Work meanderings 2

I've already cheated.  Well, sort of.  I took two sets of photos yesterday as I knew I had to travel for work today.  I did head outside, though not for long enough to snap shots of an unidentifiable object in the cobblestoned streets of Portland, ME.  The drive up was lovely, the leaves are really starting to change up north.

So anyway, in addition to yesterday's post showing the Black Tupelo, I came across this pretty tree.  The bark was smooth and a silvery grey:

The leaves followed an alternate pattern and were beginning to turn yellow:

They were small, not lobed, and had small teeth at the end of each vein: 

I decided to try out Virginia Tech's Tree ID multichotomous key again, but had no luck.  I answered most questions with "I don't know" as I had limited information.  I realized there are certain characteristics I could look for in the future, such as "bundle scars", the markers where a leaf's stem, or petiole, breaks away from the twig.  I could also check out if the tip of the twig where new leaves form has "bud scales".   So perhaps I should find some trees with branches closer to the ground to check out tomorrow!

Back to my little dichotomous key book for this one.  The book's last question had me count the number of pairs of veins on the leaf, asking if they were between 9 and 14, with each vein ending in a conspicuous tooth.  The drawing of the leaf matched the ones I found, and a quick Google image search confirmed - American Beech, Fagus grandifolia. 


To sum up:

Plant, animal, mineral:  Plant
Name: American Beech, Fagus grandifolia
Coordinates:  42.45219 ,-71.23506
Location:  Lexington, MA
Sources:  Virginia Tech's Tree ID, Tree Finder