Can you identify a tree by its bark? Needless to say, I guess the only tree that could possible be identified by its bark is the dogwood. I hear it sounds a lot like a Chihuahua. Sorry for the tongue in cheek. There is an old childhood and tree id 101 saying that can help one identify trees. (M.A.D. Buckeye) The saying applies to trees that have opposite leafing and branching. All other trees have alternate leafing and branching. I will explain more later in the article. Now let us enter dendrology 101 and why there is a need to know about tree id. Several people have contacted me regarding how to id trees. There has been some confession regarding this matter.
There is considerable concern regarding the attack on ash trees by the emerald ash borer. This has precipitated the tree id questions. The borer most likely entered the US in green uncured wood industrial shipping material in 2002 near Detroit, Michigan. It reached Ohio in 2003. The beetle is an alien species from Asia. The adults do little damage to a tree's leaves. The real problem is its larva. There are conductive tissues in a tree that carry nutrients and photosynthetic produced food in plants. They are called xylem and phloem. They are found in a layer of the bark in trees called the cambium layer. If the layer is compromised, the essential nutrients and water stop flowing. The borer tends to damage the upper branches first and moves downward. In regards to control of the borer, I am sure there are some property owners of ash trees that might have something to say about the methods used to control it. (If an infested tree is found, all ash trees in a certain radius of the infested tree were cut down.) This is a lot like a doctor telling you have a hangnail and they will need to amputate your leg. I concur that more healthy trees were lost to the saw than the borer may have ultimately destroyed. It sure has stopped its spreading to other counties and states! Technocratic mentality has once again raises its ugly head. If we had controlled shipping materials, the beetle may have not been introduced. The wrong department also is "managing" the control effort. Forestry, in my estimate, is by far better equipped to handle trees. They tend to look at things as ecosystems and not totally as a crop.
This is not the first time introduced alien pest or disease has extirpated entire tree species. Have you heard the seasonal music lyrics Chestnuts roasting on an open fire? There are many children that might ask, "Hey mom what is a chestnut?" This tree once was a dominant species. Why are some streets named Elm Street? Slaves from the south would look for the drinking gourd (big dipper) and the ghost trees growing near water (sycamores) to come north. A large sycamore was my favorite tree to climb as a child. Has anyone seen a sycamore lately in full leaf? They, too, are under and have been under attack from a fungus. It is called sycamore anthracnose. (Apiognomonia veneta) It was first described in 1848. Is the sycamore next? As of late it seems to be worse than I can remember. There are some that say what difference does it make to lose a tree species. They are also vastly ignorant of the importance of biodiversity. They have been duped by talking heads into thinking that these are tree hugging buzzwords and not a reality. Personally, I like to breathe. How about you? Trees are the lungs of the earth. Their loss is our loss. As I said, many people have contacted me asking if a tree they have in their yard is an ash tree. I really hope the following information I am going to provide helps you id your trees.
Foresters, biologists and other life scientists use a tool called a dichotomous key to identify plants and animals. Today there is an even more advanced way to id by using DNA. It is also being used to attack plants and animals on the endangered species list because they are "cousins" of a common relative. That is a whole different article!
Dichotomous means to divide into two parts. A key of this type will give you two statements. Most tree keys start with, "Are the leaves evergreen or deciduous?" (Deciduous leaves refer to falling off the tree in the fall.) Each choice will end in a letter or a number to direct you further into the correct part of the key. Since we are talking about ash trees, we are going to choose deciduous.
If you pick deciduous leaf the next choice will be, "Is the leaf opposite?" or alternate?"
The old folk saying M.A.D.Buckeye I mentioned earlier refers to trees that have opposite leafing and branching. There are few shrubs that have opposite branching but the trees in the saying are the only trees to have this branch pattern. The trees are maples, ash, dogwood (yip, yip) and buckeye. There is another tree called catalpa that has leaves opposite but they are in a whirled pattern like the spokes in a wagon wheel and are not in pairs. Your next choice will be, "Is the leaf simple or compound." A simple leaf consists of a blade and petiole. In compound leaves there is a petiole, a rachis and leaflets. Leaflets are not leaves in a compound leaf. The entire aforementioned structures make a compound leaf. All ash trees have a compound leaf. There is one maple leaf that is sometimes called ash leaf maple that is compound. It is most commonly called box elder. The buckeye is also a compound leaf of the type called palmately compound. Hold up the palm of your hand in front of your face and you will see the origin of the label. Sorry Michigan fans for turning your own hands into buckeye leaves. Sorry also that there is not part of your body that will remind you of a wolverine. Here is a web site that has an online tree key. It should help you at least to get to the correct leaf family. http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/leaf/Treekey/tkframe.htm
Lastly there is a new systemic insecticide for emerald ash borer that can be injected into uninfected trees called Emamectin benzoate. It has been approved for Ohio. It is sold under the name Treeage. A trained person must do the application.
Last month I asked what is a hunters fire. No one to date has answered the question. Keep trying. Send your answers to: bowerman4@verizon.net
This month's Non Consumptive Wildlife Conservation Award goes to Kathryn Sobczyk for her work with the Girl Scouts and her water garden project. Great job Kathryn. She also received the highest rank in Girl Scouting.
Happy Fourth of July! Go to your local parks and close state parks and have wonderful "staycations." Check their schedules for activities. For questions about Van Buren State Park programs and events, contact Natalie Miller at 419-348-7679. See this issue of Findlay Living for Hancock Park District activities and events. There are also Wood County and Toledo parks that have a plethora of things to do. Do a Google on the net for information concerning things to do at Wood County and Toledo Parks.
