A Little Treet

So this is how I've decided to cope with the sedentary life in a cubicle...I spend my breaks identifying trees outside my work using, "Bark; A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast," by Michael Wojtech.

I know, you're thinking, what a nerd, but it's actually pretty fun.

It's an interesting guide because it focuses on identifying trees by their bark. Since a lot of trees in NE are deciduous-meaning they loose their leaves at the end of their growing season- after the leaves fall it is hard to identify them. This guide allows you to identify trees during any point of the year.

The forest looks a whole lot more interesting once you become aware of bark. Is it smooth, furrowed, scale-like, does it have curly strips? Did you know that trees have pores just like our skin? They are called lenticles and they can been circular, diamond shaped or rectangular.

Being able to identify trees is important because you can use them for materials, food and to locate animals. One of my favorite trees is a black birch. It has smooth grey bark and horizontal lenticels. When you scratch the bark it smells like wintergreen and root beer.

Trees are cool. Why not go out on a limb and try and identify some?