Leaf Project

[DuaeGuttae]

It's spring break for our family, but three of the four kiddos are sick, so I'm cleaning up and removing art projects from walls and windows. I decided that I wasn't quite ready to take this down from above the piano yet.

This came from a walk I took in December with the nine, seven, and four year old while we visited Grandma's house. The leaves weren't in the best shape because of the time of year, but it was a lot of fun.

I thought you tree identifiers would enjoy it, and I'd also be grateful if anyone wanted to point out if there are errors. Thanks!

 

[kennyp2339]

Keep them no matter what, I still remember doing that same exact thing with my grandpa 28 yrs ago.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Keep them no matter what, I still remember doing that same exact thing with my grandpa 28 yrs ago.

When I take them down, we'll definitely keep them. I remember identifying trees with my mother about thirty years ago.

 

[lost in the woods]

did that in 10th grade biology class. . . 20 species required. . . then did it again in forestry school. . . 50 species required! oh the memories. .....................

 

[Hasufel]

View attachment 196916 It's spring break for our family, but three of the four kiddos are sick, so I'm cleaning up and removing art projects from walls and windows. I decided that I wasn't quite ready to take this down from above the piano yet.

This came from a walk I took in December with the nine, seven, and four year old while we visited Grandma's house. The leaves weren't in the best shape because of the time of year, but it was a lot of fun.

I thought you tree identifiers would enjoy it, and I'd also be grateful if anyone wanted to point out if there are errors. Thanks!

Nice! Brings back great memories of the leaf collections I did as school projects many years ago. I still recall fondly the "thrill of the hunt." My favorite time of year to do one was fall because the leaves were in great shape and the colors were fantastic, and of course the weather was still nice. Makes me wonder if I still have some of those in a box in my basement.

Is Grandma's house in NoVa as well? I ask because I think the leaf marked turkey oak might actually be southern red oak. Turkey oak is more common on the coastal plain, not so much around here. I've got a lot of southern red oaks and some of the leaves look turkey-ish. For some reason there seems to be a lot of variation among the leaves on the southern red oaks near me, even between the upper and lower branches on the same tree. The one that's marked southern red oak doesn't look much like what I have, but I've read that northern & southern red oaks can hybridize so I wonder if that could be what you found. I have at least one tree that I think might be a hybrid but I don't recall if the leaves look like that.

Anyway, great activity--thanks for sharing. It's nice to know that kids still get out and enjoy things like this!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Nice! Brings back great memories of the leaf collections I did as school projects many years ago. I still recall fondly the "thrill of the hunt." My favorite time of year to do one was fall because the leaves were in great shape and the colors were fantastic, and of course the weather was still nice. Makes me wonder if I still have some of those in a box in my basement.

Is Grandma's house in NoVa as well? I ask because I think the leaf marked turkey oak might actually be southern red oak. Turkey oak is more common on the coastal plain, not so much around here. I've got a lot of southern red oaks and some of the leaves look turkey-ish. For some reason there seems to be a lot of variation among the leaves on the southern red oaks near me, even between the upper and lower branches on the same tree. The one that's marked southern red oak doesn't look much like what I have, but I've read that northern & southern red oaks can hybridize so I wonder if that could be what you found. I have at least one tree that I think might be a hybrid but I don't recall if the leaves look like that.

Anyway, great activity--thanks for sharing. It's nice to know that kids still get out and enjoy things like this!

Thanks for the input on the oaks. We were really going only on leaf shape comparing to an old book of my mother's, though I did make sure that my daughter checked ranges. Grandma is more central, definitely not coastal, and it doesn't match up with range information I found online. I told my daughter about your observations, and she decided that she will have to check out red oaks around here to see what kind of leaves they have. I figure that was a pretty good response from a nine year old. (She loves learning "treeology" as she calls it.)

I was pretty impressed with her today. I've been reading a very basic book on trees to my first grader, and she listens in for fun. When I read to him about American Hornbeam, she immediately knew that it was what Grandma calls Musclewood, and she also remembered the tree in a neighbor's backyard, though he uses the name Blue Beech. I am glad she cares enough to notice these things.

I also think that she discovered some Eastern Cottonwood in a wood near here. I had never knowingly seen one, but she found the trees producing the white fluff, and they seemed to match.