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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 27, 2005 Ashland has unique trees By Chris Honor� Tidings Correspondent We see them, but all too often we don't. When we do pause and look around, truly take notice, it is hard not to be struck by the fact that Ashland is awash in trees. They border the town on the West, spill down from the rolling mountains, offer a soft umbrella to our streets, and, of course, remind us that as the seasons change so do they. A large Liquidamber tree, also known as a sweetgum, towers high above the Plaza. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings It is remarkable that though Ashland is a small town, it has within its borders more than 220 different species of trees. This rich diversity is due in great part to the fact that Ashland's climate is well suited to a variety of trees. It is warm enough to allow the growth of semitropical trees and yet cool enough to nurture the growth of higher altitude trees, such as the bristlecone pine, sugar pine, mountain hemlock and Shasta fir. Donn Todt, Parks Department horticulturist, pointed out that "we can grow most of the species native to the interior western United States and with irrigation many of the species native to Europe and the Far East." While most of Ashland's species can be found in Lithia Park (consult "Lithia Park Woodland Trail Guide to Trees and Shrubs"), where they have been planted over the last 70 to 80 years, many of the town's distinctive trees can be found in some improbable places. Start with the downtown Plaza. Stand and look up at magnificent Liquidambers (also known as sweetgums), free of the deeply green foliage of summer, their ruddy charcoal gray branches revealed. Planted in the 1950s, they were at one time the tree of choice for downtown Ashland and bordered Main Street. However, according to Todt, because of their shallow root system - which lifted up the sidewalks - as well as their size, these trees proved to be problematic. Over the years, the Liquidambers have been gradually phased out, replaced with ornamental pear and sugar maple trees. Look across the plaza toward the statue of Abraham Lincoln and you will see standing by itself on a small ellipse of soil, one of Ashland's most distinctive trees: the large Tree of Heaven. Originally native to China, it has been widely planted and still flourishes in pockets throughout the Rogue Valley. This tree likely dates from the 1850s, and legend has it that it was watered by a Chinese cook in the employ of Ashland pioneer Abel Helman. A sturdy tree, a seedling can grow to 30 feet in height and four feet in circumference in just 15 years. It was voted the tree of the year by Ashland residents in 1989. If you head north from the Plaza, turn left on Church Street, heading west. As you near Almond Street on the left side notice a big leaf maple, one of Ashland's earliest trees, as well as several California black oak, remnants of a landscape, according to Todt, of a time before the coming of the Euroamerican settlers. Continue up Church to Almond and you will be standing where once were planted acres of almond trees. According to a monograph written by Todt and Nan Hammon, almonds are among the first flowering trees to welcome the Rogue Valley spring. "The blossoms arrive so early that falling petals sometimes mix with the flakes of a spring snowfall." The almond trees of this area were planted by Orlando Coolidge, on 35 acres. Though almonds didn't succeed commercially, remnants of these orchards still exist, having proved to be a resilient, drought resistant tree. Head back down to North Main Street and walk north to Laurel Street. On the south corner of the Briscoe School grounds you will find a remarkable tree, a Monterey Cypress. This species of tree originated in Carmel, Calif., and this particular tree is close to 100 years old. Monterey Cypresses do not typically survive in climate zones known for heavy frosts. The coastal antecedents of this cypress looked very different, having been sculpted by the fogs and winds off the Pacific, many twisted, stunted and flattened, some even lying close to the ground. Linda Ryan, past tree commissioner in Ashland, in an essay titled "Tree Tributes," writes, "If you go and visit this tree, allow yourself time to approach the trunk, to look up into the widely spreading branches, asymmetrical, but balanced. ... Feel the fibrous bark with its furrows of broad connecting and braided ridges. Examine the leaves which are short and bright green, marked on the back with a shallow pit and two grooves. Look for cones in late summer, which change color from green to brown, weathering to gray before opening." Of the two redwood species native to North America, the commercially harvested coastal redwood is the most abundant; however, the Sierra redwood, known as the Big Tree or Giant Sequoia, is endangered. A Giant Sequoia bears cones after the age of 150, and a single cone may produce 3,000 seeds. But a low germination rate and exacting germination requirements inhibit reproduction. There are several Big Trees in Ashland, one on Bush Street and two in Lithia Park, across from the tennis courts. The Giant Sequoia is the largest living thing on earth, though not the tallest. According to "Lithia Park Woodland Trail Guide to Trees and Shrubs," the trunks of a Big Tree can exceed 35 feet in diameter. They average some 200 to 250 feet in height. Bruce Stewart, once adjunct professor of biology at Southern Oregon University, in a monograph written in 1987, states that the campus of SOU displays some truly unique tree specimens. "Only on the campus can one find the tanoak, the Japanese parasol tree, the sophora, the bristlecone pine, Brewer's spruce, bald cypress and an unusual species of eucalyptus." Stewart goes on to write that there are many noteworthy trees throughout the city, many planted by individual residents, and not to be found in city parks. For example, "the fig trees, palm trees, a cork oak (from Spain), the Digger pine, shagbark hickory, chestnuts, mahogany sumac and a large Osage orange tree (on Orange Street). You only have to pause and look." 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