Tree Journal

Ulmus rubra IDed by not knowing what else it could be… So yeah, probably not red elm. Could be black gum, though the buds are very off then, and elms are more vulnerable to crown gall. I could have seen if the inner bark was sappy and slippery, but I think the tree is going through enough already.

Trametes versicolor IDed by looking… a lot like turkeytail. I’m not very good at IDing mushrooms yet. Though the latin name being versicolor is comforting — it conveys the fact that turkeytails come in a variety of colors.

Gleditsia triacanthos IDed by comparing it with very similar thornless honey locusts in the abutting tree pits.

Gleditsia triacanthos IDed by distinct knobbly buds and plated bark with lenticels.

Platanus occidentalis IDed by particularly white inner bark high up and brown, scaled outer bark at base.

The FIRST SYCAMORE I’VE FOUND in NYC!!!! All thanks to Mira & Wostling.

Abutted by London Plane Trees that look quite similar

Gleditsia triacanthos var IDed by plated bark & Turdus migratorius IDed by looking a lot like an American Robin.

Excuse the particularly awful photo quality. This is what happens when you take a picture while walking…

Acer platanoides IDed by red tipped branches and white bark (since it’s a young tree).

?? – I was kinda in a hurry to get home and IDed it very quickly. Also the buds look different from most Norway Maples, since the terminal bud is singular and pointier than usual. The terminal bud looks more like a smooth paintbrush tip than the scaled beetle-like shape expected from a Norway Maple.

Regardless of if I IDed it right, at least I now know that Norway Maples are named “platanoides” because they resemble plane trees. I think that’s pretty cool.

Cercis canadensis IDed by the bark, hanging pods, squiggly twigs, and buds. Not too sure I got the right ID though.

Quercus palustris IDed by distinct oak-like leaves with U-shaped sinuses

Can also be called the Swamp Spanish Oak, apparently. This one has a prosthesis of sorts — it was starting to fall over a busy avenue, so it makes sense that the city added the rivets to support the large crown.

Unrelated: you’d think that the website builder would not try and stretch this low quality image but apparently it doesn’t factor in image quality when determining the dimensions.

Quercus imbricaria IDed by the fact that the leaves are still on, oak-like bark, and the lack of serrated edges (that would make it a sawtooth oak)