Tompkins Square Park – Tree Identification Project
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
www.nycgovparks.org/parks/tompkinssquarepark/highlights/1…
The Hare Krishna Tree, an American Elm (Ulmus americana) as identified by the Parks Department.
Update: The work of identifying the major trees of Tompkins Square Park has already been tackled. Flickrite Lucky-Dog sent me a link to this map from The East Village Parks Concervancy. But I still intend to continue taking photos of the trees and create a web interface.
Inspired by the project described in the Youtube video below, where basically one guy made a species map of every tree in Central Park. I’m starting a slightly less insane web-based project for the much smaller Tompkins Square Park. I’ll take the photos, and you interested botanists out there can help with the identifications. I’ll continue doing this as long as I’m having fun and there seems to be interest for it in the communities, local and web.
A good map of the park’s pathways would be very helpful to me. I’ve found none online. I need to design how to best display all this information on the blog. But I have thoughts of a clickable map and guided walks through the paths, who knows maybe an app. For the moment I’ll be tagging the photos with TSPTIP and inputting approximate coordinates to the location map on Flickr. Various tree enthusiasts in Flickr and Reddit are helping me with the identifications. It is probably best that I leave the photos tagged TSPTIP on my Flickr stream until the tree is identified to avoid confusion here. I’ve been photo-documenting this neighborhood for years but I am a novice in tree identificatiion. Any help with terminology etc. is more than welcome.
I was intrigued by the unusual mixture of large and small leaf bundles. I guessed elm from the shape of the leaves but I knew the bark was smoother than photos I’ve seen of elms. Consensus now seems to be Hornbeam (Carpinus sp.) This tree is halfway between 7th and 8th streets on the east side of the park.
Shiny leaves and berries on a tree or bush just north of the Avenue A and 9th street entrance. One vote for Ilex sp.
Common name Holly.
No one has had any ideas on this one so far.
Platanus occidentalis
Well aren’t I proud, the first general identification I attempted (maple) was wrong.
plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PLOC
Thank you.
Agreement on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisplant/comments/ilnar/sugar_mapl...
The simple difference between maples and (American) sycamores is that maples always have leaves in opposite pairs, whereas in sycamores they are spirally arranged (‘alternate’ in botanical jargon).
Thank you Tony, sounds authoritative even if you are half a world away from NYC.
probably right, but take care that it isn’t actually London plane tree (Platanus x acerifolia), a hybrid of American sycamore and an oriental species. It was commonly planted as a street tree in NYC
Thank you Laurette, what do I need to photograph to distinguish between the two?
Ilex sp.
Common name Holly.
Thank you Sheila.
remarkable!
Seen in the group "Urban Nature"
Hornbeam (Carpinus sp.), I think. The fruits (in your lower right inset) of elm are quite different. Same for the Beech. Fruits and flowers (more so than leaves) are really useful for identifying plants.
For more information on why this is known as the "Hare Krishna Tree", please see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tompkins_Square_Park#Elm_trees
With best wishes,
Hare Krishna,
David.
Thanks scott, I got a suggestion of Carpinus caroliniana on Reddit. I’ll see if I can get a better shot of the flowers that I thought were leaves.
Cool!
A closer look at the inflorescence.
I agree–Carpinus caroliniana–the trunk is quite distinctive, almost looks like muscles beneath the bark
I see what you mean Laurette, quite descriptive. Thank you.
David, I noticed that this year the flower rings were quickly removed. Do you know why?
I’m afraid I don’t, sorry.
I don’t know the tree/area personally, since I’m in the UK and so only know it by its historical significance to our movement.
I didn’t actually know the tree was garlanded until you mentioned it, so thank you for enlightening me on that.
I regret I cannot answer your own query about it, though.
With best wishes,
Hare Krishna,
David.
(Just thinking – you could always ask the local devotees to see if they knew. The original temple was reclaimed by us and is now in use again. It’s at 26 Second Avenue.)
The garlands usually remained on the tree throughout the year to be replaced in an annual ceremony. This year I think they were only on the tree for a short time.