This week our challenge was to find an elm, hickory, or chestnut tree. In doing research, both in the Handbook of Nature Study and in our field guide, we discovered that a tree that we have an abundance of in our area is actually know as the California buckeye or the California horse chestnut. (Aesculus californica) This tree is more like a tall shrub that grows to between 4 and 12 feet tall.
“The Ohio buckeye is our most common native relative of the horse chestnut. Its leaves have five leaflets instead of seven. The sweet buckeye is also an American species and grows in the Allegheny Mountains.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 649
So we were off to find a buckeye tree to observe this week for our nature study.
My trusty assistant helps gather a fruit to observe and then leave on the ground.
This time of year the buckeye has no leaves so we had to look for the trunk and the fruit of the tree to identify it. In the spring this tree is covered in blossoms and fill the woods with clouds of whiteness. In the summer the trees turn brown and are not quite as lovely.
There is one big difference between a buckeye and a horse chestnut, the seed is highly poisonous so don’t eat it!
Here’s what it says on eNature.com:
“California Indians made flour from the poisonous seeds after leaching out the toxic element with boiling water. The ground, untreated seeds were thrown into pools of water to stupefy fish, which then rose to the surface and were easily caught. Chipmunks and squirrels consume the seeds, but bees are poisoned by the nectar and pollen.”
I really enjoyed this challenge because our whole family learned something about a tree we see in our own neighborhood but we didn’t know much about before this study. I am going to sure to read up on the elm and the hickory to see if I can find some local connections as well.
We had our eyes open for a spruce when we were traveling in Oregon and we discovered that the Sitka spruce was in just about every campground that we stayed in this time around.
The cones are interesting and the tree itself is very pretty. If you look closely at this photo, you will see the cones hanging on the branch.
One night we had our tent under a spruce and a storm blew in after we had crawled into our sleeping bags. The trees howled and the rain poured and it was sort of a wild night. In the morning the rain had stopped but we still had the drip, drip of the raindrops from the tree falling on our tent. We at first thought it was still raining until we unzipped the rain fly and realized the sun was peeking out and our “rain” was really just left over drops coming from the spruce.
I guess that’s what happens when you go camping in Oregon during the month of October.
Here are some other photos from that trip that are interesting.
I think this is the perfect mushroom. We saw lots of these when we were hiking and they were something new to me. I think this sparked my interest in “flowerless plants” so that is why they are going to be included for a few weeks in the Outdoor Hour Challenges. The boys and I would like to learn a bit more about mushrooms.
These two are such great travelers. Can I just say now how grateful I am to be able to homeschool them through high school? I think that so many of us get overwhelmed at the idea of homeschooling in the teen years but this is the best part of the whole experience. It is hard, don’t get me wrong. But here we are on a school day in October, standing and taking in the fresh ocean air and the peace of the moment. Right after this they had to find a way to hike down and throw some rocks in the water. There actually was a trail if you looked hard enough. Of course there was some sort of sea cave and that spurred on some more discussion about the power of waves.
This photo shows that not all our time outdoors has to be about nature study. We actually do spend time just throwing the frisbee around the campsite. That is a spruce tree in the background.
Here is something interesting from our trip as well and it tied into our study of trees during this time.
One campground we stayed at in Northern California had a recreated Native American village. This is one of the structures that was a family dwelling and the boys were fascinated by the circular door openings. This area was inhabited by the Yurok tribe and the buildings were all built of local redwoods.
Here is the sweat house in the village. They actually still use this for ceremonial activities.
I am not sure what kind of tree this is but I thought it was just so interesting growing right there out of the cliff along the Pacific Ocean. It was just so nice to look at and enjoy as we took in the horizon.
Okay, enough about trees. This was a great challenge for us and I know I had the advantage of knowing ahead of time that we needed to be looking for spruce trees. Challenge #38 is going to take some ingenuity to find an elm, hickory, or chestnut tree. We are up to the challenge though.
Autumn Tree Study
We continued our tree study with the Sweet Gum or liquidambar tree in our backyard.
We had a huge wind and rain storm last night so the tree has lost most of its leaves.
Here were his observations:
The tree has just about lost its leaves. If you look carefully, perhaps clicking the photo to enlarge it, you will see a little bird on the branch of his tree- just the behind section.
