LL's Identification Games (Number 2) - (SOLVED: sourwood)

[Lanier_Lurker]

Sorry about the blurriness.  (maybe that will make this more challenging)

These are pretty common in my area.

[WDH]

Are the buds prominently pseudo-terminal?  Are there very fine hairs on the central mid-rib of the principle vein on the leaf underside?  Are the leaf margins finely serrate?

I am 99% sure that I know this one, but I will hang back and let the game play on and see what transpires........ 

[SwampDonkey]

 Pop_corn ;D

[WDH]

 Pop_corn Pop_corn   ;D  ;D

[Dodgy Loner]

I think you're barking up the right tree, WDH.  Chew on leaf, LL, and see if it tastes like sour apple.  If it does, then our suspicions will be confirmed.

[WDH]

Don't give it away, DL.  Lets see what our other Forum members can conjure up ;D.

[SwampDonkey]

I modified that post just a little, since I know you didn't mean it.  ;)

[WDH]

SD, you are right .

[Lanier_Lurker]

Fine hairs on the central mid-rib of the principle vein on the leaf underside    =      YES
Leaf margins finely serrate   =    YES

This is a tree, not a shrub, bush, or vine.

It is one of the last (if not the last) trees to leaf out in spring.

Fall leaf color is considered among the best of any tree.

[WDH]

Beautiful fall color, a deep vermillion red.  The bees like the flowers .

[SwampDonkey]

They turn yellow here. Our pin cherry turn a fire red or mahogany.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Huh SD?

I did not know these ranged that far north.

[SwampDonkey]

Hmmm, then this must be the mother of all choke cherries.   8)  ;D :D :D :D



In full bloom.


Leave it to me to not only have the tape upside down, but backwards.  : That's 2.3 meters in circumference at 3 feet, or 29 inches in diameter.  ;D



Can almost smell them blooms. 







Prunus serotina  ;D

[Dave Shepard]

That was what I was thinking but wasn't sure. Next time I am going to speak my mind, however crazy an idea I might have. ;D


Dave

[WDH]

Negatory, not a prunus. 

This plant has bark with very deep and distinctive V-fissures.  This tree does not range further north than Southern Pennsylvania.  The nectar from the long drooping racemes are used by honey bees to make a prized honey, marketed by this tree's name.

One more hint.  It is an understory tree, very common in the lover elevations of the Applachain Mountains. 

BTW, Dodgy Loner's post contains a huge clue ;D.

[SwampDonkey]

Then....... it must be sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum. A tree I'm unfamiliar with. A source of sourwood honey, abundant in the Smokies. ;D

Tricky bunch on here.  ;)

[WDH]

 smiley_clapping smiley_clapping smiley_daisy

[Lanier_Lurker]

Yep, WDH and DL had this one nailed from the start it sounds like.

I have a number of these behind my house.  This one is my favorite.  It looks like something you would find growing in the Munster's front yard.




And the second picture shows the bark, which is a very distinct feature of a mature sourwood.
My cat likes it too.  She will often climb it and rest on the horizontal section of the trunk.  Now if she would just kill some of my marauding squirrels.  >:(

[WDH]

LL,

That is a nice view ;D.  The sourwood creates an interesting visual line among all those vertical lines.  Very nice.  What other stuff is lurking in those woods :D.

[Dodgy Loner]

Now if she would just kill some of my marauding squirrels.  >:(

The landowner adjacent to us just cleared about 35 acres of hardwood forest, effectively doubling our population of marauding squirrels.  At least they give my dog something to do while I'm gone :.

[WDH]

Around here the marauding squirrels are easy to ID :D.  There are the ones chewing up my wife's potted plants  .