I saw this tree in Jericho Park, Vancouver, about three weeks ago. It has dramatic rugged bark in addition to numerous burls, a compound leaf with rounded leaflets and looks a bit like a black locust on steroids. Any ideas? Thank you.
Robinia pseudoacacia. I don't know how large they grow in Vancouver, but here in Spokane an older specimen is normally 70-90 feet (21-27m) tall. Wikipedia says that they "exceptionally" grow to 170 ft (52m). Around here the borers take their toll and they usually have a lot of dead wood in them in their old age. The sparse amount of green leaves as in your picture is also typical when they reach those heights. The burls appear to be continuous pruning of sprouts over years of upkeep, but I might be mistaken there. My experience is that they continue to put out new sprouts, root suckers, for most of their lives. The problems with the borer, the mature size, and the copious amounts of seeds (hence new starts) they produce means that this tree should be planted with considerable forethought. In fact most new starts around here are from windborn seeds that get a good start before any eradication is attempted rather than any deliberate choice of the gardner.
Thanks, Wrygrass, We have black locusts here in the West Kootenays along the Columbia River but not as tall and usually bashed by the heavy snow with a lot of broken branches. They seem indestructible. The off white wisteria-like blossoms smell wonderful in the late spring/early summer. I know what you mean about a thicket of seedlings too. The one in Jericho Park obviously (now that you point it out) has been cared for with pruning and mowing around the trunk. I didn't realise its botanical name was Pseudoacaccia robinia. There are some spindly shrubs about 4 feet high planted along the banks with pink flowers that I thought was P.r. Rosea. They have been there for years, full sun, 40C heat in summer and snow in winter. Definitely hardy.
Since I don't have any it was the hairiest thing I could find that I have a photo of. It's a Yellow Bellied Marmot. I find him on a walk I take by the river once in a while. They start hibernating if that is the right term in their case in September. First hint of cold weather and they disappear. In some places R. pseudoacacia is grown for it's wood as it is pretty strong stuff. Harry
