Remarkable Trees in and around Boston

Camperdown elm (Ulmus glabra 'Camperdown')

Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)

Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)

Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna)

Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani)

Honey-locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)

Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Copper beech (Fagus sylvatica "Atropunicea")

Spruces

American elm (Ulmus americana)

Hybrid weeping willows (one of the parents is Salix babylonica)

Spring witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis)

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Camperdown elm (Ulmus glabra 'Camperdown')
22 January 2006, Rt. 28, Avon

This dwarf weeping elm with picturesque branches has become a rarity, wiped out by Dutch elm disease. In the US chances to find it are somewhat better than in Europe.

Camperdown elm (Ulmus glabra 'Camperdown')
22 January 2006, Rt. 28, Avon

While these photos were taken, construction was going on in close proximity. The unique tree was soon taken down by ignorant developers.

Camperdown elm (Ulmus glabra 'Camperdown')
22 January 2006, Rt. 28, Avon

Every Camperdown elm is a descendant of a single mutant branch from a tree once growing in the estate of the Earl of Camperdown in Scotland. The branch was grafted by the Earl's gardener on the rootstock of Ulmus glabra. All the subsequent asexual generations of this elm have had to be grafted this way. There is a large grafting scar on the trunk.

Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)
17 March 2006, Weymouth Great Pond

This map is a link to USDA PLANTS Database

A multi-stemmed gigantic tree-shrub, one of two old katsuras grown on the grounds of Weymouth Water Plant

Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)
17 March 2006, Weymouth Great Pond

This map is a link to USDA PLANTS Database

The two trees on the grounds of Weymouth Water Plant are unique: even the Arnold Arboretum's katsuras are much more modest in size. They are going to share the fate of the Camperdown elm in Avon: during a recent construction at the water plant, their bed has been used as a parking lot for trucks and other machinery.

Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
5 April 2008, Acushnet

Dawn redwood was described as a living plant only in 1948. The Arnold Arboretum was instrumental in promoting the tree all around the world, so that it is now cultivated worldwide. A big surprise was to find these large redwoods on the grounds of an abandoned farm in a southern Bristol County town.

Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
5 April 2008, Acushnet

Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna)
2 April 2008, Roslindale, Boston

This tree surprised us early in spring, as we had not been prepared to watch a tree hazelnut on a Boston street! A whole row of these trees is found on Washington St., opposite Forest Hills subway station.

Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna)
2 April 2008, Roslindale, Boston

Turkish hazel can grow into a pyramidal tree up to 25 m tall, though in Boston it looks far less impressive. Once a year, however, it puts on a glorious performance producing brown flags of clumped 7 cm-long catkins.

Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna)
3 June 2008, Roslindale, Boston

The same tree near Forest Hills Station that is shown with catkins early in April. The crown should have grown pyramidal, if it were not half-dead.

Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani)
17 August 2005, VFW Parkway, Boston

Young cones on the cedar of Lebanon growing near the Catholic Cathedral

Honey-locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
22 May 2005, Avon

This map is a link to USDA PLANTS Database

A cultivar that produces spectacular new foliage. Though this tree has been deemed overplanted in the Boston area, it is still rather popular with businesses looking for a cheap grounds beautification solution.

Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
24 June 2005, Walnut Street, Newton

This map is a link to USDA PLANTS Database

Tulip tree flowering in a small public garden opposite Day Middle School in Newtonville

Copper beech (Fagus sylvatica "Atropunicea")
28 May 2005, Weymouth

This map is a link to USDA PLANTS Database

A magnificent beech dwarfing a building of a funeral home

Spruces
22 September 2009, South Hadley

Tall spruces on the grounds of Notre Dame Cemetery, their alleys forming a cross when viewed from the air. (Photo taken through the windshield while driving by the cemetery.)

American elm (Ulmus americana)
16 February 2009, Moss Hill, Boston

This map is a link to USDA PLANTS Database

A famous native elm that used to be a signature tree of many American towns but has completely disappeared from the streets since then, killed by Dutch elm disease. We could not believe our eyes when we found this majestic tree safe and sound in one of Boston neighborhoods!

Hybrid weeping willows (one of the parents is Salix babylonica)
14 April 2007, University Avenue, Westwood

Believe it or not, Babylon willow does not originate from Babylon. The only country where it grows naturally is China. Its weeping cultivars reached Europe centuries ago via Central Asia. Their hybrids with white/crack willow are now spread all over the world. In the southern States and other warmer countries, these hybrids have even become invasive.

Spring witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis)
4 February 2008, Arnold Arboretum, Boston

This map is a link to USDA PLANTS Database

This unusual shrub may go into bloom as early as December and keep flowering for the rest of the winter, until March!

Spring witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis)
4 February 2008, Arnold Arboretum, Boston

This map is a link to USDA PLANTS Database

Remarkable Trees in and around Boston click image to enlarge and start slide show *

Remarkable Trees in and around Boston