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How do trees avoid incest?

Aaa-choo! With all that pollen wafting around, how do trees minimize self-pollination? It’s not like a tree can choose its mate …

Forest economics: Why are fallen alder leaves still green?

Most of the leaves on the ground are brown, yellow, or other fall colors. Why are many alder leaves still green?

Billions of maple flowers are bursting open near you

Have you ever heard of maple flowers? Would it surprise you that billions are opening in your neighborhood right now?

Why do leaves change color in the fall and drop off?

Let’s gain an understanding of what happens to deciduous trees in the fall.

Which one is native to the Pacific Northwest?

Three of these might be found on your dinner table. The other is a native tree of the Pacific Northwest. Which are which?

What's a maple flower?

Do native maple trees bear flowers? If so, what do they look like? How can I recognize them?

After Snowpocalypse, how are the trees doing?

Here in the Pacific NW, we had an uncommonly cold and snowy February. Did this affect the new buds on trees and shrubs?

Bigleaf maples: zillions of flower clusters

What are those droopy green clusters hanging from bigleaf maples in every park and forest west of the Cascades?

In the fall, why are alder leaves on the forest floor still green?

In the fall, leaves on alder trees remain stubbornly green, even after they fall to the forest floor. This is because alder trees do not remove the green chlorophyll from the leaves before sending them to "recycling." Why not?

Maple seeds: nature's helicopters

This is the season that winged seeds of maple trees helicopter down to the ground. What advantage do the whirling seeds provide to maple trees?