On Saturday, Feb. 10, the Preble Soil and Water Conservation District urges you to get out and take a hike. A Winter Forestry Hike, that is. Savannah Ballweg, currently employed by Miami University and formerly employed as District Educator at Preble SWCD, will be leading the way. The hike will begin at 10 a.m. at the Preble County Historical Society Farm and will end sometime before noon.
This does beg the question, “What is there to see in the woods in the wintertime?” Though the woods does look starkly different in the winter, there are still quite a few forestry features that will stand out to help identify and appreciate all the different species in the woods. Given the scarcity of flowers and leaves on our deciduous trees in the winter, and the fact that trees do not wear a “Hello, My Name Is…” badge, foresters, loggers, naturalists, and others whose business is in the woods need to rely on other means of identifying trees.
One shortcut to identifying trees would be to consider their position on the landscape. Where do they grow? Are you looking at uplands, hillsides, swamps, or floodplains? If you are in or near a floodplain of Preble County, you might expect to find sycamore, cottonwood, buckeye, pawpaw, hedge, and walnut, among others. You might also find the skeletons of white ash in these areas. If you have old pastures that were severely eroded years ago with soil so poor you couldn’t even raise an umbrella on it, you might expect to find red cedar or black locust in those areas.
Bark color can be an obvious means of winter identification. Think about the white or grayish bark on sycamores, or the orangish bark on hedge trees. Black walnut bark is grayish on the outside, but when the bark is sliced into, it is a close match for the color of Hershey’s chocolate. With some practice, bark texture is a great means of identification. The general form of a tree can help to key out the species in front of you. This includes the overall shape of the tree as well as its branching pattern.
Other clues to classify trees may be found on the ground. If you are sure of a genus but not entirely settled on what species is in front of you, the fallen leaves, fruit, or nuts below the tree can be of help. Be careful to look around to determine what tree the evidence came from. As an example, walnuts and hedge apples can and do roll downhill quite a ways from the source tree.
Keep in mind that there are always exceptions, and some species hybridize more than others, further clouding the waters. To hone your tree identification skills and find out what else is taking place in the forests during the winter, join us for the Winter Forestry Hike on February 10th. Find a flyer with all the details at www.prebleswcd.org or call 937-456-5159 for more information.
Reach BJ Price at 937-456-5159 for more information.
