Favorite Tree?

Cool thread! Ive always admired and tried to learn as much as i could about trees. Growing up on the Blue Ridge the ancient American chestnut snags scattered throughout the mountains captured my imagination. Though the blight killed all the old growth many,many years before my birth there were relics on every hillside. Not to mention the old buildings and fences made of "wormy chestnut". My great uncle had a stack of milled chestnut lumber in his basement that he prized. There were often new growth near the old snags but it never amounted to much. There os a blight resistant strain out now, but the nuts are horrible tasting.
Another tree that amazed me was the red spruce, that far south it only grows around the 5000'and up mark so you knew you were nearing the top when you got into them. Their wood is coveted as tonewood fpr instruments, but them along with the balsam (frazier fir) have struggled from the wooly adelgid and from air polution so lots of the old growth is dying.
Fast forward to my time in northwest MT, the western larch is such amazing tree. Tall, sturdy , so useful! Not to mention it is as beautiful in october as any from memories of the Appalachains. I love the smell of the cottonwoods, and staring at a quaking aspen grove in midsummer with a gentle afternoon breeze is hypnotizing.
Wow that turned into a ramble..
 
Love them all !!

Cherry trees for two weeks in March
Giant Redwoods
Aspens in the Mtn's singing to me when the wind blows thru them
Live Oak, Bald Cypress or any other tree in the South that has spanish moss growing on it/hanging from it
The Kapok is a beautiful tree

If you enjoy trees and want a different hotel experience,

Lemala Whitewater Lodge, Uganda
Treehouse Lodge, Peru
Daintree/Silky Oaks Lodge, Cairns, Australia ( this one just went through a refurbishing and I have not been there since the new owners "refurbished" it.

Hunting Wife : The one in Peru is not too bad, I think you would like it, if only for a day or two. Kinda fun. But, if the opportunity ever arises, stay in the Daintree lodge for a week----besides living in a tree in the rainforest, the river trips are amazing, the barrier reef is, right there, and if you go have a helicopter take you out to one of the small islands and they will leave while you have lunch, snorkel, and hope they come back (-:, over 200 species of butterflies and some beautiful ones reside in the trees and on your deck at the hotel, the decks there have large claw foot tubs on them, for soaking away your troubles while looking up at the butterflies, birds and Trees . This might be a good place to rehab (-:
 
I’m a tree guy and have some I love for different reasons.

My favorites are in no particular order: white ash because we are losing them in my lifetime because of beetle kill and they are the first tree I learned to identify as a kid; white oak because they are beautiful, majestic, and deer magnets every other year; black locust because when seasoned they burn one step below coal, grow unbelievably fast, are resilient as all hell; for just looking at it has to be paperbark birch, we had a drain swell that nothing would grow in because it was always wet, wife and I planted a handful of birches and they absolutely took off; black hills spruce is my favorite evergreen.
 
Cottonwood. There’s something about those big trees in a small cluster along a river or stream in the winter during a light snowstorm that draws me in.
We bought the lot where we built our new house almost entirely because of a giant cottonwood off the back of the property. We designed the house to keep it in view of most of the windows.
 
The house I grew up in wasn't much, but it was under 4 huge live oaks. I'd say that's my favorite tree. Lately, I've done a little coastal island deer hunting and the maritime oak has found a sort of love/hate place in my heart.
 
Sugar maple and hophornbeam (ironwood) are some of my favorites in the UP. Black walnut in SE MI. I always loved ash too, before the borers got them all. Since coming out to Oregon I have really gotten interested in trees. Out here in Oregon, some of my favorites include my best friend (and worst enemy) vine maple, ocean spray, and bigleaf maple. Can't forget yew though, even if there's barely any left out here on the coast. I used to be awful at identifying trees and not concerned with learning at all, but I've been fascinated with them lately.
 

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Cottonwood. There’s something about those big trees in a small cluster along a river or stream in the winter during a light snowstorm that draws me in.
Cottonwoods are always overlooked. Here in eastern ND, besides along the rivers they are the only tree that just keeps on keepin on. I planted 50 seedlings in my yard 2.5 years ago and they are about 10 feet tall already. Pretty incredible.
 
The money tree.

Honestly it would be a tree none of us have ever laid eyes on; A fully mature American Chestnut. I’m sure it was a sight to see with its canopy covering a full acre and seeing nothing but chestnuts as far as the eye can see. We can sure screw things up!
 
Many favorites.
Like the huge sugar pine that was over our cabin @ Huntington Lake, a couple hundred ft. tall. 6'DBH. 18" cones that could break deck boards. Or anything that they hit.
The CA bay laurel that covered an acre and the burl base was 10" across. I still use the leaves.
The live oak that shaded the spring in the creek and trout thrived under in the shade. 10'base,8 trunks.
I have pics somewhere...
We had a white fir taken down@ the cabin that was a 50' log , widowmaker. My niece counted the rings on the stump with tiny nails every 10 rings, only 175 years old...
There is a YT video of some friends taking down a Claro Walnut in my bros yard in Santa Margarita,CA. 6' DBH and tons of quality lumber came out of it.
 
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This has been my baby this summer. That and a couple aspens I transplanted. I'm gonna do 2 more small aspens this fall.

It's really something to think that many generations of my family could enjoy these trees that I'm planting now.
 

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