulip Poplar for y'all also and we would be delighted to take the beautiful GA coast. I think we've already taken the mountains, judging by the number of Floridians who have cabins up there.
Kathy A, You probably have us all beat for sheer magnificence. What a great tree.
I'll show you mine when I can go out and not have my camera freeze while setting up a picture. It's pretty darn cold this weekend.
The Minnesotarctica state tree is Red (Norway) pine (Pinus resinosa), although if I had my way it would be the white pine (Pinus strobus). I have both here at Sand Creek, although white pine dominates. Red pines like more sandy soil.
Deb, Do you know where the color part of those pine names comes from? Some tree color names just boggle me, because I don't see where they come from. We have black, red, and white mangroves here and there's nothing black about the black.
Red pine gets its name from the reddish, thick scaly bark mature trees get. I've actually been doing some research on this lately, as some red pines seem to be a lot redder than others. The presence of three-toed woodpeckers might be the difference there. As for white pine, no part of a healthy tree is white, so I don't know where that name came from. But they are one of the most beautiful trees there is. The branching patterns between the two pine species are very different. Also, white pines have five soft needles per cluster; red pines have two stiffer, longer needles per cluster. So there's your lesson in Minnesota forestry. :)
The beautiful long-leaf pine is our state tree here in North Carolina.
I was talking to someone from up north about how when I was a kid we used to pack our gerbils' terrarium full to the top with pinestraw, and let them have a Gerbil Field Day chewing it into tiny pieces. It made such great cage litter, since the pinestraw is fresh-smelling and clean -- and they loved making tunnels through it before they chewed it down to flatness.
Then my friend said, "Sounds great, but what is PINE STRAW?"
I said, "You know, dried pine needles that are long, like straw.
"Pine needles that are long? Like what do you mean?"
Finally I realized that pine needles up north must be really short. As on Christmas trees.
Long-leaf pine needles are maybe 18 inches long. Heck, what we call a short-leaf pine has 6 or 8-inch needles.
I have no idea where I live but I DID have Deb's preference: Pinus Strobus (http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/trees/pinusstrob.html) and I love that tree. The White Pine is a magnificent tree. Illinois is not bad either: the White Oak http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=35) Here, I think I would rather have Orange Shrub than swamp cabbage.
Sorry man, but I don't have any photos of a Buckeye. They do look similaro to a Hickory, and are probably closely related. We're so close to the Indianna line that I should probably look for their state tree instead! ;-)
12 comments:
Doggone it, I should have taken some pics of our Georgia state tree while I was in the lower third of the state.
It's the Live Oak, and to grant it justice, a magnificent choice except for the fact that the northernmost two thirds of the state doesn't have it. I recommend the state of Georgia cede that lower part to Florida.
Then what for the remaining, northern part? Tulip poplar sounds reasonable. A honeytree, magnificent speciment? Something that actually lives in 2/3 of the state? Yeah!
california redwood:
http://www.library.ca.gov/history/symbols/redwoods.jpg
Wayne,
Live oaks are majestic, I didn't realize they did not grow throughout GA. I vote for Tulip Poplar for y'all also and we would be delighted to take the beautiful GA coast.
I think we've already taken the mountains, judging by the number of Floridians who have cabins up there.
Kathy A,
You probably have us all beat for sheer magnificence. What a great tree.
I'll show you mine when I can go out and not have my camera freeze while setting up a picture. It's pretty darn cold this weekend.
The Minnesotarctica state tree is Red (Norway) pine (Pinus resinosa), although if I had my way it would be the white pine (Pinus strobus). I have both here at Sand Creek, although white pine dominates. Red pines like more sandy soil.
Those palms look so exotic and tropical to me!
Deb,
Do you know where the color part of those pine names comes from?
Some tree color names just boggle me, because I don't see where they come from. We have black, red, and white mangroves here and there's nothing black about the black.
Red pine gets its name from the reddish, thick scaly bark mature trees get. I've actually been doing some research on this lately, as some red pines seem to be a lot redder than others. The presence of three-toed woodpeckers might be the difference there. As for white pine, no part of a healthy tree is white, so I don't know where that name came from. But they are one of the most beautiful trees there is. The branching patterns between the two pine species are very different. Also, white pines have five soft needles per cluster; red pines have two stiffer, longer needles per cluster. So there's your lesson in Minnesota forestry. :)
The beautiful long-leaf pine is our state tree here in North Carolina.
I was talking to someone from up north about how when I was a kid we used to pack our gerbils' terrarium full to the top with pinestraw, and let them have a Gerbil Field Day chewing it into tiny pieces. It made such great cage litter, since the pinestraw is fresh-smelling and clean -- and they loved making tunnels through it before they chewed it down to flatness.
Then my friend said, "Sounds great, but what is PINE STRAW?"
I said, "You know, dried pine needles that are long, like straw.
"Pine needles that are long? Like what do you mean?"
Finally I realized that pine needles up north must be really short. As on Christmas trees.
Long-leaf pine needles are maybe 18 inches long. Heck, what we call a short-leaf pine has 6 or 8-inch needles.
I have no idea where I live but I DID have Deb's preference: Pinus Strobus (http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/trees/pinusstrob.html) and I love that tree. The White Pine is a magnificent tree. Illinois is not bad either: the White Oak http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=35)
Here, I think I would rather have Orange Shrub than swamp cabbage.
NJ is the Red Oak, but I don't know trees well enough to be able to tell it apart from a White Oak during the winter when there's no leaves.
I sometimes think we should have chosen a pine, coz there are just so many... everywhere. But I do love those palms! 8-]
that
Sorry man, but I don't have any photos of a Buckeye. They do look similaro to a Hickory, and are probably closely related. We're so close to the Indianna line that I should probably look for their state tree instead! ;-)
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