Hmmm, I'll just say it's a whopper! Solved:Speckled Alder

[SwampDonkey]

This specimen was 20 feet tall and 9 inches (22 cm) at 3.2 feet (1.0 m) above ground level. That is a ~ 2 quart (2 litre) water jug hanging on the plant. The thing was growing roadside. It forked above the tape.



Here are some leaves and stem portion. Even a bud forming there so early in the growing season. These leaves came off another plant of the same species. It was difficult taking a clipping from the plant I cut it from because of all the adelgid (aphids covered in white fuzz) living on the stems and leaves.




This will be added to another popular thread later.  Any guesses? ;D

[Mooseherder]

Looks like a Canada Plum (Red Plum)  Prunus Nigra

[SwampDonkey]

The aphids threw ya off eh?  ;)

Nope not a plum.  ;D

[WDH]

Got a real strong Betulaceae feel about it..........

[WDH]

I am thinking Beaked Hazel, Corylus cornuta ???

[SwampDonkey]

Your in the ball park WDH. No not beaked hazel. That would be a monster diameter for beaked hazel though.  ;D

Here are a couple more shots of the underside of the leaf. Ladder-like venation and pubescence can be seen.






Notice the leaves are rugose.  ;D

Hopefully, another clue tomorrow if I can get some micro photography.  ;)

[WDH]

OK, I think I know what it is.  Never seen it myself though.  I need to pay you a visit to learn all the Eastern Canadian species that we southerners only read about in books......

I bet this one has a cone-like fruit.

[SwampDonkey]

Inserted another tid bit under the picture of the leaves in the previous post. Do it for ya?  ;)

[Mooseherder]

American Basswood  Tilia americana

[WDH]

Yes, I incana believed it was rugose :D :D :D :D ;D.  That is a plant that I would like to see.  But I would likely need my spectacles :.  No need for spectacles with the quality of those pics ;D.

How in the heck do you take such fine quality close-up pics ???  I have not got that figured out yet.  That secondary venation is perfectly crisp and clear.  Look at that rugose-ness.  Perfect.  Good job. 

I'll hang back and let others noodle and ruminate a bit on this one 

[SwampDonkey]

Mooseherder ; Nope not basswood, think more birch-like. ;)


WDH  :D :D :D  Musta been all the fertilizer and good top soil that washed down off the neighboring potato field the last 60 years that helped this brute gain such girth.  ;D 8)

[Mooseherder]

Here comes the shotgun approach. :D

American Elm   ulmus americana ;D

[Mooseherder]

Now I got it!

Speckled Alder ;D
alnus rugosa ;)

[SwampDonkey]

Here comes the shotgun approach. :D

Where have I heard that before? :D :D


Yup, you got it Mooseherder. Ain't she a brute?  :D  ;D

I'm still gonna post my next clue/feature tomorrow. Get out your hand lenses and utility knives.  ;D

[Mooseherder]

I pulled out my Maine Forest service Trees of Maine Booklet.
Them DanG leaves looked about the same. Your last clue put me on it though. :D
Here is what it says.
Speckled Alder, alnus rugosa
Is very common, usually growing in wet situations along brooks, in swamps and in Pastures. It sprouts very readily and is a nuisance on pasture land.
Alder usually occurs as a shrub, rarely as a small tree. It is seldom more than 4 inches in diameter and 20 feet in height.
Yup, that one is a whopper.

[WDH]

Get out your hand lenses and utility knives.  ;D

Hand lens.........Check!

Utility knife.......Check!

We be waiting ;D

[thecfarm]

I thought it was alder.Don't know all of the greek names.How about biscuit wood?I kinda like it when they grow along the ground 4-5 feet than start to grow up.I have cut a few of these.Never saw one that size.

[SwampDonkey]

It is an excellent nurse shrub for the natural succession of an abandoned pasture. Even though it is so cursed. I've seen some nice thickets of fir or spruce start in under them and on more moist sites a good crop of white ash will establish.  Helps fix nitrogen so it's a benefit to run out pasture land. 8)

[Ironwood]

I would have guessed Witch Hazel. Reid

[SwampDonkey]

Pith of speckled alder



A 3-point star. Scale in mm's.



Maybe a better picture? The wood is white when fresh cut, but quickly oxidizes to brown.

[Dodgy Loner]

It's good to see large specimens of small trees gettin' some love ;).  Most people would walk by that tree and not give it a second thought.

[WDH]

Most people don't give specimens of any tree a second thought :-[.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, usually the response is......'So what' with a little bit of sarcasm in the voice.  :

[WDH]

Is the pith always triangular shaped?

[SwampDonkey]

Seems to be a trait of most alders, even red alder of the NW coast and European alder. Says fast growing, vigourous twigs of red alder are often triangular shaped in the Dendro Text. I only learned this recently by reading and then going to see for myself on local bushes.