Cottonwood?

nature is great at times.

THAT is a very cool picture.

I didn't believe it was real at first. That is awesome.

Keith Dunn submitted this brilliant tree photo to the AJC.com, which was found in Woodstock, Ga ... "I believe the tree is a cottonwood, he said. I work out of a bucket truck and as I was coming down I saw these multi-colored leaves that looked like a school of tropical fish. I carry a small digital camera in my lunch box so I got it and went back up to take the photo.

That is a cottonwood, they are beautiful trees! Another beauty is the dogwood!

Charlie

WOW!

Excellent photo!

Cottonwood trees have slightly dentate (toothed) margins. Also, their leaves tend to turn more yellowish during fall senesence.

This looks an awful lot like the species I study, Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum). Native to China and much of southeast Asia, it was introduced into Georgia in the late 1700s by Ben Franklin. It is a problematic invader throughout much of the southeastern US and has been listed as a noxious weed in Florida.

I agree that it has pretty fall foliage, especially for the south where we don't get much for autumn color. That's one of the reasons it continues to be widely planted.

Sorry to be such a botany geek, but this little beast has been quite the cottage industry for me the past several years.

wer . . . Where in the South are you? I didn't know Ben Franklin made his way down to Georgia. What reasons did he have to introduce this tree? I have never noticed it before . . . I thought the only noxious weed that we had was kudzu . . .

That is cool!

wer,

I read your "geeky" post with great interest. Thanks.

I just looked it up in my Sunset Western Garden Book. Not perfectly suited for my zone (7) and is recemmended not to plant near wetlands rivers or native plant habitats, all which I have, so I guess I'll just have to look at this picture.

I'm in the Houston, Texas area. I recently left Rice to join the faculty at Tx A&M, but plan to continue working on tallow tree as a subset of my research area.

It's not listed as "noxious" in Georgia or Texas, largely because of the economic impacts doing so would impose on many landowners. Ben Franklin mailed the seeds to an associate of his in Georgia. He was in Europe at Kew Gardens at the time where some explorers had just returned from Asia with a collection of many plants. Georgia has a modest list of noxious plant species that are prohibited, but they are mostly agricultural pests. Not many get listed due to their ecological impacts.

I could bore you with a laundry list of our publications in the scientific literature, but here is a link to one of the popular press articles that distills some of the things we are examining.

http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2003/G/20035298.html 

im in my last semester at TAMU, welcome to the aggie family

Jordo

Far Out Man! Wicked Colors Dude! I could stare at this for hours! Thanx!

jordo, email me at wer AT tamu dOt edu

if you know a good spot in college station, I may have a graduation smoke for ya.

Is that what you call a China berry tree Wer?

nope, china berry is a different species - but an equally aggressive invader from Asia. It has compound leaves that turn yellow in fall and extremely poisonous berries.

here's a link:

http://www.floridata.com/ref/m/meli_aze.cfm 

There are a huge number of Asian species that are problematic in North America, but likely an equal number of our plants that are causing problems for them. The ability of humans to transport plants and animals across vast distances is resulting in some fascinating ecological interactions where many of the plants and animals native to an area take it in the shorts.

Nice photo jet!