Learning about Trees

On a recent visit to Brigham Young University's campus (for a lovely women's conference), I scouted out some trees via the university's tree tour. They have over 100 tree on their tour, and a small booklet (available at the bookstore) with pictures and map to help you find and identify the trees. You can see the online version at http://pws.byu.edu/tree_tour/, if you are interested. I didn't have time to see ALL the trees on the tour, but I did see about a dozen or so.

Dawn RedwoodMetasequoia glyptostroboides

Next time I am 'in the neighborhood', I'll try and see more. This first picture is of a Dawn Redwood, a tree that was thought to be extinct at one time. This specimen was planted in 1962, and is about 70' tall. It is one of the oldest Dawn Redwoods in North America. Here is a closeup of the needles coming out.

Ohio BuckeyeAesculus glauca

Being from Ohio, I thought this was a bit ironic. BYU has played OSU in football, occasionally. (Thought I don't believe BYU has ever won!).

European Larch-Larix decidua

This Larch was a tree I particularly wanted to see, because we have one in our yard, and I wanted to make sure I was correct in my identification. I do not know much about trees, and so I am always trying to learn more. The Larch and the Dawn Redwood are the only two 'evergreen' trees that are deciduous, if I am remembering my master gardening classes.

Bald Cypress -Taxodium distichum

This is the last tree I wanted to show today, we (I managed to drag people along!) got a big laugh out of the description, which explains how the tree trunk is 'strongly buttressed, especially in wet areas with cypress knees, occurring only near water.'

Here we see the Sassy One
demonstrating how buttressing works on a nearby tree trunk.

So now I am wondering, how many colleges/universitites also have 'tree tours'? If you know of any, please let me know in your comments!