27 November 2024
November is an efficient time of 12 months to search for hackberry timber in Pittsburgh and look at their fallen fruit. By now the pulp has worn off the pits, however not like wood cherry pits hackberries’ are like white seashells with a microscopic lattice of opal inside.
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Then go discover a hackberry tree (and an electron microscope).
Hackberry bark and naked branches make it simple to establish the tree, even in winter. The bark has ridges and the ridges have development traces.
Up within the naked branches, hackberry timber generally have twig formations referred to as witches brooms “produced by the consequences of an eriophyid mite (Aceria celtis) and/or an related powdery mildew producing fungus (Sphaerotheca phytoptophila)” — from bugwood.
Discovering an electron microscope to view the opal is a a lot tougher activity.
