The Forestry Forum

Hi Everyone,
  Well, I finely have those pics up. They are located at http://www.uplive.com/balsamifera.htm. Give me your thoughts?
Don
     The Upper Peninsula's Official Search Engine (http://uplive.com/cgi-bin/search/up_search.cgi)

   Hey, I think I found 1! On the edge of Great Sidney Bog, on the way up to Skowhegan, I had pulled over to check out some popple snags. 3 big dead trunks with bark like you show on your pics. Nothing living of that type til I found a tiny sapling barely a foot tall at my feet. Bug-chewed, but some leaves intact and with the shiny upper side, and rust colored stains on the back. When I went to dig it, it was growing out of an INTENSELY big root. So I chopped off a generous portion of the root as well as the regular root ball. It's socked into my garden right now where I won't lose sight of it. I will move it, needless to say, if it survives.
   Accordin to the Maine Book of Trees, it might be a subspecies that doesn't reproduce by seeds but by spreading rootstock.
   I looked for more. Couldn't find any there- but I swear I could smell them.
   Nice road- but that was literally the only place i had access to undeveloped heath. They had built right in all along the rest of the road.  LW 8) 8) 8)

Wow, AWESOME! :) I hope it will grow ok for ya. Miracle Grow and a lot of tlc will work wonders of course. This fall I'll get some saplings and move them to 'my' area. Can't wait! :) Let me know if you'll want some as well this fall. I'll get the ball a rolling (no pun intended) with laws and transporting prep.
Don
        The Upper Peninsula's Official Search Engine (http://www.uplive.com/index.shtml)

   Now I have made a positive ID of some bazillion of these trees in Vermont, New Hampshire, and northern Maine. Several road trips this week- and have dug and moved 5 of them to my place- for all that it is the wrong time of year. I can very well see why Don was hesitating on Prunus vs. Populus. It is very reminiscent of a peach or a strange apple- but it's definitely the balsamifera. The brown stains on the backs of the leaves are often so marked as to give the entire tree a bronze cast. I can see why it has formerly been considered a very nice ornamental for northern locations. It does seem to prefer altitude or more northern locations here. I will see if these survive in my warmer area- and I will go after more when they are dormant.
   Lovely to have success finally.   LW 8) 8)