On Sunday May 22, 2022 Great Barrington Land Conservancy invited the community learn about Tree Identification with naturalist and author, Michael Wojteck. Twenty-five Tree enthusiasts learned how to look closely at bark and classify the textures observed - no easy task! Even more difficult was predicting how the younger bark would look as it aged. We teamed up in small groups to take on the challenge, the excercise taught us to appreciate the great diversity of bark for individual species as they grow and mature. We headed outside to apply what we were beginning to learn, stopping first at the enormous sugar maple being mindufully cared for at Saint James Place. Our next surprise "guest" was a large elm tree in front of Town hall. At River Walk, the group examined the bark of many riparian trees, especially the large, beatifully textured, cottonwoods. We wrapped up our session with the historic red oak beside Bridge Street that is being protected by a wattle fence.
Michael's book, Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast is available on his website Knowyourtrees.com.
Michael will return to Great Barrington on Saturday September 24th for: Fall Tree Exploration - The Growth of Trees: A Journey Through Time.