Trees of Michigan and the Upper Great LakesOf Michigan's great wealth of natural resources, few have been more important in the past or are more highly valued today than our forests and the trees which compose them. Not only are they a continuous source of raw materials for industry and agriculture but they affect the climate, water resources, and soil, purify our air, furnish food and shelter for wildlife and are indispensable to our vast recreational and scenic areas. They form a basic part of our diverse natural environment - our ""biodiversity."" Their protection and management are vital to the state's wellbeing. Industries which depend upon trees for their existence are major employers and rank high in the state's economy. The annual production and manufacture of forest products is measured in billions of dollars. The recreation ""industry,"" including vacation travel, resorts, food, lodging, hunting, fishing, and camping, is likewise a multi-billion dollar a year business. Equally important is the intangible wealth which trees bring to us through sheer enjoyment of beauty and love of nature. Whether in field, fencerow, woodlot or forest, or along highways, rural roads, urban streets, or greenbelts, this bounty is ours for the taking. We have only to picture ourselves without trees to appreciate this value. |
Contents
TREE Page | 34 |
Balmof GileadPopulus balsamifera L 38 | 62 |
Maple RedAcer rubrum L 146 | 66 |
Copyright | |
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1/4 inch long acorns American elm areas aspen basswood beech black cherry black locust black oak branches and trunks branchlets brown in color catkins chestnut clusters common crown cubic foot dark green dense disease drooping feet in diameter feet in height feet tall flowers appear forest fruit gray gray-brown greenish grow hairy hardwood hickory honeylocust Identifying characteristics inches wide inner bark insects jack pine landscape lateral buds leaf stem leaflets leaves lenticels light brown lobes Lower Peninsula lumber margins mature Michigan moist native nearly northern nuts occur osage-orange oval pairs pistillate planted pounds per cubic red maple red oak reddish brown ridges rounded sapwood scales scaly seeds shade shiny silver maple slender small trees smooth soft soils species spruce stalks staminate sugar maple swamp tapered terminal winter buds ternate thick thin timber Upper Peninsula upper surface usually white oak white pine white spruce yellow yellow birch