The Urban Pantheist

Urban species #041: River birch Betula nigra

In 2002 the river birch was chosen as the City Tree of the Year by the Society of Municipal Arborists, for its "tolerance to the urban environment," as well as "its beautiful bark in summer and winter." I chose it for the same reasons, specifically because its distinctive bark makes it easy to recognize in wintertime. The colorful bark peels even more than the bark of paper birch. It lends the tree a shaggy appearance--river birch is warm and furry looking, whereas white birches look cold and bony.

River birch can survive growing in areas that are periodically flooded, like sandbars and riverbanks. They are more tolerant of heat than white birches, and more resistant to insect pests. Its tolerance of acidic soil is especially important for its survival in Northeastern cities.

River birches seeds are eaten by a variety of songbirds.

( two long pictures )

European Beech in the Riverway, Boston, February 2006.

Urban species#037: European beech Fagus sylvtica

While The Urban Tree Book says the beech is "usually an isolated specimen in town," in the town of Brookline and the areas in Boston that border it, there are dozens. In the mid 1800's local notable David Sears ordered over 5000 beeches from a Liverpool company. Most are gathered in a square called Longwood Mall, often called the largest grove of European beeches in North America (for whatever that's worth).
( views of the Longwood Mall )

There are also several specimens dating from the same time on nearby streets in Brookline, as well as lining the Riverway (on the Boston side) and in the Mount Auburn Cemetery.

( Brookline )

It's easy to see the appeal of the European beech. It's a magnificent spreading tree nearly 100 feet tall at maturity, whose branches bend to reach the ground, creating a shady enclosed space, well-suited to picnics. Depending on what the nursery specified, the foliage can be purple, copper, or rich green. The bark is cool, smooth, and gray, and when the tree is old is bears distinguished folds and wrinkles, like the enormous leg of a vegetable elephant.
( vegetable elephant?! )
The bark is an irresistible temptation to vandals, whose decades-old scarifications can be seen smeared and elevated by the passing years. One wishes that lovers felt compelled to scratch a heart into the thin skin of a beech tree, that at least they would leave a date so that their disfigurements had historical value.
( loves come and go, the tree continues to grow )

The native North American beech is Fagus grandifola, distinguished by lighter, less-wrinkled bark, and an ability to grow in warmer climates than the European species. American beech is more prone to suckering, a form of vegetative reproduction wherein new saplings sprout from the roots of the parent tree. This leads to forested areas where American beech trees thickly cluster into miniature groves.

( miniature urban grove )

Beech trees are ecologically important on the east coast of North America. Beech nuts provide autumn and winter food for a vast variety of birds and mammals, including humans. European beech may have been introduced the British islands by prehistoric humans carrying beech nuts.

Urban Species #033: Cinquefoil Potentilla canadensis

No, it's still not spring, but we are at the halfway point between Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox. But this little weed belongs to a group of hardy plants called "cinquefoils" no matter how many leaves they have (the name is French for five leaf), though they usually have three, five, or seven. The scientific name potentilla means "little powerful one" which says more about the symbolism of the number five than it does about the plant itself. Being in the rose family, cinquefoils have five-petaled flowers, further emphasizing the "five" symbol. Cinquefoils are high in tannins, making them useful herbs in those applications requiring an astringent.

There are 300 species of cinquefoil worldwide, over 100 of them occurring in North America. The most common urban species are P. simplex ("common cinquefoil"), P. canadensis ("dwarf cinquefoil") and P. recta ("sulfur cinquefoil.") This last one I see most often, with a pale sulphur yellow flower, instead of the bright buttercup yellow flower that the others have. Sulphur cinquefoil is native to Europe, and is considered invasive in several western states.

Dwarf and common cinquefoils thrive as weeds in lawns, low enough to be passed over by the mower and bad tasting to many herbivores.