Planned removal of “Stumpy”
Thoughts on the planned removal of Stumpy, the fan-favorite and “unkillable” cherry tree in Washington DC? Background: Stumpy one of the cherry blossom festival trees that still flowers despite extreme damage. Officials plan to propagate Stumpy, though people are upset they are not going to dig up and transplant the tree. I assume the latter is not a possibility due to root damage? Thanks!
Weird spheres of twigs in German trees?
Hi, Casey & Alex! I love the old so much; I'm running out of places to put my cone stickers! I was recently in Germany and saw these weird spheres/balls of twigs and branches in some of the trees. They weren't squirrel nests or anything (familiar with those here in Minnesota) and my German friend said they were called witches broom. What is up with these weirdos? I don't know what trees they were on. Thanks so much, love the pod!
The perfect citrus for you
Hi Casey and Alex, First of all, thanks for making Thursdays so delightful every week! I am wondering what would be your dream citrus if you can pick and choose different traits from all different citrus hybrids? My personal pick will be kumquat snack-bite size and sweet peel with Cara Cara orange flesh. How about you guys? Since all citrus are hybrid anyway, I hope custom bespoke dream citrus may have a higher chance to become reality someday.
Polymorphic Leaves
Hi Casey and Alex! I'm working on getting a certificate to perform wetland delineations and one of (the many) things I've been learning about are the morphological adaptations wetland plants have. Morphological adaptations can be used as evidence of wetland vegetation because not all plants have the ability to survive in water-logged soils. Polymorphic leaves are considered an indicator of wetland vegetation (although not an entirely reliable one) and it is when the leaves of an individual plant have more than one shape. It's mainly found on herbaceous plants, and it is thought to be dependent on the water level at the time of leaf formation. What do you think could be the evolutionary advantage of this morphological trait? Thanks for all you do <3 Katie
Trees growing inside or atop other trees
Hi Casey and Alex! I've been listening since the very early days but finally got around to listening more regularly this past year, really enjoying every episode and the Q&As! Back in 2021 while I was doing breeding bird atlas survey work in the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario I came across a white cedar growing ontop of a branch of bigger white cedar. And yes, it looked as strange and as fake as it sounds. It literally looked like a someone had bought a white cedar from a garden centre and chucked it up into another cedar and left it there as a weird prank. Except that it was 25 feet up and had a main trunk way thicker than anything you'd find at any garden centre I've ever been to. This was not a small tree. The trunk of the aerial cedar is much thicker than the branch that is supporting it. The base is balled up with roots (very substantial thick roots at that) and the tree seemed very much alive and healthy, as did the "parent" tree that it is growing upon. I'd love to hear your theories about this one. Later that year I reached out to a fellow naturalist friend who checked with a tree expert he knew and his response was that the most likely reason was a witch's broom infection, though he'd never seen that before in a white cedar. (Attaching a link with photos so you can see it - just posted a thread today about the witch's broom theory - https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:6efalc3jiky7dukctmu424io/post/3kpadvw45u62m ) Thanks for all you do! Rob