The bark is ragged and rough.
I saw ants and a bit of moss on the trunk.
It didn’t smell like anything.
The leaves under the tree were mostly yellow but some were reddish.
I saw the sticker balls on the ground and some were brown and a few were green and heavy.
Where the leaves have fallen off, there are little buds on the tree.
I think he did a pretty good job of observing his tree. He completed the Seasonal Tree Study notebook page for his journal and it is filed away with the other two pages.
We were able to fit in some time at the tide pools along the Oregon Coast. We have started a study of marine biology this year and it was a perfect time to investigate up close the life in these pockets of water and at the rocky shore line.
The first thing we learned was that we needed to know the high and low tides for each day. It made a big difference in what we would see. One day we timed it just right and we found ourselves all alone at a great area of tide pools.
There had been a storm during the night before and the area was covered in seaweed. The whole beach area was filled in with piles of kelp….mostly bullwhip kelp.
The boys quickly learned how to look carefully in and around the crevices of the rocks for interesting things to view.
We saw anemones.
Hermit Crabs
Snails.
Sea Stars
Periwinkles
Someone in our family got wet because he was not paying attention to the waves coming in. I thought he was going to be stranded out on the rocks but he made it in safely……a little wet though. If you look closely in the photo above, you can see him way out on the rocks.
We all learned so much from this experience and now when we read in our textbook about marine life, we have a better understanding of just what they are talking about.
The Handbook of Nature Study has a few pages of information about marine invertebrates. Page 418 talks about shells of Florida and the East Coast and page 430 has a little information on seashore creatures.
After our tidepool adventure, the boys decided to build a structure with driftwood, rocks, and seaweed. This became a tradition on this trip and they came up with very elaborate ways to build on the beach.
Great memories and a lot of learning.
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Some of our Outdoor time this week was spent at the ocean. We took a few days and drove along the California and Oregon coast enjoying the views and the outdoor life that early October allows. We were sprinkled on a few times but nothing that really dampened our spirits too much. We had anticipated the weather and came equipped.
Our first beachcombing adventure gave us some things to be excited about. We saw three sea otters in the surf playing and diving as we watched. Then out past the waves, we saw another creature pop up….a sea lion. He didn’t come too close but we had a clear view of him from the shore.
We hiked around the cove a bit from where we were camping and found lots of interesting items. We saw several colors of sea stars, some brightly colored crabs, some bones, and lots of sea kelp.
The beach was covered in an area of rocks and this area is known for its agates. We joined in the hunt for our favorites and soon had a whole collection in dad’s sweatshirt pocket.
We also found this driftwood with barnacles on it which was interesting to me at the time but now that I zoom in on the photo, I realize there was a creature on the driftwood too….don’t know what it is.
On the hike back up the trail from the beach, I was able to spot two new plants to identify. One is twinberry
Our Outdoor Hours this week were spent along the northern California Coast and southern Oregon coast. Our first stop was camping at Humboldt Redwoods (great place for camping) where most of the tallest trees in the world live. We saw ancient redwoods towering overhead.
These trees are so tall and grow so densely that the forest floor is dark and quiet. It is quite the experience to hike along the trail and silently observe these magnificent trees up close.
The forest seemed to have its own atmosphere in and among the trees. The mist in some areas was high up in the canopy of the redwoods and it was dripping down on our heads as we hiked underneath.
In some parts of the redwood forest, it seemed as if the light never penetrated down to the floor and there were mushrooms and moss growing everywhere. It was like stepping back in time.
Mixed in among these forest giants are Big leaf maples. This time of year they are a brilliant yellow and orange and the leaves are *large*. My tree book says that the leaves are between 16 and 24 inches long.
Here is a leaf I saw on the ground that shows how big they are in real life.
“It is its autumn transfiguration which has made people observant of the maple’s beauty; yellow, orange, crimson, and scarlet foliage makes these trees gorgeous when October comes.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 628
This leaf was on a tree in Ashland, Oregon in Lithia Park. The trees in the park were just turning colors as we walked through last weekend. It was really cold and the air had a bite to it. We bundled up and enjoyed the walk.
After this trip along the Pacific coast, I have thought a lot about our dependence on wood from trees. We passed many areas in the forest where it had been clear cut, leaving nothing left standing to speak of. There were many, many lumber mills and great stacks of both logs and lumber.
