1 - Dendrology (Five Rivers Metroparks) Traditional Cache
1 - Dendrology (Five Rivers Metroparks)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Small sized container located in Carriage Hill Metro Park - placed with permission - Permit no 3-13-2060
Dendrology is the study of woody plants; typically trees but there are other things such as shrubs and vines that bear similarities to trees so they are studied as well. Dendrology is a science that studies, identifies, and even names plants that have woody structural systems. These woody systems hold a lot of information about the tree, about the evolution of the tree, and how we can best care for and protect each species of tree. Dendrology may not seem like the most interesting science at first glance, but it is grossly complicated and interesting.
This cache celebrates one of the Five Rivers Metroparks top ten trees.
The largest tree on the list is Big Sister a White Oak or Quercus alba with 378 total points.
Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is a long-lived oak of the family Fagaceae, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been documented to be over 450 years old.
Although called a white oak, it is very unusual to find an individual specimen with white bark; the usual color is a light gray. In the forest it can reach a magnificent height and in the open it develops into a massive broad-topped tree with large branches striking out at wide angles.
Normally not a very tall tree, typically reaching 65–85 feet (19.5-25.5 m) at maturity, it nonetheless becomes quite massive and its lower branches are apt to extend far out laterally, parallel to the ground. Trees growing in a forest will become much taller than ones in an open area which develop to be short and massive. The tallest known white oak is 144 feet (43 m) tall. It is not unusual for a white oak tree to be as wide as it is tall, but specimens growing at high altitudes may only become small shrubs. White oak may live 200–300 years, with some even older specimens known. The famous Wye Oak in Wye Mills, Maryland was estimated to be over 450 years old when it finally toppled over in a thunderstorm in 2002. Sexual maturity begins at around 20 years, but the tree does not produce large crops of acorns until its 50th year and the amount varies from year to year. Acorns deteriorate quickly after ripening, the germination rate being only 10% for six-month old seed and as they are prime food for animals and insects, in years of a small crop, all of them may be lost. The bark is a light ash-gray and peels somewhat from the top, bottom and/or sides.
In spring the young leaves are of a delicate, silvery pink and covered with a soft, blanket-like down. The petioles are short, and the leaves which cluster close to the ends of the shoots are pale green and downy with the result that the entire tree has a misty, frosty look. This condition continues for several days, passing through the opalescent changes of soft pink, silvery white and finally yellow green.
The leaves grow to be 5-8.5 inches long and 2.75-4.5 inches wide and have a deep glossy green upper surface. They usually turn red or brown in autumn, but depending on climate, site, and individual tree genetics, some trees are nearly always red, or even purple in autumn. Some brown, dead leaves may remain on the tree throughout winter until very early spring. The lobes can be shallow, extending less than halfway to the midrib, or deep and somewhat branching. The acorns are usually sessile, and grow to 0.5-1 inch in length, falling in early October
Visit Five Rivers Metroparks
Small sized cache located in Carriage Hill Metro Park - placed with permission.
Park hours: April - October, 8am – 10pm November - March, 8 am – 8 pm
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Onfr bs gerr - 10 srrg bss genvy.