If you are
looking for information about fall foliage in Maine and New England please go
to these sites: www.mainefoliage.com;
from the weather channel, www.weather.com/activities/driving/fallfoliage/;
or www.yankeefoliage.com/slides
(Yankee Magazine)
All of these
sites have up-to-date maps of the foliage season. Also see my story in the
archives “Maine’s Fall Foliage Tour Season.” |
| Gardiner, Maine, by Shayna Palmer |
Horse Chestnut Treasures
(Please see Bill Pease's comment below to correct my facts about the Horse Chestnut Tree. Thanks, Bill. I originally could find no information about the tree so assumed it was the American Chestnut, which it's not.)
Remember our favorite
tree in the fall, the Horse Chestnut Tree. The actual name of the species is
the American Chestnut. Here are some fun facts from Wikipedia about the tree:(Please see Bill Pease's comment below to correct my facts about the Horse Chestnut Tree. Thanks, Bill. I originally could find no information about the tree so assumed it was the American Chestnut, which it's not.)
The American chestnut, Castanea dentata, is a large, monoecious deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North
America. Before the species was devastated by the chestnut blight, a fungal disease, it was
one of the most important forest trees throughout its range. There are now very
few mature specimens of the tree within its historical range, although many
small sprouts of the former live trees remain. However, there are hundreds of
large (2 to 5 ft diameter) trees outside its historical range, some in
areas where less virulent strains of the pathogen are more common, such as the
600 to 800 large trees in northern lower Michigan.
 |
| From Wikipedia |
The South End had its share of our favorite tree. We all hoarded our share
of the shiny nuts we peeled out of spiny pods. Sometimes we made play pipes out
of them, or strung them into bracelets with strings. I was always sorry they
weren’t edible. I’m sure some of the kids were fooled into tasting them and
soon spat them out in disgust. It was hard for me to imagine that there really
was a chestnut you could eat and that they were sold warm on the streets of New
York City.
I’m not sure there are any Horse Chestnuts left up home, but for those who
remember them, here’s my homage to them:
To a Horse
Chestnut Tree
My small hands have tiny cuts from your spines
As I free your shiny treasure from within your shell.
You make me work for my reward.
Look how shiny they are, but what do I do with them?
A bitter taste assails my tongue
If I dare bite into them.
Yet I hoard your special nuts—
Show them off to my friends
As we sit in a circle amongst fall leaves
We compare and sometimes share
Our Fall treasure—
The Mighty Horse Chestnut!
From William Spear via the Village Soup site
ReplyDeleteI live in Michigan. My job brought me here in 1980. Holland is directly across the state from Detroit. On Lake Michigan. I'm about 10 miles from the lake. West Michigan they call it. I've never been to the UP. The Upper Peninsula. They call those people UPers. Pronounced You Pers. I'm guessing it's a lot like Aroostook County in Maine. Rural, in the middle of nowhere, on the edge of the earth. But beautiful. Maybe I'll make it up this fall for a color tour. I grew up in Rockport so I know about great colors. Don't know anything about the chestnuts in the lower peninsula. And it's never the LP. Like the UP. And I've always wondered why the UP isn't a part of Wisconsin where it connects. Why is it a part of Michigan? I don't know. Maybe I'll ask a UPer when I go up there.
From Susan Mondabaugh via the Village Soup Site
ReplyDeleteMichigan has an upper peninsula that is a separate land mass from lower Michigan. Therefore, northern lower Michigan is the northern part of the lower land mass of Michigan, not the upper peninsula. Lake Michigan is between these 2 parts of Michigan on the east and north with Illinois and Wisconsin to the south and west, respectively.
From Jocelyn Wilcox
ReplyDeleteThere is a horse chestnut tree on Limerock St., on the front lawn of the old Edwards farm, across from the junction of Oliver St. Because there's no sidewalk on that part of Limerock, one has to be careful not to twist an ankle stepping on a fallen chestnut.
From Patricie McCluskey Williams via the Village Soup Site
ReplyDeleteI remember there was a horse chestnut tree at the corner of Pacific and Lawrence Streets. I always loved to find one with two chestnuts in one shell. We used to like to throw them in leaf fires that people would burn on the side of the road. TY Sandra for another trip down memory lane. Patricie McCluskey Williams.
From Louise MacLellan, via email:
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra,
There are still horse chestnut trees in the South End. We have one on our property. I call it the tree that keeps on giving. In the spring it drops the sticky brown bits from their white flowers. In the fall they start to drop on my driveway with there green and brown spiny shells. I can no longer be barefoot. The squirrels in our part of the hood love the chestnuts and bury them all over our property. If you would like to collect some chestnuts stop by 51 Pacific Street. There are plenty for all.
Thanks for the story,
Louise