Our Con Edison Tree Trail: A Path for Aspiring Arborists

Spring at the Rye Nature Center means more than just warmer weather. The look of our landscape completely transforms as the leaves begin to creep out of their buds. Our 47-acre park is home to over 200 different species of trees. To a tree lover, employee, or frequent visitor, you may be able to tell apart these trees with a simple glance. To everyone else, including myself once upon a time, looking into a leafy forest might just seem like a hodgepodge of various shapes, sizes, textures, and shades of green.

Before I took the time to learn the subtle differences, I referred to this phenomenon as “tree blindness.” For those who want those abstract leafy shapes to start making a bit more sense, we have a special hike in our park that showcases different trees you can find in the forest — the Con Edison Tree Trail.

You may think a tree is a tree and there’s no point in telling them apart. From my own experience, even learning how to identify just a few tree species can turn any walk in the woods or a drive down the highway into a much more exciting experience. Knowing what you are looking for results in a much more intentional observation, grounding yourself in what you see rather than just staring off into the woods.  

This Con Edison Tree Trail is not any specific trail (as we don’t decide where trees grow), but a carefully mapped list crafted by our Director of Conservation, Jax. The trees are pinned on our interactive trail map, check it out on your next visit!

Don’t want to have your phone out for the whole hike? We thought of that too! Each tree is fitted with an informational plaque that tells you the tree’s name, showcases its distinct branches and leaves, and includes some fun facts.

To get a feel for the roles trees play in our forest, as well as some defining characteristics, we caught up with our Conservation Director, Jax:

What is your favorite kind of tree and why?

My favorite is the cottonwood. There used to be many more cottonwoods in the floodplain at the Nature Center compared to now. This fast-growing tree is ecologically important and produces seeds in cotton-like bundles so they can catch the wind. FRNC has since planted more cottonwoods in the floodplain in hopes of restoring this native community.

Which trees do you think play the most important role in the Nature Center’s ecosystem?

Absolutely, it's the oaks! Research by Doug Tallamy and Desiree Narango has identified oak trees as the most critical host species, followed by black cherries and willows. A host species is essential in the reproduction of other species—for example, monarch butterflies will only lay their eggs on milkweed. Oaks serve as hosts for the greatest number of species, highlighting their vital role in providing food and supporting a wide variety of wildlife.

Favorite leaf?

Probably the leaves of a quaking aspen or a sassafras tree. The quaking aspen is not very common in this area, but if you get the chance to see its leaves blow in the wind, it's a unique experience—the tree looks like it's glimmering. As for the sassafras, its leaves resemble a mitten or a ghost. It’s always fun to find in a forest and is an easy tree to identify.

Take yourself back to a time when you couldn’t identify a tree just by smelling the bark. What were the first things you looked for to tell trees apart—a regular oak from a white oak, or a sugar maple from a red or Norway maple?

I like to teach people the acronym MADHorse. It stands for Maple, Ash, Dogwood, Horse Chestnut—all native trees that have opposite branching (where the branches stem from the same location on the stem). If you find a tree with this branching system, you can narrow it down to those four groups. From that point, the leaves become the key differentiator.

Dare I ask—least favorite tree?

It has to be the tree of heaven. While it can be pretty, it is incredibly invasive and serves as the host for the spotted lanternfly. I’ve even seen this species growing out of the side of a building two stories up! It needs almost no soil or nutrients to survive.

So, if you would like to become a conservationist-level tree identifier, come check out our new Tree Trail!