What in the Woods is That?

What does this hemlock branch, beech sapling, and hunting camp have in common?

Deep in a Vermont forest, we discovered these gift-wrapped tips of Christmas ferns, and only Christmas ferns, among other nearby growing fern species. Who did it?

This scene was seen the morning after a rain storm. What are the orange items on the hood of this vehicle? (Fun tiebreaker: guess the vehicle make and model!)

Sandy Dannis captured this photo back in May. The plant has since unfurled. What is it?

What caused the unusual cluster of growth on this ash tree? (Hint: it isn’t emerald ash borer.)

What caused the orange mark on this Ostrya virginiana tree (known by many common names, including hophornbeam, hardhack, and ironwood). It looks like a poor boundary blaze, but it’s not.

The Lyme (NH) Historians, located opposite our office on the Lyme Common, are currently exhibiting historical artifacts related to logging camps and log drives. And that is your hint for this…

Three tree flowers, all collected April 25 from one field in central Vermont. What are they?

This Bonsai-like oak forest was seen in east-central New York. What caused the seedlings to grow like this?

It’s that time of the year when woodpiles are nearly gone. We pulled a few pieces from what we have remaining: can you tell us (left to right) what species we still have left to burn?

Thanks to Sandy Dannis for sending along this artistic photo. Do you know what it is?

This group of trees grows along the shoreline of a lake in far northern New York. What species are we looking at?

Patricia Liddle took this photo recently in Canaan, New York. Any idea what caused these horizontal deformities in the maple?

What are these football-shaped objects, about .75 inch to 1 inch long, scattered on the snow of a dry site in the Taconic Mountains of Vermont?

Winter Tree ID: Do you know what tree this is, with diamond-shaped bumps along its lower trunk?

Tom Norton sent along this photo at the end of December, with the following note: “Today my wife and I were walking near the Ompompanoosuc River in Thetford, Vermont, and were surprised to…

Jerry Milne sent along this photo taken in Connecticut. The scars, seen on the uphill side of the trees, are about 30 years old, and they all got their start at the same time. Do you know what…

What are these wire-like objects that have been exposed from beneath the bark of this dead ash tree?

What are the thin, oval disks caught in the cobweb above the cavity of this sugar maple tree?

An apple tree with compound leaves? What's going on here?