Here is a stack of logs that we passed in the town of Eureka, CA. You cannot even imagine how tall and long these piles of logs are but this gives you an idea. It is a big reminder how useful certain trees are in our every day life. Look around you at this very moment and you will no doubt see lots of things made from wood.
I know that trees are a renewal resource but it does make you stop and think when you see so many areas clear-cut and then the piles of logs sitting at the mills. It truly is a balancing act….the love of the forest and the love of wood products.
Just a some thoughts as we travel along on this trip.
We have a variety of oaks in our yard and on closer inspection, we have a lot of baby oak trees as well. The more we looked, the more seedlings we found to observe.
I pulled some out for us to examine the roots….they were really long.
Here is the oak seedling we pulled out and you could still see the remains of the original acorn too. Just what I need, an oak tree growing under the magnolia tree. Crazy thing is that I know how this acorn ended up far from the mother oak. Western scrub jays will poke acorns into the garden in various spots as a means of storage. They will not come back and find all the acorns and that allows a new tree to sprout far from the original oak.
Here is another kind of oak growing in the backyard.
We collected a number of leaves to examine indoors and to try to identify which kinds of oaks we have in the backyard.The different shapes of leaves were interesting to note. We had big leaves and little leaves. They were shiny or dull, pointed or rounded, and in a variety of shades of greens.
Here is the collection.
California Black Oak-leaves are really large and have deep lobes and bristle tips
Either Interior Live Oak or Canyon Live Oak-I need to go do some more close observation of the trunks and acorns
I am pretty sure this is a Valley Oak.
I can not believe there are so many different kinds of oaks right here in our backyard. We are literally surrounded by oaks. I didn’t even collect leaves from all of them. I know we have a California Scrub Oak in the far back of the property.
Now for the great acorns we collected at my parent’s house. Look at that big guy. He is a beauty. I am fairly certain it came from an Interior Live Oak tree.
The Native Americans in our area used the acorns as a staple in their diet. They collected the acorns and stored them in granaries. They would grind the acorns up to make a flour. Here is a link that explains it simply. The Indian Grinding Rock State Park is near where I live and it is a fascinating place to visit to get an idea of how the acorn was used by the Miwok Indians. Actually there is a place on the creek near my parent’s house that has grinding rocks that were used by the Miwok that inhabited the area before the California Gold Rush. The oak trees were a vital part of their lives.
We live in an area where the predominant trees are oaks and pines. Pines usually are taller than the oaks so it is easy to pick them out of the landscape. We can stand on our back deck and see dozens of pines and oaks. We have identified a few of them by name but we still have some trees to work on getting to know. The tall pine in the photo above we identified as a Gray pine or Digger pine. Pinus sabiniana. It is native to our area.
Pines are usually identified by looking at the needles. This particular pine has needles in bundles of three. The needles are a gray-green color and are about 7-14 inches in length.
Here is a cone that we found under the tree. Our field guide says, “They are brown, long-stalked, uneven-based, and equipped with strong, downward-pointing, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thorns. ”
Of interest to me, the seeds were once an important food of Native American. They also ate the buds and soft green cones from this pine. Of course, squirrels love the seeds too.
“The appearance of the unripe cone is another convincing evidence that mathematics is the basis of the beautiful. The pattern of the overlapping scales is intricate and yet regular-to appreciate it one needs to try to sketch it….The shape of the scales of the cone is another distinguishing characteristic of the pine, and sketching the outside of the scales from several different species of pine cones will develop the pupils’ powers of observation…” The Handbook of Nature Study, page 672
It sounds like the basis of another day’s nature study to me. I will gather a few different cones and have them on hand.
This photo is my attempt to show you how the color of the needles on this pine are a gray-green color and not the dark green of some of the other pines we have in our area.
Now for a pine tree story. This pine is a Monterey pine and is not native to our area. They do grow naturally along the coast of California but we live in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. The previous owners of our home must have planted it in the yard and we have watched it grow in the last twenty years to a towering height over our property.
Earlier this year we cut down this huge Monterey pine. It had grown too close to our propane tank and out over the whole lawn. Its roots were pushing up the sidewalk and we were afraid it would soon get into the water pipe we have running from the front to the back of the property. It had to come down.
