Tree of the day

[caveman]

I was going to guess a swamp white oak or swamp chestnut oak based on the leaf shape and the bark.  Thank you for posting the pictures.
Swamp white oak pictured below. 

[barbender]

When you southern fellas start naming off oaks, it reminds me of Forrest's friend Bubba talking shrimp😂 In my area, we have 3 oaks- Northern red, Northern pin, and Bur. Sub-arctic temperatures helps to keep a lot of things simple for us😁

[Ianab]

Here's another unusual local. 



Close up of the leaves



And another. 

[Ianab]

When you southern fellas start naming off oaks, it reminds me of Forrest's friend Bubba talking shrimp😂 In my area, we have 3 oaks- Northern red, Northern pin, and Bur. Sub-arctic temperatures helps to keep a lot of things simple for us😁

You think that's bad, I looked up the Maori name for the tree I just posted. Turns out it has about 20 different names, depending on where it grew, what you used it for, or what part of it you ate. 
Lil has her own name for it, but it's not very polite. As a kid she had to pick up the fallen leaves of the one outside her parents house so they could mow the lawn...     :D
The leaves can be used to make rope, so they aren't very lawnmower friendly. 

[caveman]

I am guessing an Australian could use it to make cord or line.  Thanks for posting.  I think I have seen some of these growing along our coast but I had no idea what they were.

[WDH]

Is it a monocot?

[Woodpecker52]

I remember a Bur Oak on the campus of Ms. State I recall the acorns were the size of golf balls massive.!!

[Woodpecker52]

I

[LeeB]

Looks kinda like a yucca. Is it related?

[firefighter ontheside]

Does its name sound like something you could make a salad with?

[Southside]

Does its name sound like something you could make a salad with?

Can't think of any tree that rhymes with "buffalo chicken".... :D

[DelawhereJoe]

Cabbage tree

[LeeB]

Can't think of any tree that rhymes with "buffalo chicken".... 

Are you sure your name ain't Gonzo?  :D

[Ianab]

Cabbage tree

Yup, that's it's common name, because the leaf bud can cooked and eaten, and tastes a bit like cabbage. 
Cordyline australis is the scientific name, so Caveman's guessing is right, and it was actually used by the Maori people for making "cords and line", or at least ropes and fish nets. 

Is it a monocot?

Yes. 

Looks kinda like a yucca. Is it related?

Distant cousin, same family.
It's doesn't actually produce wood, but it was an important food for the early Maori. They found that if you steamed the trunks or roots for a day or so in an umu (earth oven) it turned into a sugary fructose that could be dried and stored for later. It would also grow in the colder areas where their kumera (sweet potatoes) couldn't. The leaves have very strong fibres, so that was used for cloth / rope and even sandals. And a bonus, when it seeded it attracted the wood pigeons that could be snared or speared.  

[Southside]

Who puts cabbage in salad?  Heck, I am half Polish and even my grandma didn't do THAT!  She did cook it about every other way possible though.   ;D

[caveman]

I hope someone has something for tomorrow.  I have one I am sure I have not used but it is not impressive at all.  Also, tomorrow morning I have to get the crew together early to get to middle Cavedaughter's graduation at UF, which is a couple of hours north of here.

It is amazing to me that we have such a diversity of trees and the uses that have been found for them.

Thank you for introducing this one to us, Ian.

[firefighter ontheside]

Who puts cabbage in salad?  Heck, I am half Polish and even my grandma didn't do THAT!  She did cook it about every other way possible though.   ;D

Red cabbage is often shredded and added to salads.  Coleslaw is a salad made with cabbage.  I would say though, that it is best when cooked with some corned beef.

[firefighter ontheside]

I'll try to get some pictures of a tree here in the campground tomorrow morning that has not been posted yet.

[Southside]

If I never smell boiled cabbage again... ;D

[Ianab]

Here's another from the local park. Lower leaves, and it's winter, so they are a bit rough looking, but I had to find ones I could reach.  :D



This one is growing on the banks of the Patea river, which is running a bit higher and dirty from the recent rain.

 

Other side of the path there is a small stand of them, showing a more normal forest form. The tree produces good timber, but is highly protected and can only be sawed with a permit. 

 

[Texas Ranger]

Kahikatea?

[Ianab]

Kahikatea?

Nope, we did that back on page 42. This ones an evergreen hardwood.

[Texas Ranger]

I would say Rewarewa, but the leaves are wrong.

[doc henderson]

i have been looking up, how about Puriri,  Vitex lucens?  having trouble with the leaves

[Ianab]

This one is probably tricky, and wouldn't be known outside NZ. 

Tawa, or Beilschmiedia tawa.  The scientific name is the same as the Maori common name, and it's actually from the Laurel family.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beilschmiedia_tawa
http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/table-1/tawa.html

The tree is quite common in the local forests, but it's hard to establish outside the existing canopy. The seedlings are very delicate, but shade tolerant. They are able to germinate and survive for decades until a "light tunnel" opens in the canopy and they start growing normally. 

The other guesses reminds more of a couple more trees I need to find...  ;)