What is your favorite tree and why?

I don't think I can choose, I'm blessed to have 40 acres with many different trees - one of these days I'm going to start figuring out how many different ones there are. So far I know I have white birch, Aspen, black walnut, red oak, shag bark hickory, maples, white ash, cherry, blue spruce, elm and probably more.

Christmas tree, preferably (Chinese) plastic with integrated lights.

lowangle al said:

I find big pines to be the most impressive to look at on a trip, plus they have a nice soft bed of needles underneath.

Oaks are probably the most important tree for wildlife in the forest. The Pa. game commission has a project called "open canopy" where they go through the woods cutting down anything under a certain diameter that isn't an oak. They don't use any heavy equipment. It's just guys with chainsaws who then leave the fallen trees where they lie, making a mess out of the woods. The goal is to get more young oaks to grow.

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Down here the water management districts seem to think the only tree that ever grew here was the long leaf pine. They plant them to the exclusion of everything else.

Gamma1214 said:

Thankfully, we don't get all of the governance that we pay for.

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Thank goodness for small miracles.

This assignment was too hard. I love all sorts of trees. All the ones mentioned and more.

But once someone had a favorite tree that was fruit-bearing, then I have to go with the mango tree. Heavenly, nutritious fruit.

Old growth mango trees produce shade and are lovely to look at:



Note the size of the people sitting below it

Wow, I didn’t know they got so big. I neglected a favorite food bearing tree! A neighbor in the FL Keys had avocado trees and we enjoyed the benefits immensely.

My single most favorite tree is a huge white pine located in the Five Ponds Wilderness area of the Adirondacks that has been named "The Old Man". It takes a bit of a canoe paddle of a few miles followed by a hike of a couple of miles to an obscure location to find it. I often use it as a land navigation training exercise target for my wilderness guide students learning map and compass and terrain association techniques. it is at the end of a once half mile long line of a once large grove of similar tall white pine trees, and is the lone survivor of the 1995 derecho 100mph straight line wind storm that took down 100% of its tall brothers. At one time the old man was in contention for possibly the largest white pine in NY state, but it did lose a good portion of its top half in the storm, and although it still survives, it is no longer on the largest list.

When I was a kid any tree was a friend if it reliably provided shade and shelter on long hot summer days and thru sudden downpours.
Closer to home a white paper birch in our yard has long been loved and appreciated for it's ever abundant supply of scrolls. I gather them each season for tripping. They make idea fire starters. The dappled shade this tree graces us with is always a charm to be enjoyed spring thru fall, and this past summer this birch was called home by a nesting pair of robins. That completed the domestic scene for my wife and I as we shared the shade on sweltering May days with our new neighbours.
This "favourite" however was set aside as I reconsidered another tree I once regarded as ugly. Despite a brief display of blooms in April our flowering crab tree always appeared craggy and horrid. My wife was forever having to convince me not to cut it down. But over the past two summers I noticed how our young grandson loved to climb it. Branches low enough to help the scramble up, high enough for the thrill of a view (all of 6 ft up).
I accidentally on purpose over estimated a load of lumber for a new back deck. On completion of that project I couldn't wait to get started on the next; transforming a once hated tree into a beloved one. A twig rope ladder access and various solid plank platforms for sandwich lunches and popsickle treats. The task is now done and just waiting for a young man's approval, from all of 6 ft up.
Far from home the favourite tree has never changed from when I was young. Whichever tree can shade and shelter me is welcome, in particular if they will stand firm as reliable anchors for campsite tarps, whatever we're having for lunch, for treats, under the shady boughs of a friend.

I apparently have too many favorites….here is one we called “the climbing tree” because when I was very young we could climb up easily using the curved trunk to get started. It is the exact same size today as it was 70 years ago when I started climbing it!

Here's the local pileated woodpecker's favorite tree.

That is one serious woodpecker

stevet said:

That is one serious woodpecker

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Excedrin headache #537!

High rise apartment complex

Sweetfancymoses said:

Here's the local pileated woodpecker's favorite tree.

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Probably had bugs in it... They go hunting. They are also very impressive in how quickly they can make that much of a mess...

Anybody remember the old "Woody the Woodpecker" cartoons? That whole "Beeline->5 mins jackhammer noises->Sculpture" thing isn't as much of an exaggeration as it might seem.

What is your favorite tree?​

hmmm - I think any tree lying on the ground.
Or the ones that are standig dead and need a little help to fall over.

and why?​

The main thing is that they are dry enough to be burnt.

kahel said:

Or the ones that are standig dead and need a little help to fall over.

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In the Adirondacks or any NY state land, you ae supposed to leave the standing dead wood alone. The woodpeckers and others make use of it. "Down" and dead only are legal for firewood.

Maples. No contest. Not many in managed forests. The smell! The color!

Black_Fly said:

Not many in managed forests.

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Well that ‘cause they complained about the oaks!