Here is a photo of the men in the tree as they limbed the branches and lowered them down. Some of the branches were as big as tree trunks. This was a mighty big tree. I could hardly watch the workers as the scurried up and down the tree trunk and then way out onto the limbs to cut sections off. Note the sweet gum tree in the foreground and how it has no leaves but the pine is still green.
Here is the trunk all neatly cut into chunks. We had a friend who took the wood and is drying it to use in their woodstove. We never liked pine to burn but some people love the heat it gives off. This was the perfect opportunity to observe the trees rings up close.
Here is a close up photo of the sap seeping out from the downed tree trunk. It was very sticky. I know from personal experience. 🙂
The other interesting thing to note about the pine was the thickness of the bark. The pattern of the edge was so pretty.
Here are some cones that came from the tree. I shared this photo before but it really shows how the cone opens up as it matures to allow the seeds to be exposed.
It was sad to watch the tree be cut down but now that it has been some months we can see the difference in the surrounding trees. They have ample sunlight now and they are filling out their branches. One oak in particular seems to have really benefited from the pine removal. Our lawn is so much greener now that it isn’t constantly covered in needles.
We will be observing more pines as the focus continues but I thought we could share our special tree cutting down story in this entry.
Our start on our study of trees was sort of slow. The boys have been spending all their free time with our new puppy and I guess the only way to entice them to a nature walk is to bring the dog along.
We have a number of trees that are starting to get their autumn color and my son brought to my attention that the sweet gum trees are making the rocks underneath them shiny.
Note the leaves that have already fallen from the tree.
The leaves are getting shiny too.
Here’s what it says on Wikipedia:
“The gum resin, also known as liquid amber or copalm balsam, yielded by this tree has no special medicinal virtues, being inferior in therapeutic properties to many others of its class. It is a kind of native balsam, or resin, like turpentine. It may be clear, reddish or yellow, with a pleasant smell like ambergris.”
This is my garden companion….she is watching a bird on the lawn with great intent in this photo. (Ignore the weeds in the photo…they were left there in the name of challenge #30 or at least I keep telling myself that is the reason.) She does her own kind of tree study and is an expert tree climber.
We took a few hours to go up to a local apple orchard. We all enjoy the apple harvest time of year and all of its yummy treats, both the kind you eat and the kind you can see, smell, and feel.
The trees were loaded with apples.
Now for the kind of treats we look forward to all year. Apple doughnuts. No explanation needed
except for maybe the fact that we each enjoy a different kind…with nuts, or crumbs, or glazed, or plain, or cinnamon sugar.
I think there is no better way to learn about a tree than to eat the fruits of its boughs.
I love oak trees. This oak is standing in a meadow in Yosemite Valley. I know this beautiful oak is not in our backyard but it was just such a perfect little scene of things that I had to capture it for my memory book and share it with you too. Charlotte Mason speaks in her writings about memorizing scenes to recall at a later time. This is one that will stick in my memory for a long time. The autumn light and the yellow-green of the grasses made this a perfect painting in my mind.
“The ability to take a mental picture of the beauties of nature is so fulfilling that it is well worth teaching our children how to do it…..Have the child look thoroughly at some landscape, then ask them to close their eyes, and bring up the image in their minds…..In the beginning the children will need help to get them started. So the mother might show how it’s done by saying, ‘Look at the trees reflected in the water. What do the leaves remind you of?’ until the children notice the main details. She should memorize a couple of mental images and impress her children by closing her eyes and describing it from memory.” Charlotte Mason, volume one, pages 48-49
“Imagine what a treasure they will find when, years later, they are able to pull out memories etched in full detail of the beautiful scenery from their childhood home!” Charlotte Mason, volume one, page 47
What a wonderful aspect of our outdoor time with our children! We can seize opportunities to instill in them a love and respect for nature as well as give them the gift of wonderful memories.
“Mental picture painting is a game that children enjoy, although it takes a good bit of concentrated attention and is therefore tiring. It should only be done once in a while. Still it is good to have children memorize some scenic landscape images because, while making the memory requires effort, the habit of looking more closely at detail is learned as an unconscious by-product when children are asked to make detailed mental images every now and then.” Charlotte Mason, volume one, pages 48-49
