I have been trying so bloody hard to identify these two huge trees that grow on the west side of the chapel at Mount Olivet Cemetery.
At first, I was just intrigued by their trunks. It's beautiful, mottled green, gray, and white bark. Clearly, these trees are old because their trunks are thick in diameter and funky-shaped with burls.
It would take three of me to bear-hug this tree:
Check out this amazing bark:
Gorgeous.
I was talking trees with my neighbor George a few days ago, and he pointed out this spotted-bark tree on the boulevard adjacent to us. George is a 'tree guy' so when he says it' an American Sycamore, it's a sycamore. Wow, I thought, the mystery trees could be of the same ilk!
But they're just not the same. Our neighborhood tree is whiter and more slender:
Right? The colors aren't the same! The mystery tree is greener and sycamore whiter. So I went to Google, as one does, and searched for 'spotted tree bark' and 'camouflage bark'. And I think I solved the puzzle....
The London Plane!
from TreeHelp.com
from DepositPhotos
And...I'm back to square one. A bit more Google searching shows that the London Plane is a hybrid tree in the genus Platanus. Well the sycamore is from the same genus! I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not a biologist, arborist, I barely know a willow from an oak.
What I do know is that their hugs differ. The mystery tree is one I really lean in to, and the sycamore, I'm more gentle with. Big lean hug vs careful hug.
Maybe spring will reveal some helpful indicators.
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