Little River Wetlands Project’s nature preserves contain small but diverse woodland habitats that play key roles in the overall health and vitality of those protected landscapes. Most of the year, trees’ leaves make it easier to identify the species you are walking under or beside while out on a preserve’s hiking trails. In winter, a tree’s bark and shape become your best clues. Sunlight beaming through a leafless tree canopy highlights the creative artistry of trees’ many bark patterns.
Try this quiz to test how well you know Eagle Marsh trees by their bark. (Click on the image to see a larger version.) The following are the possible answers:
A. Silver maple
B. Swamp white oak
C. Eastern cottonwood
D. Black willow
E. Red maple
F. Washington hawthorn
G. Pin oak
H. Hackberry
Bonus: Your answer?

1. Grows 60 to 90 feet tall with a trunk diameter up to 2 1/2 feet. The bark is thin, gray, and smooth before eventually growing fissured into long, thin, scaly ridges. Pioneers made ink and brown and black dyes from extracts from the bark.

2. Grows to 100 feet ball with a trunk 3 to 4 feet in diameter or larger. Bark begins yellowish-green and smooth and evolves to light gray, thick and rough with deep furrows. One of the largest hardwood trees in the eastern U.S., its bark can grow to 3 inches thick on older trees. Pioneers often brought this tree with them when moving to the Great Plains because it grows rapidly in a variety of habitats.

3. Grows to 50 to 80 feet tall with a trunk about 3 feet in diameter. Bark is gray and becomes furrowed with long, scaly, shaggy ridges over time. One of the more common tree species in the area of Trails 6 and 7 at Eagle Marsh, it’s fast-growing but has brittle branches. The sap contains some sugar, but not nearly as much as its aptly-named cousin.

4. Grows to about 30 feet tall with a trunk diameter of about 1 foot. Bark is light brown, smooth and thin and becomes scaly over time. In the early 1800s, some people planted this thorn-wielding species to grow hedges.

5. Grows to 50 to 90 feet tall with a trunk up to 3 feet in diameter. Bark is gray or light brown, and is smooth with warts or ridges but can become scaly. The bark contains a lot of tannin and can release a sticky, sweet gum similar to cherry trees. Birds including quail, pheasants, woodpeckers and cedar waxwings enjoy its dark-colored, berry-like fruit.

6. Grows 60 to 70 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 2 to 3 feet. Bark is light gray with large thin scales that grow furrowed and turn into plates. Leaves typically are green-colored on top and whitish on the underneath side. Beginning at age 25 to 30, it produces “fruit” every three to five years and can do so for more than 300 years.

7. Grows 60 to 100 feet tall with a trunk diameter of up to 2 1/2 feet. Bark is dark brown or blackish with deep furrows and scaly forking ridges. Large trees’ root network stabilizes waterway banks, preventing soil erosion and flood damage. Indigenous people and pioneer settlers used the bark and roots to obtain a bitter material used in folk medicine.

8. Grows to 50 to 90 feet tall with a trunk diameter of up to 2 1/2 feet. Bark is dark gray and smooth but becomes fissured into short, scaly ridges as the tree matures. Named for its many short side twigs, this tree also is a popular choice in residential landscaping.

Bonus: Height and trunk diameter can vary substantially. Insects, woodpeckers and some other birds use it for homes or food. It later feeds bacteria and decomposers, returning nutrients to the soil.
John Niemeyer, an LRWP volunteer and trail guide and an Indiana Master Naturalist program graduate, helped identify the trees in the quiz. Basic tree facts came from “The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region” and “Trees of Indiana,” by Maryrose and Fred Wampler.
Answers:
1.: E Red maple
2.: C Eastern cottonwood
3.: A Silver maple
4.: F Washington hawthorn
5.: H Hackberry
6.: B Swamp white oak
7.: D Black willow
8.: G Pin oak
Bonus: A dead tree 😀
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