Last week, while visiting my hometown for Thanksgiving break, I’ve seen my home-town ecology through an entirely different lens. A large difference I observed when I went home was how many more leaves there were on the trees. While New Jersey has never stood out to me ecologically, it was fascinating to see it differently now that I’ve developed a more ecological background. Jersey has had its first frost, yet the leaves persist nonetheless. Which proved to be very convenient for me and my tree ID capabilities. Therefore, I come to you with a short list of some of the trees I found. Trees I had not been able to identify in the past. In the spot I chose specifically the standouts were; Norway Maples, Red Maples, and Northern Red Oaks. I’ll include some pictures below.
In addition to the trees, there seemed to be some ground cover in the form of fallen leaves and the invasive Japanese Pachysandra. A plant I have not yet discovered in Burlington. What was comforting is since I live in the northeast so the common trees are very similar. While the winter phenology has been a bit accelerated in Burlington, it is still progressing back home.
While I was unable to leave a gift, reading Honorable Harvest did give me insight into valuing the land once more.
