Tree of the day

[caveman]

Firefighter, you are right on the genus but wrong on the species.  The leaf and where they typically grow is the main distinction.  This species typically grows in domes (cypress heads) rather than beside flowing water.  Notice that the leaf is not feather like.

[WDH]

I learned it as a variety of the bigger cousin. 

[Don P]

Pure google here :D
?

The taxonomy of the genus Taxodium is contentious; the genus consists of one to three species. The smaller pond, or upland, cypress of the southeastern U.S. is usually listed as a variety of the bald cypress (T. distichum, variety imbricatum); however, it is sometimes considered to be a separate species (T. ascendens).

[ellmoe]

Variety nutans , if even a variety. I have found "bald " cypress growing in domes , both types of needles. To the east along the St Johns river was typical bald cypress growing in strands and to the west, pond cypress growing in domes. In the middle , these "hybrid " trees.

[nativewolf]

The big nut top stock out here is from Persia, so I've read. The nuts from claro( J.Hindsii) are thick walled , small, and super tasty. I just missed out on a nongrafted orchard taken down due to age. The owner was selling exclusively to See's candy. I don't remember exactly the numbers but the logs went for something like 5 or 10 K-bucks each.  OUCH

Wow...that would have been some check to hand over, 50 trees/acre?  OUCH indeed.  

[caveman]

The pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens) generally does not get as tall as the bald cypress and as Ellmoe stated, they sometimes grow in the same places.

[firefighter ontheside]

Interesting, hadn't heard of pond cypress.  My book, Knowing Your Trees, doesn't even mention it.  It was originally written in 1937, but my edition was revised and printed in 1984.  I guess back then it was still considered as bald cypress.  

[caveman]

Jmoore showed up, cracking the whip, as I was getting ready to post today's tree earlier this morning.  Time to take a break from the oppressive 98° heat and look for today's tree.


 The fruit on this one is edible but my tongue is not tough enough to eat very many of them.  They are salt tolerant but they do not like the cold much.  The leaf is probably 5-8" across.

[WDH]

You are just South enough to get all that weird stuff that I have never encountered. 

[firefighter ontheside]

Looks like something I remember seeing by the beach, but don't know what it is.

[caveman]

It does grow near the beach.  The leaves are thick and waxy.  My parents have one in the back yard on Anna Maria Island.  It grows like a weed and along with the mango trees and mangroves I usually spend part of a day or two pruning them. 

[Ljohnsaw]

You say tree but it looks like sea grapes...

[caveman]

It is the sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera).  It does get to tree size but evidently does not tolerate temperatures below 35° F.  WDH, it won't grow at my house either.  It occasionally gets too cold here but 10 miles south of me in town I know where some are growing. The wood has been used to make furniture and it is a useful plant for sand dune stabilization.

I did not get a chance to get any new tree pictures today so when I get to work tomorrow I'll look through my gallery to find something I have not posted.

[caveman]

 

 This is a small tree that goes by several different names.  If you look carefully, you may be able to see the reddish pubescence on the back of the leaf.  I do not have any pictures of it with flowers or seeds.

[WDH]

I have one in my backyard that was the Georgia State Champion until about 2011 when I found a larger one near the Ocmulgee River on a sandy ridge that was laid down eons ago by a flood.  Part of the common name is derived from the gum that will exude from the inner bark when cuts are made into it.  The leaf has a pronounced velvety texture on the underside, and it sports short shoots and thorns.  Fruit is a blackish colored drupe (a drupe is a fruit with a fleshy outer covering over a hard pit like a cherry or an olive). 

Kyle is the only person that I have shown this species to that knew what it was. This is a difficult one because, although not rare, it is not very common.  It grows naturally in the Southern Coastal Plain and west to Texas, Oklahoma, and up the Mississippi River valley into central Missouri.  I have found it in East Texas. 

[Texas Ranger]

Sideroxylon lanuginosum (gum bully)

[Magicman]

I was thinking Red Bay, but that spine has me stuck.  :

[Southside]

@wdh You sure it's not ash?  :D

[caveman]

This one evidently goes by a couple of different Latin names and several common names.  Texas Ranger identified it but I learned it as Gum Bumelia (Bumelia lanuginose).  Virginia Tech Tree I.D. agrees with Texas Ranger Sideroxylon lanuginosum (gum bully) .

As with a lot of these trees, some spilt hairs when classifying them (think back a day or so to the Pond Cypress). 

Usually I see Gum Bumelias while at FFA forestry camp at O'leno State Park each summer.  I do not think I will be able to go this year.  Danny has a very good one in his yard (arboretum).

[WDH]

I learned it as Bumelia lanuginosum.  Stuff gets renamed. 

Way to go, TR!  Y'all have the smooth bumelia, Bumelia lycoides in your neighborhood, too.  I have seen it in San Jacinto County.

Southside, you don't know your ash from your bumelia ;D. 

[LeeB]

 :D :D :D :D :D

[caveman]

I failed at posting the tree of the day about 20 minutes ago.  This one is for Ellmoe.  This one and another are so close in appearance that I usually use the site location to i.d. them.  A few clues:  there is an invasive ambrosia beetle that is threatening this species in addition to killing avocado trees by plugging up the xylem in the stem preventing the transport of nutrients.  The leaves enhance foods such as chicken and rice.



 

 

 

[ellmoe]

This one was one of my favorite trees to saw . It is easy to cut , dry , machine , reminded me of mahogany , haven't seen a live one in a while.

[ellmoe]

Also, normal habitat is not Caveman's backyard. Used to find it on edge of swamps . Makes a fair sized tree .

[WDH]

I have some that are 18" in diameter.  It has a sassy cousin.