![\"\"](\"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20170226ForHiking.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20170226GrandTreesChathamWhitePinesTreeHike.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe trails at White Pines are wide and dry, and only fifteen minutes from our house. Its 275 acres are owned by the Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
WHITE OAK, GREEN ASH<\/h3>\n
Andy knows his trees and did a mighty fine job of pointing out their defining characteristics. Don’t get too close to that poison ivy vine, Andy!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Two of Camille’s second favorite trees are the Ironwood or\u00a0“musclewood” because of its sinewy texture, and the indestructible Sourwood that twists and turns and keeps on growing in whatever direction works best.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our friend Besty happened to be on this hike. Betsy\u00a0studies lichen and loves it in its many forms. “This is called Smoky Eyes,” she explained, “see the little specs? Those are the eyes.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This was a darned big pine tree. Just to prove it, one of the other hikers tried to get his arms around the trunk. No dice. Andy pointed out one of the defining characteristics of white pine is that the branches grow in a spoke-like pattern. Each year the tree grows a new round of spokes. Both the tree and its hugger have seen their share of years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A cute surprise found at the foot of the giant White Pine, not to be confused the invasive Elaeagnus referred to as Silverberry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TLC naturalist, Phil reached into one of several\u00a0vernal ponds to retrieve\u00a0a gelatinous glob\u00a0that made most of us go, “Ewww.” “These,” he said, “are Spotted Salamander eggs.” The ponds were created by TLC for amphibian habitat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A beautiful spot, this is where the Rocky River flows into the Deep. There’s a nice little bench at the overlook for serious introspection. Next time Camille encounters\u00a0a conundrum, she\u00a0knows where to go.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This large\u00a0sweet gum (Camille’s notebook at the base is six inches high) prompted Andy to\u00a0defend the much-maligned Sweetgum by stating, “The Chatham County soil would have washed away if it weren’t for these.” He is also partial to Sycamores, abundant near any kind of water.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The sweet, spicy scent of these bright yellow Spicebush\u00a0blooms put us in a holiday mood. As did the Holly decked with Christmas balls.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The palmate leaves of a Buckeye unfold gracefully while fat Blueberry blossoms promise treats for the deer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shagbark Hickory and exfoliating Locust, both easy to identify because of their distinctive bark.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A\u00a0cute little Beech, Camille’s number one favorite tree caught the sun and posed coquettishly for a snapshot. Another startling white-barked tree, the Hackberry, is not nearly as approachable due to its spiky warts.<\/p>\n Camille out for a Grand Trees of Chatham winter tree identification hike at White Pines Nature Preserve, with naturalist Andy Upshaw – February 26, 2017 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n GREAT TRAILS <\/p>\n \n The trails at White Pines are wide and dry, and only fifteen minutes from our house. Its 275 acres are owned by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sub-story","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10569"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10634,"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10569\/revisions\/10634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troutsfarmtoo.com\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nMUSCLE WOOD, SOUR WOOD<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nLIKING LICHEN<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nA GRAND OLD WHITE PINE<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nSERVICEBERRY<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nSPOTTED SALAMANDER EGGS<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nTHE CONFLUENCE<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nSWEETGUMS AND SYCAMORES<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nHOLIDAY TREES<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nBUCKEYES AND BLUEBERRIES<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nSHAGGY TREES<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\nBEECH AND HACKBERRY<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n____________________________________________________________<\/h3>\n
[Troutsfarm]<\/a>\u00a0* [February, 2017]<\/a>\u00a0* [White Pines Tree Hike]<\/a><\/h4>\n
____________________________________________________________<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"