Toward the Creation of A CYLBURN TREE MYTHOLO GY

BY BRENT FIGLESTAHLER, HEAD GARDENER

I go among trees and sit still.

All my stirring becomes quiet around me like circles on water. My tasks lie in their places where I left them, asleep like cattle.

Then what is afraid of me comes and lives a while in my sight. What it fears in me leaves me, and the fear of me leaves it. It sings, and I hear its song.

The trees and forests of Cylburn Arboretum are not just collections of diverse genera and species. Under the pressures of time, climate, and human influence, or the absence thereof, many trees here bear unique marks. Such marks and oddities, which can occur in many woody plants, would have been some of the basis behind many of the world’s prolific tree-based mythologies and folklore. Today, we understand most of the causes of these anomalies, but they are still incredible.

The following are a few living curiosities that can be found in the Cylburn landscape:

Burls–

When entering a forest, it’s the trunks that naturally occupy the human gaze. After all, tree huggers hug trunks. Burls, or burrs to the Brits, would make you second guess hugging a tree. They are rather large, somewhat grotesque-looking, growths found on tree trunks. Prized, and occasionally poached by woodworkers, these growths possess extremely unusual wood grain patterns and colors. Similar to a human tumor, burls are a profusion of xylem tissue caused by infection either viral, fungal, bacterial, or insect-related. A fantastic Cylburn burl can be found just below the Nathans Garden in a Bald Cypress near the woodland edge.

Galls– Have you ever seen bumps on leaves resembling warts, or twigs that appear to have engulfed a golf ball? Such sightings are likely galls: abnormal growths occurring on leaves, twigs, and roots caused by insect stimulation at the cellular level, or infection by fungi, bacteria, or nematodes. When produced by insects, these plant growths provide a custom home for each respective insect. A particularly reliable gall at Cylburn can be found in the summer months on Hackberry, or Celtis occidentalis, leaves. This is known as Hackberry Nipple Gall and is caused by a tiny insect known as a psyllid.

Witch’s Broom–

Cylburn is home to a oneof-a-kind tree that has

Then what I am afraid of comes. I live for a while in its sight. What I fear in it leaves it, and the fear of it leaves me. It sings, and I hear its song.

After days of labor, mute in my consternations, I hear my song at last, and I sing it. As we sing, the day turns, the trees move. — Wendell Berry, Sabaths, 1979 affectionately become known as the “Witch’s Broom Linden,” or Tilia cordata ‘Witch’s Broom.’

While this tree is not officially recognized as a cultivar, it is a specimen worth noting. The term witch’s broom is used to describe an unusual proliferation of shoots with short internodes that resembles a bundle of sticks like a witch’s broom. These growth are caused by a variety of factors including infection by fungi, genetic mutations, phytoplasma infection, and mite infestations. Many dwarf conifers have been developed by propagating conifer witch’s brooms. Our Witch’s Broom

Linden was propagated by Baltimore’s first Chief Horticulturist, Gerard Moudry. You can find it at the top of the shortcut path in the Moudry Woods.

Reaction Wood–

Trees reach for sunlight. This reaching, known as phototropism, can affect the way woody stems, including tree trunks, appear. This change in appearance is known as reaction wood. It is caused by stress, usually in the form of weight, placed unequally on a tree. If we take the example of our tree at the forest edge leaning toward the sunlight, we know that the weight of the tree's canopy is likely not centered over its trunk and roots. Consequently, the tree compensates by adding additional wood to one side of the tree. Some trees, like oaks, add wood to the side of the tree in tension. Many conifers add wood to the underside of the tree, or the side in compression. Variations on this theme can be seen in the elongated shapes of branches when seen in cross section, the buttress associated at the base of trees, and even the ripples and bulges seen on trunks. There is a prominent oak leaning toward the collections from the Buckeye Trail that illustrates this well.

Native Grape Vines–

Cylburn is home to our native “grape” vine. These vines can be found throughout the Cylburn woodland. They are not invasive and do not usually negatively impact trees. These vines do not have the ability to climb into the forest canopy. Rather, they lie on the ground and are hoisted into the air by young trees. Once aloft, these vines can remain in the canopy of their hoisting partner and surrounding trees until a canopy disturbance brings them to the forest floor again. When you find these vines, note the size of the vine and the tree from which it’s suspended. The age of the tree is usually comparable to the age of the vine. Our champion vine can be found along the Spice Bush Trail.

Layerings–

In horticulture, we refer to stems that develop roots as layerings. A lack of competition for light modifies the growth habits of many woody plants. These woodies are often sprawling, branched to the ground, and possess hanging branches that rest on the soil’s surface. Many genera of woody plants, such as the trees strewn across Cylburn's lawns, sprout roots from prolonged contact with the ground. This results in a whole new tree connected via branch to the parent tree. This process is called ground layering and is not to be confused with air layering. A favorite layering at Cylburn can be found in our Weeping Cherry Collection.

Inosculation–

This is the scientific name for the occurrence of natural grafting between two woody stems. When one follows the old pruning adage of removing dead, diseased, dying, rubbing, and or crossing, you will likely never see inosculation in your trees or shrubs. However, not all woodies are regularly, if ever, pruned. This is nature’s adaption to conflicting stems. A good place to look for this type of growth is Cylburn’s Magnolia Collection.

Pit and Mound Topography–

Trees have the unique ability to enchant us with their growth and also the remnant evidence of growth. Whether petrified wood or the freshly grounded canopy of a fallen tree, woody plants are fascinating in all stages of life and death. One particularly interesting forest forensic clue is that of pit and mound topography. When large canopy trees fall, their roots often heave from the ground carrying soil with them and creating a pit below. As the tree decays the only remaining evidence is a small pile of earth and an adjacent depression. This pillow-like topographic signature is one indication of old growth forests. A walk through the Cylburn forest will reveal all stages of this process.

Wolf Trees–

This is the name given to a woodland tree that predates all the surrounding trees. This legacy is often associated with agricultural land uses. In a former life such trees would have been open grown amidst pastures or fields. With ample sunlight, branches on these trees would have been low slung and canopies broad. If pasture ground is abandoned and forests regenerated, wolf trees become enveloped in a young forest. The shading effect on such a tree’s lower branches causes dieback and the eventual total loss of all the lower limbs. For the brave, a large wolf tree associated with Cylburn’s former Springwood settlement can be found on the Vista Trail. To this day, a few tree deformities and trace markings are still considered to have mysterious causes. Proper investigation by the correct expert can often accurately diagnose the cause of such topical abnormalities or past forest events. However, a dearth of expert investigation in all but a few Cylburn cases has allowed for some amateur hypothesizing and a little myth making of our own. Was this tree’s lean caused by a reach for light or was there a more momentous event like a storm? Was that tree’s burl the result of a swallowed plant tag? Who allowed the tree over there to layer in such a manner – and was it intentional? These questions and more keep our imaginations busy and the Cylburn landscape under constant evaluation.

Unlike venerable buildings and other material history, the living world, most notably trees, can leave their own marks on the physical landscape and our imagination. Trees, the most common building material in North America, facilitate how we record our history both in in timbers and print. Although a optionless keeper of human history, trees possess their own stories told through branches, growth rings, and even actions such as “mast years.” Though more dynamic than the built environment, trees are just as informative of our past, and, maybe even predictive of our future.