What is it Wednesday: January 15, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on
January 15, 2020.

And the answer is....

This is the twig of a black walnut tree, with side buds and leaf scar visible in the center (and Terra Dei solar panels in the background). 

The twigs of trees don’t get much attention, but they are distinctive – features like buds, scars, bark, and the twigs themselves have different sizes, shapes, colors, and textures in different tree species.  Here we see the distinctive shape of the leaf scar of black walnut twigs – sometimes described as a monkey face or Mickey Mouse shape.

The varying features of twigs are so distinctive they can help pinpoint tree identification. In fact, in winter when there are no leaves on deciduous trees, these usually unnoticed features are actually the best  clues for identifying tree species. 

The bark of a tree can help with identification, especially in some species which have distinctive bark, but bark can be variable and difficult to use as an identifier without a lot of experience. The general shape of a tree can be a clue too...but the twigs give us the best information for identifying trees when there are not leaves on them. 

You can learn how! Join LEEP for a Winter Tree ID Saturday Safari on Saturday, February 1, 9:30 am – noon. We’ll also estimate the ages of some trees and learn how to determine how healthy a whole forest is. Registration deadline is January 27^th! For more info or to register, check out www.Lutherlyn.com/safari.

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!