Trees - Copeland Forest, October 12th 2011

                                                                                It is hard to argue with trees. They are big, they are enduring and they outlive us by hundreds of years. In Ontario it is sometimes hard to imagine that in the 1940's most of the land was scrub because we'd logged out all the trees. It is even harder to imagine that the logging was done with horses, men and saws on non-mechanical nature. If you go the Logging museum in Algonquin Park you'll hear amazing statistics. For instance, in the early half of the 19th century 80% of the workforce was involved in logging over the winter months. It's hard to argue with trees but you sure can cut them down.

Ordinarily you'd have to hike out to the West Coast or Temagami to really get the scope of a tree in all its glory. Last hike we noted some pretty large eastern white cedar. That was odd when you consider that this area was easy to log. Odder still was this last hike when we noted some very large white pine. Straight as an arrow some of that pine - representing a small fortune in lumber. Then there was the black cherry. Cost out some black cherry flooring. Expensive.

 
So, all in all, its pretty cool that the Copeland Forest contains some very large trees. Today we went out to learn how to identify a few - pretty neat trick what with much of the canopy either changing colour or down. There is more to a tree than just pretty leaves though, there's bark.

Tree #1 was an evergeen in any case. I'll set it up with tree #6, another evergreen. The two are very similar. One has smaller needles and the needles have stems. The bark has blisters. The other has broader needles. Two of the pictures are Hemlock, one is Balsam Fir.

Tree #2 is being hugged up top and has 5 long needles in a cluster. It is not to be confused with Tree We Didn't See, which has 3 long needles in a cluster, this being Red Pine. 

Tree #3 was Yellow Birch, a softer and more mellow version of the White Birch, which we saw but did not investigate since it was off the trail on a slope. White Birch is clinging to the southern end of its ideal growing range here. We don't often see big ones.

Trees #4 and #5 were maples. Red maple is also called soft maple but probably not considered soft wood. Yellow leaves denote sugar maple.

Tree #7 has very distinctive bark that looks like burnt cornflakes. This is the highly sought after black cherry. If you have one of those in your yard then tend it lovingly. 

 Last of all, Tree #8 is cute and shaggy and straight as an arrow. This is Ironwood.

We also saw some Aspen, also called Poplar and a Beech. The latter does not always drop its leaves so you'll see those in early December clutching faded gold leaves about them. We did not see Tamarak (Larch) but they're worth mentioning because they are a conifer that does drop its needles. They're turning yellow right about now and you'll see them on the border of wetlands.

On this excursion we also found ferns with seeds on the underside and trees with holes bored into them by a woodpecker called a sapsucker. It's a good bet that if you're being attacked by a sapsucker then a mushroom infestation won't be far behind. Eventually, barring some unforeseen circumstance, you're going to fall over and rot.
                                                      While in the forest we also made Twig-a-ma-Jigs, nice for anything from a quick game of lacrosse, to snowshoeing out of an emergency, to hanging on a wall, all festooned with foliage. 

The mushrooms on this pine tree are somewhat deceptive. Last walk we saw a trillion shelf mushrooms of the Boletes Family. Are these ones Boletes?

 A bonus shrub is at the bottom. In August you can boil the fruit gently and add lemon juice and sugar for a nice scruvy fighting drink. We also found a bonus bug, elegant, but currently Nameless - also, thankfully, Toothless.