Grand old Central District pear tree now on heritage list

In late fall, residents of Seattle's Central District feast on the D'Anjou pears that rain down from the towering tree at East Cherry Street and 27th Avenue.

Tom Samuelsen, who owns the corner lot on which the tree sits, believes it is more than 100 years old — possibly part of an orchard that existed when the area was "way out in the country."

On Sunday, a group of tree lovers gathered to raise a cider toast to the grand pear tree and its recent designation as a Seattle Heritage Tree because of its continued production, size, condition and age.

City of Seattle arborist Nolan Rundquist awarded Samuelsen's tree a "Best in City" award. There are about 60 other Heritage Trees in public parks and on private properties across the city, though few are fruit trees.

Dousing the celebration with a bit of cold water, tree surgeon Michael Oxman offered his own diagnosis: "Truthfully, it needs to be pruned."

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The painting is by Alfred Glendening

'Living Fossil' Tree Contains Genetic Imprints Of Rain Forests Under Climate Change

A "living fossil" tree species is helping a University of Michigan researcher understand how tropical forests responded to past climate change and how they may react to global warming in the future.

The research appears in the November issue of the journal Evolution.

Symphonia globulifera is a widespread tropical tree with a history that goes back some 45 million years in Africa, said Christopher Dick, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who is lead author on the paper. It is unusual among tropical trees in having a well-studied fossil record, partly because the oil industry uses its distinctive pollen fossils as a stratigraphic tool.

About 15 to 18 million years ago, deposits of fossil pollen suggest, Symphonia suddenly appeared in South America and then in Central America. Unlike kapok, a tropical tree with a similar distribution that Dick also has studied, Symphonia isn't well-suited for traveling across the ocean—its seeds dry out easily and can't tolerate saltwater. So how did Symphonia reach the neotropics? Most likely the seeds hitched rides from Africa on rafts of vegetation, as monkeys did, Dick said. Even whole trunks, which can send out shoots when they reach a suitable resting place, may have made the journey. Because Central and South American had no land connection at the time, Symphonia must have colonized each location separately.

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The painting is by Nancy Merkle

Museum gets petrified tree

ST. GEORGE - The dinosaur-track museum in St. George has a new show-stopper: Part of a million-year-old petrified tree.
Pieces of the big conifer were dug up and stolen on public land around St. George and shopped to landscapers.
But the BLM recovered the prize. It's ready to be assembled into a 25-foot-high tree column at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site.
Russell Schreiner, a Bureau of Land Management geologist, said the fossilized tree was illegally excavated more than a year ago from Smith Mesa, a known looting site.
To get to the specimen, the looters cut down live trees in the way and dug trenches. ''Now it looks like a bomb went off up there,'' he said.
Schreiner said that taken together, the pieces of the conifer make up a remarkable piece of geologic history.
The tree will stand guard just outside a climate-controlled building that's open to the public. It houses one of the best collections of dinosaur tracks from the Jurassic era.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Oregon ghost forest by sea may harbor climate clues

NESKOWIN, Ore. — As the beach near Neskowin washed away last winter, a ghost forest emerged that could give Oregon State University students a look at our past climate and, maybe, our future.

The forest has been preserved in the beach sands for thousands of years and consists of twisted chunks of wood emerging from the beach.

But now the program is on hold while the state reconsiders how it issues permits for such research.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department allowed students to take core samples from 30 trees and to cut wedges with a chain saw from up to six.

The research stopped when they were confronted by Toni Stevens, who has a vacation home there. Diane Bennett, a retired federal wildlife inspector, also objected, saying area residents are fond of the stumps.

"We call them stump people," she said. "They are the sentinels of Neskowin."

Researchers say they appreciate the concern but that the stumps are a valuable research source that is deteriorating.

The old stumps north of Lincoln City have drawn the interest of scientists and tourists alike.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Most oaks in area are at least 160 years old

If trees were royalty, oaks would be kings in our American landscape. Their strength, beauty and adaptability make them revered in our history and lore. The oak is our national tree, after all. The white oak is Illinois' official state tree.

Many people, however, don't like to plant oaks.

"Homeowners often choose other trees because they think that oaks grow too slowly. That is a myth," said Doris Taylor, plant information specialist at The Morton Arboretum. A young oak grows at a good pace, about a foot a year, according to Taylor.

"Give oaks a chance," said Taylor. "You may be first on your block to plant one!"

Oaks great benefits to planting oaks. They make beautiful shade trees, with their distinct lobed leaves, acorns and red fall color. They are long-lived and suffer less damage from high winds than other trees. Plus, diversifying your landscape with a wider variety of trees can prevent a new disease or pest from wiping out whole blocks of trees, like what's happened to elms and ashes.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko