Worthy yamadori?

[DannyDj]

Happy Father’s Day everyone!

My treat was a walk in the woods today alone to enjoy nature. This is an American beech (afaik) on a property I own that is laden with blueberry bushes, beeches, elms, hornbeams, white pines, red oaks, and red maples. I have found many nice examples I’ve tagged, some of which are super cool! Some are unobtainium because they wrap up in other trunks of dead and live trees. Better left alone. Much is also beaver damage too but most of those trunks are too big for me to take a liking too.

I plan on harvesting one to two of the ones I tagged in Autumn ?

Let me know what you think of the style and spread of this beech. Also included are the beech leaves, another leaf of unknown variety, and a very strange cone/pod/seed thingy. Looks evil!

 

[DannyDj]

Maybe Basswood is the last picture?

 

[Aeast]

Definitely not beech. I'd say, black cherry, american chestnut and ??

 

[DannyDj]

I have black cherry at home and that first tree is definitely not black cherry. The leaves on it are the same as pic#3. Black cherry has very fine sawtoothed edges but are more ovoid shaped with a smooth top. These leaves are very sharp edges and have a rough top surface. There are many of them on this land and not one black cherry present. There are several mature smooth light gray-barked beeches here that are most likely American. All the same leaves and they dominate this one area. What makes you think they are not beech? Just curious. I added one more pic of a immature trunk.

I don’t see any chestnuts either on this land and there are many of those rounded leafed trees here looking like basswood. We also have few birches and even some striped maples.

 

[DannyDj]

Well I found out what those black pods are....Eurasian water chestnut shells on the shore. Nasty plants.

 

[brewmeister83]

Maybe Basswood is the last picture?

last pic is witch hazel - Hamamelis virginiana. Asymetric leaf bases are found on basswood leaves as well, but the wavy leaf margin and ovoid shape is a dead giveaway (basswood has a toothed/serrated leaf edge and is more heart shaped), I see it all the time in the woods around here, often thought about trying it for bonsai, but could never find a decent trunk/nebari to collect.

 

[DannyDj]

Thnx Kevin! Feel like trying your hand at identifying my other ID thread picture?

 

[brewmeister83]

Thnx Kevin! Feel like trying your hand at identifying my other ID thread picture?

if you're talking about this thread : https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/tree-or-bush-id.34250/

my best guess would be something in the pepperbush (Clethra sp.) family - not many plants have those kinds of old flowerstalks on them this time of year. Usually you find Clethra more towards coastal and wetland regions, but it's also gained popularity in the last decade as a horticultural specimen, so you'll find it sometimes on the edges peoples yards, although I think there might be a wild colony near the Amherst area. Anywhere near you per chance?

Also, you're first two pics above: if you had a closer shot of the twigs, bud scales and immature bark I'd have a better(more confident) guess, but given the other species you listed in the area a good possibility for this tree might be cherry birch (Betula lenta) A lot of people confuse them for immature cherry trees, especially choke cherry because of the white lenticles on immature bark - very similar, but choke cherry has smoother, fine toothed margins to the leaf while cherry birch definitely has more tooth and the rounded-in shoulders where the leaf stalk connects. Another way to tell - if you break a cherry twig and sniff/chew, it will smell/taste astringent, whereas cherry birch will have a faint odor/taste of wintergreen or mint when you crush it.

lastly, the middle pic which you think is beech - very possible given the wavy and toothed leaf margins and leathery appearance, but because of the narrowness and length of the leaf it reminds me of two other trees in our area which have similar features - Chinquapin oak and Chestnut oak (Quercus muehlenbergii and Q. montana respectively). Even I have a hard time distinguishing between immature specimens of these, because the leaf structure of Chestnut oak down here is so variable it can look just like Chinquapin or Beech. The twigging on the two is different as well - oak twigs tend to have a straight central branchline with branches coming off the sides while beech twigging tends to zig-zag, no real central line to the branch. I don't see a whole lot of zig-zag in the pic above, so either you have an oak with fairly toothy leaves, or a beech with uncharacteristic straight twigging. All in all, best way to tell a beech if it doesnt have mature bark is the winter buds - beeches are long and narrow like a drill, whereas oak are stubby and pointed-ovoid/egg shaped - come this fall you'll be able to tell the difference in 2 seconds flat!

hope this helps, in the future take really close pics of the leaf, twigging, bud, leaf-scar and bark - the more diagnostic features you have the quicker/easier it is to i.d.

 

[DannyDj]

I applaud you Kevin for such technical approach to this topic. Thank you for the info. Better pictures coming. You certainly must be an arborist or dendrologist!


After studying pics of cherry birch and chinkapin oak I’m sure it is nothing but American Beech. The giveaways are the leaf positioned on the stalk and absence of any oaks other than red, white and a scarlet or two. The pepper bush is quite possible as this is an island surrounded by a reservoir; hence the reference to water chestnut. This is located in Worcester.

I will get better pictures for sure!

 

[brewmeister83]

I applaud you Kevin for such technical approach to this topic. Thank you for the info. Better pictures coming. You certainly must be an arborist or dendrologist!

lol, neither of the two, just an avid amateur naturalist... got a few really good books and pocket guides I take out on the trail all the time when I hike and I try to i.d. anything I don't immediately recognize. Good reads in case you're interested:

Native Plant Book

Tree Guide #1

Tree Guide #2

Also, for New England plants, gobotany.newenglandwild.org is a great resource too.

 

[DannyDj]

Sold on the tree guides. I’ll pair these with my Audobon North American tree guide. Thnx. Bringing those in with me on my next hike will prove it.

 

[DannyDj]

Okay! After going back to forage I found out that you were right by the side second pic being Cherry Birch (Sweet Birch) and the third pic is definitely American Chestnut. Here’s some leaf closeups and a Hickory I believe to be Mockernut. Pics #1, #2, and #5 are the Hickory. Pics #3 and #4 the Cherry Birch. Last pic is the American Chestnut. Huge leaf!

 

[augustine]

To be honest I don't like the beech you chose, find a nicer, thicker trunk with low branching. They are very slow to develop you need something good to start with. They are difficult for bonsai. Look to the hornbeams for a much better species for bonsai. Blueberries are good too.

Don't be hesitant to go for something larger. They all collect well.

 

[DannyDj]

It is confirm to be a Cherry Birch actually but I like your insight! The ones that are stressed, growing out of holes in the bottom of mature trees, and on the sides of a mature tree’s trunk base are not much bigger than the one I pictured. A few upon closer inspection are of nicer quality with better nebari so I will take some pictures of those for you all. Thanks again! ??

 

[DannyDj]

Here’s one