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Pics from central park
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Posted by smord NJ z6 (My Page) on Tue, Jan 26, 10 at 17:57
| I was going stir crazy at work today so u went for a short walk in central park. I never appreciated before just how beautiful deciduous trees can be in the winter!
I guess this is what you guys were talking about- erosion on a slope exposing roots. It looks really spooky
Anyone know what this tree is? I like the prickly little balls sillouhetted against the sky
is this a paperbark maple? I like how the green moss(?) combined with the peeling bark makes it so colorful
what causes these big bulges in old trees? I love them but I don know if they're healthy...
and one more beautiful tree
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Pics from central park
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- Posted by whaas 5a Milwaukee (My Page) on
Tue, Jan 26, 10 at 18:15
| Holy...is that a huge korean stewartia?? |
RE: Pics from central park
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I believe the tree with the prickly balls and peeling bark is a Platanus aka plane tree. Looks like some kind of oak (black oak maybe) in the last two pics.. Those bulges on the tree are called burls.
J |
RE: Pics from central park
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| Hey smord, thanks for the pix. The tree with the prickly balls is likely a chestnut, as for the exfoliating bark, I'd say a sycamore and the bump is a burl. tj |
Here is a link that might be useful: Wiki burl
RE: Pics from central park
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| The tree with prickly balls is a Sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua The tree with flaking bark is a London Plane Platanus × hispanica Resin |
RE: Pics from central park
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| I'm not so sure its a chestnut. I'm thinking sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua. |
RE: Pics from central park
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| You're lucky to work so close to such a beautiful park. Thanks for the photos. |
RE: Pics from central park
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| The tree with the prickly balls is sycamore or london plane if it's the same tree that has the splotchy camo bark. This time of year those seed balls are visible on those trees. Spiky seedballs are commonly found on Sweetgums but more so in the autumn or early winter, not now. They don't have splotchy bark but they do have winged crusts on the thinner branches during dormancy. |
RE: Pics from central park
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Tue, Jan 26, 10 at 19:10
| Sweetgum balls are different than those shown, as is the tree itself. |
RE: Pics from central park
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| Couldn't that one with the peeling bark be plain ol' Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)? Why do you think it is London plane (Platanus × hispanica)? It's wonderful to see a new person caught in the magic of learning about (and appreciating) trees. |
RE: Pics from central park
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| "Couldn't that one with the peeling bark be plain ol' Sycamore" : ) Sycamores tend to have more rounded trunk base, and they usually keep more of the bark at the base. The Platanus has an irregular trunk, full of unique bumps and so forth. I think the tree with the prickly balls is the same tree, Platanus, aka london plane. Cool pics though! : ) |
RE: Pics from central park
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| The prickly ball tree and the peely bark tree are different trees. The peely bark trees seem to be very common around here- I'm just now appreciating them for the first time. I'm sure Central Park has some exotic trees as well-i've noticed some trees are labelled, but none of these were. |
RE: Pics from central park
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RE: Pics from central park
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| I think they are probably London Plane because those are more commonly planted as urban trees in that region due to the anthracnose. I can usually tell by the leaves but you can look at the number of seedballs and tell which one it is, I believe. |
RE: Pics from central parkt
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| Also, london planes have much showier bark. I'm guessing that is LPT because of how showy that bark is. |
RE: Pics from central park
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| in my 60's neighborhood.. the splotchy bark trees are called sycamores .... aka plane ... and they have spiky seed pods .... which break into fuzzy things ... if they are in the tree... you will find them on the ground ... [lot of technical terms here.. lol ] a chestnut.. believe it or not.. has a chestnut in the middle ... pix of sweet gum below ... you should get one of these .... if only.. to tell people it is a liquidamber ... my favorite plant name.. bar none ... pix later ... now.. a sycamore is a horrible suburban tree ... surface roots that are heaving the sidewalks int eh old hood ... horrible mess of allergic dust when the pods fall .. horrible leaves that do NOT mulch all that well .. so.. based on your project .. and other posts.. just dont list a sycamore.. IMHO ... great tree for the park though ... ken |
Here is a link that might be useful: sweet gum
RE: liquidamber Pics
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RE: Pics from central park
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| American sycamores typically have single (rarely double) seed balls on longer stalks. LPTs are usually 2-6 on shorter stalks. I would bet this is a sycamore. Those all look like single seed balls to me. |
RE: Pics from central park
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| "American sycamores typically have single (rarely double) seed balls on longer stalks. LPTs are usually 2-6 on shorter stalks. I would bet this is a sycamore. Those all look like single seed balls to me" The seed balls are Sweetgum, they aren't on the plane, as mentioned above, they're on a different tree. Resin |
RE: Pics from central park
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After looking more closely I concur with the sweetgum.
Ken, that is a really neat sweetgum (variegated??),.. I enjoy seeing your yard, and hope to have something like that myself one day! J |
RE: Pics from central park
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Wed, Jan 27, 10 at 16:22
| Yes, you can see the one with the balls has the twigs and branching of sweetgum - something I noticed at first, then lost sight of reading the subsequent discussion. On the upper branches farther back you can see the balls are grouped in the manner of sweetgum. The burly, lumpy Platanus may be the 'Pyramidalis' common in public plantings of some years back. However, some plantings here appear to be mixed seedlings, with different characters being shown by trees in the same rows or other groupings. |
RE: Pics from central park
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| Trees of Central Park in link below. It lists both the London Plane and Sweet Gum and the locations to find them in. Enjoy! FataMorgana |
Here is a link that might be useful: Central Park Tree Database
RE: Pics from central park
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| Oh nasty! It also lists a Tree of Heaven!! What ARE they thinking? |
RE: Pics from central park
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Fri, Jan 29, 10 at 14:38
| It's great that somebody has put together those Central Park trees pages, with color photos. (Notice that at least one stewartia is present, although much smaller than the plane tree asked about here - as would be expected). Magnolia sargentiana would not be expected, the tree so identified and shown is in fact a saucer magnolia. If I clicked on all the other links perhaps I would find other misidentifications - user beware. |
RE: Pics from central park
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| That's excellent! Thanks for the Central park tree database link! Now I can do my tree window shopping right in the park... |
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