Tree ID in Pennsylvania

[Justin Rapp]

My wife and I came across a bunch of these trees while at Valley Forge National Park in eastern Pennsylvania and are trying to figure out what kind of tree it is. What we found interesting was the bark on to top edges of the tree were white. We also noticed they were late to blue as other trees in the area already have fresh leaves on them.

here is a pic of it, if you look you can see the white bark on it. There is another of the same tree on the right side of the train and a bunch in the back ground.

478116

[Bill Dufour]

Too lazy to look so you do it.
Bill D.

https://www.nps.gov/vafo/planyourvisit/upload/tree-brochure2010_Final.pdf

[Maurice Mcmurry]

looks like a Sycamore to me.

[Justin Rapp]

That is a great brochure. I didn't know it existed. Based on the size of the tree and what the brochure is showing as the larger diameter trees, and the images i now found after looking up Sycamore based on what Maurice says, i'd have to say it's the Maxwell Sycamore.

Thank you both for the quick response.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

The white is a give away. They are lovely trees and that is a very nice one! There is a monster near our favorite bike path. It is in the construction zone for the new I-70 Missouri River bridge. I sure hope it survives the project.

[Justin Rapp]

The white is a give away. They are lovely trees and that is a very nice one! There is a monster near our favorite bike path. It is in the construction zone for the new I-70 Missouri River bridge. I sure hope it survives the project.

It would suck if they take down a big tree for construction. But if they do, I hope it ends up at a saw mill and put to good use, not a compost fieldield or worse a landfill.

[Dwayne Watt]

Looks like a sycamore maple to me. Trees that come down for road construction get pushed into a pile and burnt in my part of the world. No money spent moving them other than the use of a dozer and maybe an excavator.

[Bill Dufour]

It has a name for that particular tree? Was it there when Washington was? The brochure said most trees were cut for firewood and building stuff ?
Bill D.

[Jared Sankovich]

American sycamore. They are about the fastest growing trees I've come across.

[Justin Rapp]

So I just had a bit of time to compare the tree brochure map to Google Maps and the picture I took.. Well, it turns out, street view actually has the road I was walking along and I found the same tree in google street view and it's in the exact location as #2 on the Brochure. The picture of tree #2, the Maxwell Sycamore, is the exact same tree I took a picture of but of a different angle. If you pan around on the google map below, you will see the same building that is in the brochure image.


https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0840286,-75.4550064,3a,90y,174.23h,85.4t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1soA1z5AMl0Qx7N3Ni4u5qfg!2e0!6sh ttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DoA1z 5AMl0Qx7N3Ni4u5qfg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.g ps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D185.67773%26pitch%3 D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

[Jim Becker]

Sycamore and that's a fine specimen. There are some very large ones throughout this area.

[Bill Dufour]

The Blue Gum Eucalyptus tress at the Univ California campus are the tallest hardwood trees in N. America. planted 1882. over 250'.
Bill D

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Here is the monster by the highway. I think it is safe from the construction. I had a wind up steel tape in my pocket to measure the circumference but it is covered with poison ivy so I just checked the diameter. It is over 5 feet.


https://youtube.com/shorts/P7qkFqNpbvE?feature=share

[Justin Rapp]

The Blue Gum Eucalyptus tress at the Univ California campus are the tallest hardwood trees in N. America. planted 1882. over 250'.
Bill D

I thought it was the redwoods on in california. California State Parks and Rec claim the tallest redwood to be 325 feet tall. Some of those super-tall redwoods however are much older than 140 years like the Blue Gum you mention.

[Lee Schierer]

The Blue Gum Eucalyptus tress at the Univ California campus are the tallest hardwood trees in N. America. planted 1882. over 250'.
Bill D

The Sequoias and Redwoods are much older and taller.
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[Maurice Mcmurry]

Getting out west again is on my bucket list. Next time I hope to see more than the airport and the Home Depot.

[Ole Anderson]

I thought it was the redwoods on in california. California State Parks and Rec claim the tallest redwood to be 325 feet tall. Some of those super-tall redwoods however are much older than 140 years like the Blue Gum you mention.He was speaking of tallest hardwoods, redwoods are coniferous and not considered hardwoods which are deciduous.

[Bill Dufour]

Coast redwoods taller, Giant sequoias probably taller, definitely more massive. Both are a thousand years older or more. I could not find an actual number for the UC Berkely tree heights.
Bill D