Green It Is: Tree Following in April

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Tina

My American Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, leafed out this past month. It began the month in a mostly leafless state.

The Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii), leafed out much earlier this spring, though it's always ahead of the Sycamore.

The Sycamore, at the center-left, leafs out later than the Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii).

It wasn’t too far into March before dots of new green appeared. I caught the beginning of the leafy action, snapped photos, then went on with my life.

This branch is the only one that is below the roof of my house and easily accessible. No, I'm not going to climb on my roof for my blog or for Tree Following.

This branch is the only one that is below the roof of my house and therefore, easily accessible. I have no plans to climb on top my roof to get photographs of leaves for this blog.

Sycamore, like most plants, is a monecious plant, which means that each tree has both female (pistillate) flowers and male (staminate) flowers. As an aside, another way that plants function reproductively is by being dioecious–which means that the individual plants are either female or male. Fewer plants are dioecious.

I knew that American Sycamores were monecious, but seeing that the tree is monecious is another thing entirely–and that’s the great thing about tree following: I notice these things because I’m paying attention. I assumed that because my tree is tall that I wouldn’t get a good photo of the male and female flowers. Additionally, I wasn’t trying to get photos of the flowers. But during in the photo-snapping session mentioned above, I caught both the male and female flowers.

The male flowers grow on newer, shorter branchlets and the female flowers grow on older branchlets.

The male flowers sport a sort nubby look along the branches, while the female flowers are fuzzier. The male flower will break and release its pollen load, usually by wind, but also, by water. If you recall from our March visit to the Sycamore, we learned about dispersal of seeds by wind, anemochory, and dispersal by water, called hydrochory. The American Sycamore does both; it’s a good survival strategy to employ a couple of methods of reproduction–it certainly keeps the options open.

Sycamore leaf production soon overtakes any flower show, though.

You can see that there are plenty of seed-balls for next year’s Sycamore seed dispersal. For now, the new ones are spring green,

…but eventually they’ll turn a toasty, autumn brown.

I’ve never seen a nest in the Sycamore, but it serves as a consistent resting spot for a variety of birds like this male Great-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus. .

His glorious, purple-black plumage pairs well with the new leaves. Other birds like White-winged Doves, House Sparrows, Blue Jays, and Cardinals, are year-round visitors to my Sycamore. As the leaves grow larger and the foliage thickens, it will become more difficult to spot birds resting in the tree.

The foliage is now almost fully flushed out. Sycamore is usually planted as a shade tree, but also as a tree for urban areas used to thwart air pollution.

Maybe those big leaves will save us all.

This is the American Sycamore as it enters late spring heading toward the summer months.

Thanking Pat of The Squirrelbasket for graciously hosting this fun meme about trees. Check out her blog for interesting information about trees from all over the world.

Tree Following in March: A Whole Lotta Nuthin’

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Tina

I suppose to suggest that there’s nothing going on with my American Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, would be erroneous. Truthfully, in its outward appearance, not much has changed since we last engaged in the monthly Tree Following musings.

The American Sycamore stands stalwart and skeletal, beautiful in its simplicity. It’s always one of the last trees to leaf out in my neighborhood, along with the native Pecan, Carya illinoinensis, trees. I’m not seeing much, if any, thickening of bud development for ultimate leaf-making.

But there is some action in the goings-on of birds. Cedar Waxwings, Bombycilla cedrorum, rest and chatter on the limbs.

One,

…two,

…four,

…four more,

…and six. Yes, there are six in the photo, though I cut the head off of one lad and another preens behind two full seed balls, to the amusement, or irritation, of a companion.

There have been more birds at other times too, but on such windy days all that photographed was a smear.

The seed balls, or fruits, which never dangled in quite their usual numbers this year, are fewer on the tree now. Some are on the ground in my gardens, either whole or not.

The Sycamore seed is an achene attached to hairy strands which help with seed dispersal.

There have been days when I noticed a light snowfall of individual seeds floating on the wind, wafting to unknown destinations, but this year, there was no ticker-tape celebration of normal early spring wind dispersal. The dispersal of seeds by wind is called anemochory, but American Sycamore seeds also disperse by water, called hydrochory.

The Sycamore will leaf out during the next month. The foliage will be lush, providing months-long shade for animals and people.

Thanking Pat of The Squirrelbasket for graciously hosting this fun meme about trees. Check out her blog for interesting information about trees from all over the world.

Tree Following in February: Bare-n-Naked

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Tina

As I join with tree followers everywhere in admiring trees, not much has changed with my American Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, since January’s report. I suppose that bare-n-naked (or nekkid, as we’re wont to say here in Texas) is expected during dormant winter months.

Stunning against the pure Texas sky,

…the elegant, winter-white bark is especially gorgeous.

According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the American Sycamore has the largest trunk diameter of any Eastern North American native hardwood tree. I suspect that the West Coast trees in the Sequoioideae family out-girth the Sycamore by a smidge. Or maybe more than a smidge.

Sycamore wood is used commercially for butcher blocks, boxes and crates, as well as some furniture, but reportedly course and hard to work with.

The outer-bark is rough along the bottom of the trunk, with revealed patches of pale/grey/beige bark underneath,

The pallid bark becomes smoother and more prominent toward the canopy.

Peeling bark showcasing subtle colors is a signature visual quality of Sycamore trees, but I’ve read that it’s not entirely clear why the bark peels.

Some sources suggest that because Sycamores grow quickly and the epidermis of the tree is rigid, that it sloughs the bark to accommodate rapid growth. Also, Sycamores are happiest when they grow in wet bottom-lands, so it might be that the tree employs more transpiration throughout and therefore, the bark sheds more than many trees. Another theory is that there are more issues with fungi and other wet-feet problems precisely because Sycamores grow naturally in wet and heavy soil types and the bark exfoliates as a protective measure against disease problems. A last explanation of Sycamores’ penchant for peeling is that because Sycamores photosynthesize through their limbs, the shedding bark allows for a longer season of photosynthesis and therefore,there is rapid and continual growth.

My Sycamore isn’t planted in a floodplain, nor does it grow in particularly soggy soil. And yet,

…peeling is a thing Shed does. I guess adaptation and genetics win again.

Seed balls dangle in the winter chill, decorating the foliage-empty tree.

I’m a little surprised that more of them haven’t drifted or dropped to the ground yet, in preparation of spreading Shed’s genetic material, but I’ve seen a couple of mushed balls on the ground and in the compost bin.

By next month, there should be many exploding seed balls (as a neighbor once described them), raining down on the Earth in and around my gardens, preparing to create new trees.

Perhaps there will be seedlings to show you.

Thanking Pat of The Squirrelbasket for graciously hosting this fun meme about trees. Check out her blog for interesting information about trees from all over the world.