My Tree ID class at Merritt College will be coming to a
close by the end of May. It’s been a great class. Dr. Lawrence Lee has exposed us
to over 160 trees over the last four months – trees that you might see in
gardens throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The trees come from all over the
world, some have naturalized, others thrive in the Mediterranean climate.
Rather than memorizing, we are learning how to use a tree’s key
characteristics, its diagnostics, to identify it.
For my class project, I’m reporting on street trees through the seasons. I work in Dublin, California, and try to take a walk almost every day. For the last year and a half, I have been observing and photographing the trees as they go through the seasons. Those of you from other parts of the country may question that we have seasons in the Bay Area, but I found my subjects actually do undergo seasonal changes! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing my findings with Eden By The Bay readers.
For my class project, I’m reporting on street trees through the seasons. I work in Dublin, California, and try to take a walk almost every day. For the last year and a half, I have been observing and photographing the trees as they go through the seasons. Those of you from other parts of the country may question that we have seasons in the Bay Area, but I found my subjects actually do undergo seasonal changes! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing my findings with Eden By The Bay readers.
My first subject is a Birch tree – Betula nigra (River Birch), which is in the Betulaceae family. Betula nigra is native to the Eastern United
States and is often planted in small groves in the landscape. The tree is deciduous,
and key diagnostics include small green leaves with 5-9 paired veins; regular apetalous,
tassel-like flowers in early spring (3” long male flowers in clusters of 1-3, and
½” long female flowers at the ends of branch spurs below the males); and wonderful
peeling bark that is pinkish tan when young then becoming darkened and furrowed
in age.
Birch does require water so it is best suited in a lawn or close to water. In Dublin, the birch are planted in lawns and irrigated with potable (gray) water. The tree has interest all through the seasons.
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| Betula nigra - leaf shape and habit, and flowers. |
Birch does require water so it is best suited in a lawn or close to water. In Dublin, the birch are planted in lawns and irrigated with potable (gray) water. The tree has interest all through the seasons.
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