Trees within Transect 4
Paper Birch: This type of tree prefers cool climate, near rushing streams. The white, peeling bark of mature trees readily separates into papery layers and is marked by narrow horizontal streaks.
White Spruce: Usually found on moist sandy loam soils, especially along lake shores, stream banks, and adjacent slopes.
Quaking Aspen: These trees are shorted lived and usually forms a temporary cover after forest fires or cleared land. After about 20 years, the aspen, which requires full light , becomes crowded and tends to die out.
Grey Birch: Gray Birch is one of the most aggressive trees in the northeast U.S. This tree is short lived much like the Quaking Aspen.
Black Cherry: This tree ranges from eastern U.S. up to Canada, from Nova Scotia to upper Lake Superior. This tree species develops a tall, oval canopy in places where seedlings are not crowded out by their neighbors.
Ironwood: A small tree whose smooth gray trunk has a distinctly muscular appearance, but surprisingly, decays rapidly upon contact with the ground.
Thornapple: Native to North America, considerable evolution is taking place with this tree, so that the number of different forms is increasing. These trees are ubiquitous pasture "weeds," and a constant battle is occurring to keep them from invading cleared land.
Northern Red Oak: These trees range through eastern U.S. and up into Nova Scotia. The Northern Red Oak tree grows more rapidly than any other Oak tree.
Silver Maple: It ranges from eastern U.S. to southern Canada. It is a tall species with grayish older bark that tends to flake, leaving brown spots. The sap of this tree is sweet but less sugary than that of Sugar Maple.