#deciduous tree

Beech nuts of the Common Beech (Fagus sylvatica), which for hundreds of years used to be used to fatten up pigs being kept in the woodlands and common lands where they grew. Surrey, UK, June 2026

Nocturnal Radiance of the Samuel De Champlain Bridge by Francois Flibotte Via Flickr: The Samuel De Champlain Bridge spans the St. Lawrence River at night, its cable-stayed structure brilliantly lit with blue LEDs. In the foreground, industrial transmission towers and winter vegetation create a layered perspective against the dark sky, highlighting the intersection of nature and modern infrastructure.

Vinyard in front of the historic old Cape Dutch homestead at Buitenverwagting Wine Farm

© Harlen Chen

In early spring, when Appalachia’s floodplain and cove forests are brown and barren-looking, yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava) starts to leaf out, producing ornate, palmately-compound foliage with five leaflets that would look perfectly at home in a dense, Amazonian jungle. Long before the other trees in the forest have greened up, yellow buckeye has already added a splash of tropical lushness to an otherwise drab understory. Little wonder this grand denizen of Appalachia’s moist, cool forests is prized as an ornamental tree and has won the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticulture Society. Under ideal growing conditions, yellow buckeye can reach a height of eighty or ninety feet. But you can’t truly appreciate the beauty of this tree until you’ve witnessed it bloom in early May, when it produces long panicles of creamy yellow-white, red-tinted flowers. The fruit that replaces the flower - a rough capsule containing a smooth and shiny brown seed - matures in the fall. The seeds are lovely to look at and hold in your hands but toxic to human beings if eaten in their raw form.

On a sunny November morning

Smokin' Trees