I wanted to post a picture of these Ho'awa fruits because it has been a good season for collecting them and they are such a large Hawaiian seed pod.  They remind me of walnuts.

Huntington Library Bamboo

The tree in this picture is a species of bamboo from the Huntington Library and Botanic Gardens.  I chose bamboo because I feel that despite its numerous contributions to society, bamboo is unfairly victimized, with many people even daring to wrongfully dispute the fact that it is a tree, based on ignorant and arrogant notions of what constitutes as such, whether on the frosty taiga or here in sunny Southern California.
- Matthew Ramirez

Seed Collecting

This has been a good seed collecting year for some plants like koaia and aiea.  If I pay attention to the plants they will give me many gifts.

Native Wili wili flowers!

These are two Erythrina sandwicensis flowers, the native wili wili.  It is wonderful to see the range of flower colors.  The wood from this tree is so light and buoyant that Hawaiians made their surf boards out of it.  The wood floats.  I saw a display of them at the Los Angeles International Airport a few years ago.  People today are becoming interested in making surf boards from wood again.  They often use balsa wood.  - Photos by Jill Wagner and Wilds Brawner.

Here I am at Pu'u Wa'a Wa'a Ranch planting some trees at the park.  It is such a lovely place.   Now all the native trees are getting big and I am so happy so see the park come alive.  

I post this in honor of my mother, Mary Kay Freeman, who passed away last month. This is a picture of my Mom & Dad in the summer of 2005 when we were in Michigan to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.  We took a drive that day to the town of Howell to see the old McCloskey home where my Mom grew up.  The current owners of the home were very kind to allow us, and their were quite a lot of us, including my brothers and sister and their families, and a couple of my uncles, to see the place we all remembered so well and had not seen in years, for my brothers and sister of Michigan summers of our youth, for my mother and her brothers of memories so much further back. The great willow tree standing behind my parents stood behind home plate in early childhood baseball games.  It watched over numerous family croquet tournaments.  It sheltered great family picnics.  It was planted on June 18, 1955 on the day of my parents' wedding.  It will forever be, in our hearts, our family tree.  Some tree's roots grow deep within us, their branches harbor our fondest memories.
- Tim Freeman

Big tree, holding the place for us, helping us always to be grounded and be cleaned.

Aco Takenaka

-Tokyo, Japan

This is my tangelo tree and me.

-Judie, Kona, Hawaii

Here are a few pix from a beautiful Lupuna tree (Ceiba pentandra) I visited at a place called Isula on the Napo. A really majestic tree!

Dennis- Iquitos, Peru

I was telling Tim that only the very special people join the Tree Society. I mean who else but very connected people would understand the importance of loving trees? How cool that he got a picture of a rare Hawaiian sandalwood in fruit. Now that is special!

~Jill

This tree is a particularly prolific iliahi (sandalwood). It stands in Volcanoes National Park near the rim of Kilauea only about 3 miles from my house. It is in an area where there is a fairly large stand of koa about midway between the lush ohia-fern forest side of the crater and the barren arid desert Ka'u side of the crater. I chose the tree because it is choke with beautiful berries, because it is a sandalwood tree, and because of you!

-Tim Freeman, Volcano, Hawaii

I have been enjoying watching my fruit trees make fruit this season. I am waiting for fruit to be ripe and ready for picking. It is one of my favorite things just to wait for fruit throughout the year. Spring is the time for apples. Summer is the time for citrus. And fall is the time for avacados. But I have to get them before the pheasants do..

aloha! Jill

Ever seen a Quaking Aspen?

Here are a couple pics of the Quaking Aspen Tree. At first glance from a distance appears as a Paper Birch because of the white trunk, but the leaves say different.

Gregory Michael Brewer

Bloomington, IL

This is a photo of myself standing in front of a Blue Spruce which is in my yard. I have several favorite trees, but the Blue Spruce is my favorite above all for many reasons. One reason is that the Blue Spruce, along with all Evergreens, is symbolic of endurance through the hardships of life, as well as the wonderful color that brightens the landscape and brings joy to every yard. My other favorite trees are the Quaking Aspen, Bald Cypress, European Mountain Ash, Japanese Maple, Katsura, and the list goes on.

-Bloomington, IL

I thought you might like a last look at this wonderful beech tree. Although we live in a conservation area our neighbor is having it cut down on Monday, it's a crying shame.

It's situated at Gamston Manor, Gamston Nr Retford Notts.

Regards, Grace

This is a great forest tree in Costa Rica.

I was there in Jan. 2010

Lauren Wagner

This Monarch butterfly hatched out today and I got to see it pumping up it's wings.

Then I went to the place where I am going to make mandalas and there was a dead monarch. Coming and going.. that's how it is.

I was thinking about how much I love the mamaki tree.  Mamaki is Pipturus albidus, the understory Hawaiian tree (it's a small tree), that looks so nice and red in the forest.  The leaf veins are red.  Mamaki always looks so healthy.  I think it is the way in which the branches come out of the trunk, nice and straight, and the heart-shaped leaves can be quite large.  I like the scalloped edges of the leaves too.  

I keep my eyes peeled for butterflies and caterpillars.  Mamaki is the food plant for the Kamehameha butterfly.  The caterpillar takes the leaf edge and folds it over on itself like a blanket.  Then it sews up the sides so it is inside in a cozy pack.  I look for the folded leaves so I can take those babies home and feed them my mamaki.  Then I have the great blessing of being able to see and even hand feed the butterfly.  

