Brandy Pond links Long Lake and Sebago Lake in Naples, Maine
by Leigh Macmillen Hayes
Have you ever looked out at your Maine lakefront property and wondered what tree species are represented in your vegetated buffer?
Distinguishing between paper birch, aka white or canoe birch, and gray birch, can be extremely confusing. (We won’t go into the fact that they sometimes hybridize.)
Paper birch (Betula papyrifera) is white to creamy white in appearance. The bark peels in wide strips and reveals pink or orange tints. Swipe your finger on it and you’ll discover that it’s quite chalky. Whatever you do, please don’t remove the bark from the tree–it protects the tree just as an overcoat protects us. Sometimes you’ll notice fu-manchu-shaped marks over the top of branches.
Gray birch (Betula populifolia) bark is more of a dull, grayish-white color. It actually looks dirty. One of the features that stands out and adds to the “dirty” appearance is the long, dark, horizontal lenticels. All trees have lenticels, which is how they exchange gas, but in gray bark, they really stand out. Also, the bark is much closer and firmer to the tree; it doesn’t peel as much as on other birch species. And at the base of branches or branch scars, you’ll notice triangular-shaped chevrons, caused by a fungus.
Yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) stands out in the landscape against paper and gray birch. Bronze to yellowish-gray or silver in color, it has a shinier look to it. The bark curls away into thin, papery, ribbon-like strips, rather than the large sheets that you see on paper birch. Because of this, yellow birch trees have a much shaggier appearance. And, if you see some twigs that you can reach, try scraping one lightly and then smelling it–you should notice a distinctive wintergreen odor.
Other trees to identify include red maple, sugar maple and striped maple.
Red maple (Acer rubrum) is the most common. The bark is light to dark gray in color. While it is rather smooth (like beech bark) when it is immature, it beings to crack into vertical strips as it ages. These plate-like strips curl outward. Rub your hands on the bark and it will flake off. Sometimes, like in the example in the photograph, there is a bull’s eye target that is visible. Once you recognize this, you’ll begin to see it on many red maples.
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is also know as rock maple. Gray in color, the bark also begins as smooth and unbroken, but eventually breaks into finely cracked plates and looks like old paint chips. The bark is tighter to the tree than red maple, so it doesn’t flake off if rubbed. Walk all the way around the tree and look for horizontal wounds, evidence of a sugar maple borer.
Striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum) is a much smaller tree. Spring through fall, the bark is greenish to reddish brown with prominent pale white vertical stripes. In the winter, it appears darker, almost black. Diamond-shaped lenticels are often visible.
These are just a few clues to some of the deciduous trees you might encounter on your lakefront property. Head outside and try to identify what you see before you.
To learn more about lakefront property for sale on Brandy Pond in Naples, Maine, click on the green box above.
To learn more about vegetated buffer zones, check out the blog links below.
Maine Lakefront Owners Need to Know About Buffer Zone Management
Lakefront Property Owners Should Check with Town CEO Before Cutting or Pruning Trees