Phenology Post 1

Today we returned to Marian Harnach Nature Trail at Ruffner Mountain to try and identify species we could possibly track the phonology of this semester. We easily identified the Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida from the Cornacaea family. It had no leaves or flowers but we were able to identify it as a dogwood by its signature checkered bark.The tree is usually found in dry to moist forests in the eastern United States. The Flowering Dogwood is usually small and low branched which is convenient for collecting samples.

One tree we saw frequently was the American Beech, Fagus grandifolia of the Fagacaea family. We were not able to identify it until returning to campus and looking up a clearer reference picture online. It is a larger deciduous tree with smooth light and dark grey bark. It is common in a variety of forests and is widespread in eastern North America. We ran into more trouble than expected when trying to identify some trees. We saw several trees we thought may be Black Cherry, Prunus serotina, but the limbs were too high above the ground and we couldn't seem to find any young trees near the base. We also brought back a few twigs in hopes that Dr. Van Zandt could shed some light on some the trees that seemed to stump us. Hopefully we will have more success at our next visit.