Leaves

I’ve always loved leaves. When I was young, I viewed the leaf covered forest floor as if it were covered with treasure. I couldn’t wait to dig in and see what I could discover. I regularly told my parents that I was making a leaf collection for school, just so I could get permission to explore the woods. To make it a truthful story, I always turned my collections over to my elementary school teachers. The confused teachers would usually explain that I could better use my time by working on the assigned lessons, instead of trying for extra credit with a never ending series of leaf collections. A little show of confusion and fear usually earned me the extra credit despite the teacher’s initial reaction.

What you find on the woodland floor is not always a true representation of the species mix on that site. At first glance the Blue Jay Barrens woods would appear to be primarily oaks. This is just an illusion created by the fact that the oaks are usually the last to drop their leaves, so they cover everything that has fallen before.

In some ways, collecting leaves was somewhat pointless. Many species of trees cannot be identified solely from the leaf. Oaks are a good example. Depth of sinuses, number of lobes, shape and length of points are all variable. A single tree can exhibit leaves of such varied shapes that you might mistake each shape for a different species. To make a positive ID, the leaves must still be attached to the tree so you can also view the buds and twigs.

Even if you can’t be sure of the oak identification, you can make some accurate generalizations. Round lobe tips indicate species in the white oak group and pointed lobe tips designate red oak group. A large number of similar leaves usually indicate that the source is close by. Leaves can be carried long distances by the wind, so a few scattered leaves of one type could mean that they have been blown in from some other area.

I spend a lot of time sifting through the leaves. You may not be sure of your identification from just a single leaf, but you may suspect the presence of a particular tree based on the evidence. I’ve found several interesting species by first finding their leaves in the fall and then searching for the tree the next summer. The leaves can suggest possibilities and identifying a possibility is typically the first step towards discovering the reality.

Just as I Thought

Yesterday was the first time this week that I was able to get home in time to see Blue Jay Barrens in the sunlight. As I feared, the rain and wind have stripped many of the trees of their colorful leaves.

One of the most startling sights each year is the opening of the ridge top woods. The ridge has a narrow top, so there’s only room for a few trees before the ridge drops off the back side. The mass of leafed trees looks so substantial during the summer that you forget the actual sparseness of trees. When the first holes develop in the fall, my first reaction is to mount an expedition to make sure all of the trees are still there.

The massive Tuliptrees that tower above the cedars have been reduced to mere skeletons. One day the cedars will lose their battle with the overshadowing Tuliptrees and become deadwood structure within a deciduous forest. That event is still far in the future.

Development of large leafless blocks indicates that the days of colorful fall leaf displays have come to an end. Even if the remaining trees were to develop the most beautiful of colors, there has been too much leaf loss to recapture the joy of autumn leaf turn.

The old fencerow trees that effectively divide prairie patches during the summer have thinned enough to see from one prairie to the next. The view becomes more open each year as I remove invasive woody plants.

The large blocks of oaks seem to be unaffected by the arrival of fall. These trees will hold their leaves into winter, but instead of bright colors, they will gradually dry out and turn brown. It seems that the fall colors came in a flash and now I’m just left with the afterimage.

A Bit of Color

When I left for work yesterday morning, it was dark. When I got home yesterday evening, it was dark. That, combined with a few days of cloudy drizzly weather, gave me the need to see some color. There were so many beautifully colored leaves brightening the landscape on the last sunny day. I can sense the color leaching from them with every little rain shower. I thought I might feel better if I pulled out a few of the brightly colored leaf shots I collected on Columbus Day. The Flowering Dogwoods were particularly vibrant with their mix of red, orange and yellow leaves.

Sassafras trees were doing their part by adding some gold and yellow to the display. The gold coloration occurs as a transition from yellow to brown. Sometimes the change happens so quickly that gold is only noticeable for a single day.

Sumac wins the prize for bringing the brightest red to the landscape. I did a presentation for some nursing home residents many Octobers ago that involved bringing in a big box of attractive autumn leaves. When I researched my audience, I found that many couldn’t see well and most were not mobile enough to come outside. That eliminated the possibility of a slide show or short outdoor walk. I thought they might enjoy seeing the leaves, so I went out and collected the brightest, most colorful leaves I could find. After introducing myself, I went around the room and dropped a handful of leaves into each person’s lap. I think the people were startled at first, but they soon started picking leaves out of their piles and following along as I described the life histories of the plants that produced the leaves. Soon they were all taking about their leaves and comparing colors or talking about how leaves or plants had impacted their lives. We ended up with leaves all over the room, but the thing I remember most is one woman who kept putting a bright red Sumac leaf in front of her mouth and saying “Look at my ruby red lips.” I think we all had a lot of fun, except for maybe the person who had to clean up all those leaves.

This Flowering Dogwood trended more towards a peach blush. Most colors appeared quickly this year. I’m afraid that by the time we manage another sunny day, the colors will be on the decline.

Sugar Maple leaves produced a lot of bright yellow, but it seems that most of the leaves were blemished with brown spots. When I came home yesterday, the section of our township road that goes through the neighbor’s woods was completely covered with maple leaves. The rain we had during the day must have added just enough weight to pull the leaves free. I suppose this means that I’ll be seeing the start of naked maple trees when I next climb the hill to view the woods.

Giant Oak Leaves

Down beneath the cedar canopy, you can find a few oaks that have been sheltered from the cold nights and frosts that we’ve had recently. The leaves look as those on the exposed trees looked two weeks ago. Walking through this tiny shadowed woods is like taking a short trip back through time. This will be my last seasonally colorful foliage this fall. It’s a shame the overcast sky and towering cedars make it so dark here. I’d love to see these leaves have one more sparkle in the sunlight.

The really neat thing about these leaves is their huge size. Leaves growing in shaded areas tend to grow larger in order to make better use of the filtered sunlight they receive. These are the types of leaves I used to collect for elementary school leaf collection projects. The teacher would give us mimeographed sheets with an outlined block in which we were to attach our leaves. Other kids would turn in their projects as a neat little book of pages displaying their leaves. I would turn in a stack of paper with leaves sticking out the edges all the way around. I lost points for neatness and then more points for arguing and finally, a trip to the office.

This looks like the leaf of a Red Oak, Quercus rubra. Most oak species display a wide range of leaf shapes, sometimes on the same tree. This makes leaves unreliable as a sole means of identification.

Buds can help you narrow the possibilities and these buds are pretty Red Oakish. Bud characteristics can also blend between species, so once again they cannot be used as the sole identifier. If you can get some acorns, the identification becomes much easier, but these young trees don’t have any acorns. Bark can also be used to fix an identification, if you’re dealing with an older tree.

Well, I can live without being 100 percent sure on my identifications. I once watched two professional botanists argue over the identification of a tree in the red oak group. I would have believed either one of them without question, but in this case everyone walked away confused. Anyway, I can still admire the beauty of the leaves.