Before we have one more post on the protests at Universities—which I think are important because they are harbingers of social attitudes—let’s have a few piccies. On my way to get lunch today (my building is right next to the student union with its food court), I saw some lovely fall colors, and captured them as best I could with my iPhone:
Our big Gingko biloba is dropping its foul-smelling fruits, which local Japanese people collect for the nuts inside. They smell like dog poop, and the university has put an awning under the tree to prevent people on the sidewalk from stepping on the fruits. But the trees are lovely when the leaves turn yellow:
The ivy or Virginia creeper or whatever it is (I don’t know from plants) is turning red; the leaves will soon fall away. This is the Gothic-inspired student union:
What a beautiful tree that Gingko Biloba is.
The Virginia creeper too! I have some in my yard, imported all the way from Czechoslovakia by my great grandparents.
This is one case where having a male (Ginko)is definitely for the best. Unless you like to eat the nuts.
Or if you’re allergic to the pollen.
http://wtop.com/news/2013/05/lack-of-tree-sex-causes-worse-allergy-symptoms/
Ginkgos are one of just a few trees that show good color in the San Francisco Bay area (liquidambar and pistache are the two others that come to mind) – the rate and depth of cooling in fall are such that the leave of most deciduous trees just turn brown and fall.
“Ginnan” (ginkgo nuts) are indeed popular in Japan, and apparently also in China. But the flesh around the nuts is irritating to many people, causing a poison ivy-like rash; and the nuts, even cooked, are mildly toxic if overindulged in (the toxic principle is 4′-O-methylpyridoxine).
The creeper looks like Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata). Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)has each leaf divided into five leaflets.
Despite its common name, Boston Ivy is not native to North America. It is commonly planted to decorate walls, partly because it turns such a lovely red in autumn.
I’d agree that that’s Boston Ivy. Virginia Creeper leaves are generally larger; it has knock-out fall colours too.
Check the suckers. Boston Ivy climbs by gluing them to vertical surfaces and can climb smooth concrete walls, or even a sheet of glass.
One small point: the smelly “fruits” of the female ginkgo are not technically/botanically fruits. The fleshy outer covering is a “sarcotesta” and is actually a seed coat.
That might not be the tree you want in the front yard, depending on whether you want visitors or not. Holds on to the leaves until very late.
And then all the leaves fall at the same time. 😉
Ah, I like the fall piccies and the use of the diminutive and colloquial word. The sun is fleetingly out in Seattle this afternoon, and I’m sitting in its cheek-warming beams.
WA state just suffered a big windstorm from what I hear.
Lots of trees down, power out for thousands, and even some deaths:(
As I write this, I can hear our generator humming away. We’ve been out of power for 52 hours now. The generator powers most of the house though, so not too much of a hardship, just a little cold. Clearing the road with a chainsaw and tractor while the rain was pouring down…now that was a pain in the ass.
There was a major windstorm this summer up in BC, where I am.
Trees down everywhere.
On my property alone, dozens of trees were uprooted and/or snapped. I still have to buck up a giant 150ft fir and similarly sizwd cottonwood that was snapped in half.
My neighbor had 8 pine trees strewn across the entire length of his driveway
Scary stuff.
100mph winds and the power was out for 3 days.
It is scary, and the storm you describe sounds like a real nightmare. I don’t even want to think about what 100 mph winds would do out here; I think the high gusts in this storm were 50 mph.
I’ve learned that living where we do, a windstorm (even a mild one) almost always means power outages. But having all the trees is worth it!
@Cindy, yes, thanks for this and mentioning the ones the weather took. We’ve had a rough year in WA with the summer fires consuming the eastern part of the state and the wind this past week thrashing out power and filling the roads with debris. I cycle most places but have recoiled into the safety of my home more than is typical for me. So, with the sun setting at 4:28, its warmth on my face made the sunshine a most welcomed and savory experience.
Ah the fires. How horrible.
I live about a half hour drive from the big one, the Stickpin fire. The smoke up here got so bad that it was hard to breathe.
It was even worse to the south of me, in Colville, where some folks came down with very serious respiratory illnesses.
It was a rough spring and summer for WA, BC and Oregon. This winter is going to be really mild so I fear that next years fire season will be even worse.
And the bears really suffered this year too, as spring came a month early. They were out of berries at the end of July.
Climate change is scary…
Some of the carnage in Seattle:
http://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/08292015-WindstormLindsey_02-780×520.jpg
It’s so sad when big living trees are doomed like that.
It’s nice to see the word “Autumn” is a post from the US. Thank you Jerry! 🙂
Come on. Not like dog poop. Surely just like vomit?
Autumn! It’s 5:53 pm in Sydney and about 34 degrees C in this room, 39 outside. That’s 102F. It peaked at 106F near the coast today.
Autumn? Hold the plane I’m coming over!
Hmmm, never noticed any nuts, fruit or flowers of any sort on the Gingko in Dad’s garden. Which could mean that it’s a male. Or that it just doesn’t get the conditions it needs in moist and cool England.