February 28: Bark

I attended another webinar yesterday, this time about bark, as in tree bark, hosted by the Bartlett Arboretum at Stamford and the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard (I heard about it via the Harvard Alumni Events Newsletter.) The bark expert was Michael Wojtech, of knowyourtrees.com and author of "Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast". The talk was incredibly complex and sometimes hard to follow with information way over my head, but again I delighted in seeing the dedication and knowledge Wojtech has for trees. He started by sharing this quote (which is quite apt during this time of quarantine): "Perhaps the most radical thing we can do is to stay home, so we can learn the names of the plants and animals around us; so that we can begin to know what tradition we're part of." - Terry Tempest Williams. He admitted that his journey began with being enamored at knowing the names of different trees. That's how I feel about all of nature, most recently birds and flowers and trees, and I delight in learning their names. I am fascinated that there are SO many different species with SO many unique traits. And that fact was further emphasized by this webinar after Wojtech described how to identify trees by their bark. He "embarked" (hahaha I giggled when he said this word; I don't think he realized the wordplay) on his project after desiring to be able to identify trees in the winter (without their leaves) and a suggestion by his thesis advisor, and the result was a guide to help people identify trees by their bark alone. I had no idea there were so many complexities in something as seemingly simple as the bark of a tree. He described the 10 different types of bark that he has delineated in his book in order to identify trees. 

1. Smooth, unbroken 

2. Visible lenticels (dots, lines, diamonds, etc found on otherwise smooth unbroken bark that are breathable cells for the tree)

3. Peeling Horizontal Curly Strips (self explanatory, one of the easiest traits to identify)

4. Vertical cracks (often sparking from the lenticels, and often showing the active layer of phloem (the living tissue of the bark) beneath the cracks, sometimes of an identifying color like red or orange)

5. Scales (loosely packed layers of pieces of bark that look like scales that are similarly sized/patterned)

6. Plates (same as scales except they are randomly sized and not as patterned)

7. Vertical Strips (same as scales and plates except long strips, often developed from layers of vertical cracks)

8. Ridges - Intersecting  (tightly packed layers, closely adhered, not like individual scales/plates)

9. Ridges - Broken Horizontally (same except with the breaks)

10. Ridges- Uninterrupted (same except looks more like one entire piece of bark instead of layers)

Here's a picture of the 10 types:

I never thought about the enormous variety of different types of bark on trees, but now that I have learned the distinguishing characteristics, I totally see it, and am fascinated by it, and by the fact that you really can identify a tree after determining the specific characteristics of its bark. I have really enjoyed being able to attend these webinars in the comfort of my home to hear from experts and learn fun facts (even amidst the difficulties our of home internet -- our WAP (...wireless access point... not the other WAP haha) died just before the webinar and I had to use my phone again). Hopefully I can find some more interesting webinars to attend!

I'll end with the delightful quote that Wojtech ended his presentation with:

"The notion of the infinite variety of detail and the multiplicity of forms is a pleasing one; in complexity are the fringes of beauty, and in variety are generosity and exuberance."- Annie Dillard

With delight,

♥Jamie