For our final excursion to see our selected tree, I waited as long as possible. Considering the recent spate of warm days, I was eager to see if the American Beech I have been observing for the past month has shown any signs of opening up for spring. As I passed the Jeffords garden, I could see a dogwood tree blossoming with bright yellow buds, making me hopeful!
Unlike last time, it was a much easier walk down Centennial Woods. By this point, all the snow has melted, leaving a clear trail free of icy conditions! The clearing of the snow, in my view, is an important part of the phenological calendar, as it signifies that spring is around the corner and that plants are ready to officially bloom for the spring and summer.
When I reached the American Beech, it…. looked much like it did before. Immediately, I was disappointed. I couldn’t believe that nothing had changed yet! As I drew closer, I couldn’t see any action on the buds indicating that the American Beech was ready to leaf-out. However, when examining the rest of the tree, I noticed something interesting. Many of the leaves that had hung on the tree through winter were gone! Lying on the forest floor were many of those leaves, sitting on top of the older layer of detritus. It was clear that these leaves were shed quite recently, as they hadn’t blown far from the tree or become ingrained with the rest of the forest.
If I’m being an optimist, I think that though the tree may not be ready to fully bloom, it is taking the necessary steps to do so by dropping old leaves to make room for new leaves to grow. If this theory is correct, it could mean that the beech is ready to bloom any day now. Looking ahead for the week of April 10th, there are 3 days where the highest temperature will be over 70 degrees. It would be realistic to expect that the American Beech might start to bloom in response to those temperatures. I’ll be sure to examine this specimen when I come back to make my phenology sketch later this month.
After logging my iNaturalist post (reluctantly with the caption “no evidence of flowering”), I made my way back to central campus, excited to hammock and enjoy the nice weather, dreams of spring dancing in my head.
