Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Scars, Buds, Etc.

What Core and Ammons in their handy Woody Plants in Winter call the “downy line across the top” of the leaf scar of a butternut (Juglans cinerea). The tawny suede-looking thing up there.
Mustache-like, but at the top, or outer edge of the scar.
Now, here’s the genus-mate eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) for comparison. No mustache.
Sure, a lot of buds and leaf scars are tiny, necessitating magnification, but some are bold. The lustrous bud of American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), for instance.
This extremely fat red horse-chestnut (Aesculus x carnea), not at all sticky like standard horse-chestnut buds (Aesculus hippocastanum).
Norway maple (Acer platanoides).
This lipstick may be a magnolia.
And this is deceiving. Not buds but the work of Oak Rosette Gall Wasps (Andricus quercusfrondosus) and, of course, the oak itself.

Leave a comment