Dont you just love trees!?

curious kat · Apr 26, 2014

Don't you just love trees!?

...finally getting leaves on them...but they're really interesting without them also. These are some of the ones we share our place with...... :toothy4:

Cariboo5 · Apr 26, 2014

Big enough to be home for many little critters......The bark reminds me of the Douglas Firs trees we have up here.....

vpnavy · Apr 26, 2014

Nice photographs Kat! Thanks for sharing...

mamabear · Apr 26, 2014

Nice pics Kat. The dogwood & redbuds are in full bloom here. Spring is always spectacular!

TJE · Apr 27, 2014

Like these shots CK. :thumbsup:

Now, do we have any TN tree experts for NM. trees? Ha!...Your pic 'in green'..trees along bottom look/remind me of a type of cedar. Other big guy 'trunk bark' resembles a type of elm/ash?

curious kat · Apr 27, 2014

Cariboo...yes a home for the critters... :bunny:

...and thank goodness it's a bit high for the cats to chase...but I've seen them go half way up! These are cottonwood's...the Douglas firs are pretty!

vpnavy...still loving that camera man.

mamabear...going to post the dogwood & redbuds? Love to see them.

curious kat · Apr 27, 2014

Hi TJE....yes, cedar...and the large ones with the amazing twists & turns in them are....ta-da...."Cottonwoods"...both loved & hated...it's "snow" season right now, if you know what I mean? We do have some "elm", but they're much smaller.

rginn · Apr 30, 2014

Yep, I recognized the cottonwoods. When I lived in a teepee I preferred dry cottonwood for the fire. It burns quick and clean and doesn't leave a lot of ash. Course it takes a lot of it. In years past in winters on the southern plains cottonwood bark was sometimes the only thing available to feed the horses. Indian kids would roll the leaves to make play teepees and gash the bark which would ooze a gelatinous substance they would eat like ice cream. I tried it but wasn't that impressed. Maybe with a little hot sauce. I prefer the squirrels.

TJE · Apr 30, 2014

RGINN said:
Yep, I recognized the cottonwoods. When I lived in a teepee I preferred dry cottonwood for the fire. It burns quick and clean and doesn't leave a lot of ash. Course it takes a lot of it. In years past in winters on the southern plains cottonwood bark was sometimes the only thing available to feed the horses. Indian kids would roll the leaves to make play teepees and gash the bark which would ooze a gelatinous substance they would eat like ice cream. I tried it but wasn't that impressed. Maybe with a little hot sauce. I prefer the squirrels.

LOL, I like meat too RGINN

I'm not sure?, but think CKs big old 'cottonwoods pics'...up here are called 'Poplar trees' (also known as quaking aspens)...and yes natives here too, in springtime would take 'poplar tree fuzz/snow' mixed with sap...now called 'the wild cotton candy'.

curious kat · Apr 30, 2014

....OK tree guys...

RGINN....what interesting information about the "Cottonwood"......and the hot sauce remark :laughing7:

TJE....we do have some "Poplar/aspen" here, mostly up higher though, beautiful. I heard that aspen groves are actually "one" tree....as all are joined by the same root system, weird but neat! Can you actually eat that "wild cotton candy" mixture...seeds & all? We have a bush/tree here called "squaw bush", (no jokes :nono:

...lol) the NA would pick & suck on the berries when thirsty, I do & it's just like sweet lemonade.

mamabear · Apr 30, 2014

I'll have to go get some pics of redbud & dogwood.

rginn · May 2, 2014

I know that bush you're talkin about, too, CK. It's a sumac, and I believe the one y'all have is called skunk bush sumac. We had staghorn sumac in Oklahoma. (we pronounced that 'shoe-make' instead of 'sue-mack') When the berries get ripe and turn bright red they have a sour taste and you can steep them in water to make sort of pink lemonade. Don't confuse it with poison sumac which has white berries and if extremely allergic to poison oak you might not want to try that as the plants are related. The different tribes would dry the leaves and cut their tobacco with it to lengthen their supply. They used it for pipe stems as the core is very pithy and easily removed. I have no idea how somebody figured you could mix the leaves with tobacco, smoke it and it wouldn't cause you to have hallucinations and keel over. Or maybe that was the result they were seeking.

curious kat · May 4, 2014

.....more good information, thanks RGINN......you seem to know your plants! I'll have to read up on the sumac & look at pictures, wonder why they call it "skunk bush sumac, it doesn't smell bad? And yah, the berries on the "squaw bush" (that's what the locals call it)....they're small, turn red & are sort of furry...taste just like sweet lemons...maybe will try making the lemon drink like you said...