Twiggy

The twigs right now! The twigs! Green, red, orange, brown. Spring is coiled for the spring.

This is our old friend Liriodendron tulipifera. Look at those leaf scars! The bundle scars, too, are nice and obvious. In the Native Flora in Winter course I just took at NYBG, some species’ bundle scars were damned hard to see, even under magnification (magnification is a necessity in this endeavor).

Here’s how Harlow describes these in his key: “terminal buds with 2 outer scales; flattened, glabrous; leaf scars nearly circular; bundle scars numerous, scattered in an irregular ellipse.” Core and Ammons: “Leaf scars alternate, large, round; bundle-scars many, in an irregular ellipse; stipule-scars linear, encircling the twig.”

Hey, we’re doing Where the Wild Things Are again on Tuesday.