While staying with my sister couple days this week I noticed this tree in her yard. I've seen this tree many many times (in all four seasons) but never really seen it. Honestly, it is not a 'paper tree' (that's just the the name my niece and I gave it)........I do not know what type of tree it is!!!! With the sun shining so brightly and the wind blowing strongly on this particular day, the bark on the tree really got my attention!! It looked as though someone had taken old tissue paper or aged paper, glued the pieces onto the tree and it was peeling or being blown off. Even some of the tree limbs appeared to have 'paper' on them. Some "pieces" were thin and were really flapping in the wind while other 'pieces' were thick and stood off the bark.
The "paper tree"....
Limbs and branches of the 'paper tree'.....
Closer look at trunk of the 'paper tree'...
My niece spotted the bird nest...
Closer view of the bark and bird nest....
Some 'pieces' were folded around and where there were no 'pieces' the bark was very smooth and slick.
The below picture, with the beautiful green leaves on the 'paper tree', was taken in May 2008. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture showing the trunk and bark on this beautiful tree at that time. If anyone in 'gatherland' knows the 'scientific' name of the 'paper tree' my niece and I would love to know.
My niece, Alexis....the 'apple of my eyes'!!! As I was taking these pictures (top six) she asked me if I was going to show them to my "computer friends". I answered, "why of course Alexis, why do you think Aunt Phyl is taking them?" She responded, "my momma says all you do is take pictures and show them to your computer friends!!!!!" I burst out laughing (about to pee in my pants) and thought "oh yeah, what a wonderful life!!!!" and then asked "what more does your momma say about Aunt Phyl?????????????????????"
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Comments: 45
Made it up to Michigan in one piece...sort of...Angela's called about 4 times already.....lol
I think this might be a river birch. We have like 7 of these around our house and the bark does the same thing on them. These photos look just like what we have.
Have a great gather day!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for posting to sparealine.gather.com
;-)
MORE SNOW TONIGHT!!!! ARGH!
very lovely... your neice is adorable... God bless you and yours... HAPPY NEW YEAR...
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Thanks friends..........I will have to do some searching on this!!!!
I think it's a birch. I'm sure someone up there by now has given you the answer. Not a white birch though for sure. We have 3 varieties of birch in our yard and none of them look anything like a birch. But they are.
General = a friend of the family also stated the tree reminded them of a cottonwood tree!
Yes, it's a river birch. Wonderful trees.
LOL! about your neice. At my Christmas party I was going around taking photos of everyone and someone asked me if I was taking them to put on the internet (meaning Gather). It kind of took me by surprise. Geeze wht exactly do they really think of us?
Looks a lot like a birch tree, really cool photo essay, and I know what you mean about really "Seeing" something for the first time. That's been happening to me a lot this past year.
They call them "Paper Birch" trees at the nursries here, but I have no idea of the correct botanical name. They are a birch, for sure, though. :o)