Liriodendron tulipifera

 During my bicycle ride this morning I noticed that the tuliptrees are in bloom.

The tuliptree, or sometimes tulip tree, also known as yellow poplar, or even canoe poplar, though it is not a poplar, is the state tree of Indiana.  They are truly lovely trees, often growing to great height, sometimes more than 30 meters, and always with a symmetrical silhouette.

I have always believed, as many say, that the tree is called "tulip tree" because the leaves resemble the shape of a tulip blossom.  Recently, though, I note that some writers are stating that

the name derives from the shape of the flower.

It is a beautiful tree, and the flowers are stunning, though they are usually above eye level, and thus go unnoticed by many people.  I snapped these two pictures of the lowest-hanging flower on a nearby tree.  The green petals with orange and yellow accents combine to make a perfect flower.  But they must be enjoyed in the now, for they do not last long.

(This particular flower is about eight feet above the ground.  I had to pull the branch down to get the interior shot.)

Mountain Ash

The American mountain ash (sorbus americana) is a very attractive ornamental tree.  It is not a true ash.  It usually  remains rather small, the example shown here being typical for the tree in this area.

The brilliant orange berries are attractive to birds and they remain on the tree deep into the winter, long after the leaves have fallen, or until the birds have finished them off!

Noting this tree today was a reminder of another orange fruit which will be ready soon, the persimmon!  We have to have a frost, though, before that fruit is edible.  And it sure hasn't felt like frost anytime recently, for sure.

The Big Tree

 We drove out to see The Big Tree.  From Rockport we headed north across Capano Bay.  Traffic was not impeded by construction, but a new bridge is being built right up next to the old one.  Pictures would have been nice, but there was no stopping, and in this case no shooting through the window of the moving vehicle.

 The tree is in Goose Island State Park which is perhaps a dozen miles from Rockport.  It is a beautiful drive through Lamar and around the bay.  After some leisurely exploration, we finally arrived at the home of the behemoth.

 That is BBBH on the other side of the tree.  There was a bench near where she is standing.  We sat thereon for some time, looking at this tree and the surroundings, reflecting a bit on the history that has transpired since this creature was a seedling.

The tree is judged to be over 1000 years old.  The acorn would have germinated and the tree might have been a small sapling about the time that Lief Ericson sailed to Vinland.  The  mature tree would have been near seventy years of age when William conquered England.

 Tree would have been observing its 500th birthday about the time that Columbus set foot in the New World.

This venerable example of God's handiwork was well over 800 years of age when Texas declared its independence and became a republic.

End today's history lesson

An Afternoon in the Park

 As we enter the Zachary Taylor Arboretum Park this cloudless afternoon, we tread beauties as these underfoot.

 This splendid tree has a smooth white bark, and the dark, though now empty seed pods combine with the sky to produce this striking example of nature's artwork.

 This is one of probably dozens of pictures I have taken of live oak trees.  Their surprising postures and gnarly and strangely twisted limbs fascinate me.

Much as I love persimmons, and I confess to having eaten perhaps bushels of them, I have never seen, much less eaten, a black persimmon which is the fruit of this tree.  Guess I need to arrive in the vicinity earlier in the fall! 

Were it not for my annual treks to Texas, I would be completely unfamiliar with this tree, as it apparently thrives only in the area from Central Texas southward into Mexico.

That is my size 11 at the base of the tree so that you might get some idea.  This live oak is reputedly one under which Zachary Taylor pitched camp when he came ashore at Rockport in 1845.  Thus the name of the park and the frequent historical references to this man who was later President of the United States.

Trees in the Breeze

  

 Across the road is a small arboretum, about one-quarter square block in size.

 I thought this a particularly nice specimen.  It is a very pretty tree, and I would describe it as semi-deciduous, inasmuch as it is still adorned with much green foliage here at the end of January.  (It might be semi-evergreen, though such examples are quite rare.  I am not a dendrologist, so I am only guessing here, anyway.)

The bark is very interesting, and the name of the tree is quite appropriate.  The leaves are about an inch in length, typical elm in appearance, and arranged as shown in the diagram.

More about this pretty little park perhaps another time.  "Breeze" in the title:  I used the term because we had a pretty stiff breeze here all day Tuesday, with gusts as high as forty mph, temperatures in the eighties.  The official temperature at the Corpus Christi airport, thirty miles down the road, was 91, a new record for the date.  I love January.  In Texas.