I also thought that it was a persimmon. It can grow 60 feet tall and 2 feet in diameter. It attains its best growth in moist, rich soils per my trusty guide book.
Cape May County Explorations
- Thread starter bobpbx
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These are my current tree guide books in addition to the technical guide that I use for graminoids, sedges, and forbs which is not that helpful for trees.
Persimmon bark is quite distinctive and we do have some monsters down here.There are some huge persimmon trees growing s]around the remains of the old Fries Mill (Potters) tavern.Also so big you can hardly see the leaves.
Now I have to measure those trees at Fries Mill.They seem close to that big.I also know where two monstrous oaks are that I haven't measured yet.One on an island in a swamp that looks like possibly someone may have lived on long ago.Both are white oaks
Has this been around awhile? I think I"ve looked through it before.I have petersons guide and Audubon Guide and a book some where thats explicit to NJ Trees.
My first thought was Persimmon also. The wet road picture reminds me of a recent photo of Al wading through chest high water!
That was Tuckahoe River upstream from Hunters Mill.We jump in here https://boydsmaps.com/#16.00/39.331901/-74.864142/hybrid/0.00/0.00 and walk up to the Power Line and Back.A lot of flowers in summer in the Meadows and used to find a bit of spearmint along the creek.Also a noted PBTF Location several times recorded by the infamous Whipoorbill
The one in the upper left corner is copyright 1958. Tree Finder is 1963 revised 1998. The Audubon tree guide (brown cover) is 1980. The last 2 are this century.
the brown one looked familiar.I have that one.the one I was speaking of looking through is the one top left
Post #11 is Blue Beech, or Ironwood. Also called muscle tree. Carpinus caroliniana, or American Hornbeam.
The wood is very tough, and used for levers, tool handles, walking sticks, etc.
The wood is very tough, and used for levers, tool handles, walking sticks, etc.
Haa. I was going to get back with you this morning on this. tree. I agree with you that it is American Hornbeam. That was my guess.
I take it that most of your exploring in Cape May is in the bottomlands. So the trees you show would be in that enviroment. If so, you may find a bur oak.
I take it that most of your exploring in Cape May is in the bottomlands. So the trees you show would be in that enviroment. If so, you may find a bur oak.
I probably walked right by some. Spring is not a great time to ID trees. All the acorns are decrepit or have been eaten over the winter.
Here's a photo of the leaf and acorn of a bur oak. I only seen two bur oak trees and both were on the large size. They prefer bottomland soils, but that was not the case of the two I saw.
One Tree that you will find in Cape May County and in Cumberland especially in the vicinity if salt marshes is Loblolly Pine.I"ve never noticed them in the Barrens and Cape may is supposedly their northern limit but they are in Cumberland as well.
Yes, I've seen them. Hundreds of them in fact. Woodcock Preserve is loaded with them along the salt marsh and in the maritime forest. They don't have great roots there. I saw 3 that fell over because of the rains.
There are some goodies, apparently, on the marsh edge. I'm pretty sure this is a white fringed orchid, but we'll see (if the deer don't eat it).