Today I will pack up the last batch of plants for The Nature Conservancy for 2009. I've been growing 2000 plants per year for the last three years to help restore the understory of ohia and koa forest. It is my favorite project with a focus on rehabilitating bird habitat. I really love it!

Here I am standing next to my three year old Honduran mahogany trees.  They are very tall and have a nice form.

Dave Boots,  Hawaii

Hale Hamada with the native plants at the Kaloko-Honokohau National Park.

Kona, Hawaii

Here I am next to a Hawaiian Clermontia that was planted in the understory of a Hawaiian forest in 2008.  It is a beautiful little tree that has become rare.  I'm happy to see it doing so well!

Laura Nelson

Honomolino, Hawaii

There are three different tree species that I am standing by.  The two young ones are old year old primavera and pink cedar.  The big one is African mahogany.  They are all beautiful trees.

John Kunitake -Holualoa, Hawaii

George Darrell-  Illinois

This is my nursery site where I grow trees and plant them in my local area.  I grow walnut, oak, maple, linden, catalpa, and locust.

My earliest memory of trees is as a five or six year old boy, playing in and among the Live Oak trees growing on ranch land above the Almaden Valley of California.  Ever since, no matter where I am, my gaze always drifts skyward, in wonder and awe that the trees inspire in me.  

Presently I find myself in Hawaii, on the verdant slopes of Hualalai volcano.  I am the caretaker of this small grove of Cedrela odorata, commonly known as Spanish Cedar.  Something of a misnomer, since they are neither cedar nor Spanish.  You might know them as the "cigar box" tree.  The name gives it away, as the wood is very pungent.  I planted them from seedlings about two years ago, and it has been very satisfying watching them rocket up; playing host, first to insects, and now to birds and their nests.  How wonderful!

Bob Trubel-  Holualoa, Hawaii

This photo was taken in the Tantalus Rainforest high above Honolulu.

Elena Polevik, Oahu

I often run a 20 mile loop on the Tantulus Trail system in the rainforest above Honolulu.  It encompases Nuuanu, Makiki, and Manoa valleys.  I have many favorite trees that I encounter along the way.  Here are a few of them.

Perhaps my favorite of them all, is this tree that is located on Nuuanu ridge.  It stands in the center of the trail, with steep cliffs on either side saying, "I own this trail.  If you want to get by, you're going to have to go around me."

The Cooke Pine Forest located in Nuuanu Valley is wonderful to run through.  I love the lines that these trees create.  And its always cool and airy.  The needles create a carpet on the ground that is soft and cushiony to run on.

The Koa Tree is located on the Kalawahine Trail above Pahoa Flats, in the area between Nuuanu and Makiki Valleys.  It is not very large, but it is sure beautiful.  It is often very windy in this area, which is likely why it felt the need to stay low and spread out wide.

It rains a lot in Manoa Valley, creating lush, green moss covered forest. I just love running through this forest on the way to Manoa Falls.

David Carlsson, Oahu

The Phoenix Tree

Located adjacent the Great Alpine Road at the Wangaratta end of town, the Phoenix tree is a massive sculpture carved out of the truck and roots of a red gum by noted sculptor Hans Knorr.  A signboard explains its significance as a tribute to the town.  See http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/VICMyrtleford.shtml for details.

Australia

Dennis McKenna

This is the banyan tree in the main plaza in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina Island, Brazil, 2008.

Dennis McKenna

These are one year old mahogany trees growing on the Hamakua coast, Hawaii Island.  Dave Harbour has really mastered the methods for growing these trees.  They are very happy!

Dave Harbour, Hawaii

This is a Coast Live Oak growing in the Sunol Regional Preserve, Sunol, California.  The tree was probably growing in this location before the U.S. Constitution was penned to paper.  It grows at the confluence of two streams and is surrounded by ancient Ohlone Indian acorn grinding stones.  The Ohlone would collect Blue Oak Acorn from the surrounding hill then sit in this area grinding the acorns into meal.  The meal would be placed in fiber bags and hung in the rushing stream water to leach out the tannin.  Acorns were an important food source before the Spanish settlement of California.  

The Live Oak is about 20 miles inland from San Francisco Bay.  The area has about 400 frost free days per year with winter lows usually around 26 degrees Fahrenheit.  The climate is Mediterranean with about 25 inches of rain per year mostly falling between November and March.  This photo was taken January 1st, 2009 on my annual New Years pilgrimage to visit this spot.

Bill Merrill, California

This is a prickly palm in the Manuel Antonio forest, Costa Rica.

Kyle Fishman

That was a monster of a tree, probably 750-1000 years old, about 350 feet tall.  The outside bark is dead and on the larger redwoods can be up to 13 inches thick.

Redwood National Park, California

Ed Einwich

Here is a photo of me with a three year old mahogany growing under one of my bamboos in Papa'aloa, 12 feet tall. 

aloha,

Bob Bowman

Papa'aloa, Hawaii

Here I am with my favorite kind of tree, the ohia-lehua tree.  This picture was taken on 9-20-08 in Waimea.

Mary Beth Jiko Oshima Nakade

Waimea, Hawaii