Mixed forest
The forest in Long Lake Provincial Park is described as a “mixed forest”, meaning that the forest has a wide range of species of trees. In Nova Scotia in particular “mixed forest” usually means that there are several species of evergreen conifers (trees that have needle-like leaves and seeds within cones) and several species of broad-leaved deciduous trees together in the same forest patch. “Deciduous” means that leaves fall off as winter approaches.
The popular Lakeview Trail passes through several different forest patches with different mixes of trees. There are patches dominated by poplars, then by birches, then by spruces, pines, and so on. The diversity of forest types and the transitions from one to another make the trail specially delightful.
Among the common large trees are spruces, pines, larch, fir, beech, maples, birches, aspens and oak. Shrubby trees include cherries, alders, witch hazel and viburnums.
Exotic trees, oak and beech
Plants that are from a far-away part of the world are described as “exotic”. Some exotic individual trees have managed to find their way into the section of Long Lake Park associated with the Lakeview Trail. These include a European beech tree (Fagus sylvatica) and an English Oak tree (Quercus robur). Both of these species originate from Europe and were brought to Nova Scotia by European settlers as garden trees. When garden trees are found in wild forests they are described as “garden escapes”. Such trees generally escape as seeds, sometimes with the help of squirrels.
The Beech tree can be found by following a rough trail under the power line while the English Oak is a young tree at one side of the Lakeview Trail.
Leaves of the English Oak
The leaves of the English Oak are notable for having almost no petioles. The petiole is the stalk of a leaf that typically attaches a leaf to the stem of a plant. English Oak leaves are distinctly smaller than those of the common native Red Oak (Quercus rubra). The picture below shows two brown leaves of Red Oak at the left and several English Oak leaves on the right side. Notice that the Red Oak leaves have long petioles but the English Oak leaves in the bottom right corner of the image seem to arise directly from the stem without petioles.
Timing of leaf fall
While Nova Scotia has a harsher climate than England, Quercus robur (English Oak) is a hardy species that is easily able to survive our winters. The species is found naturally as far east as Russia’s Ural Mountains where winters are very cold.
A remarkable feature of the young English Oak tree at the side of the Lakeview Trail is that it was still green in the middle of November. Leaves of the native red oaks had turned brown and were no longer functional. Almost all of the other native broad-leaved individual trees in the park were similarly without functional leaves at that time.
Green leaves contain chlorophyll which allows them to capture carbon from the atmosphere and supply energy and molecular building blocks to the plant for storage and future growth. Once leaves have died the growing season is over and the plant relies on products that have been stored.
Plant species are adapted to the environment in which they evolved and the English Oak evolved in European conditions. Leaf fall occurs later in most of Europe than in Nova Scotia and it seems that this individual tree continues to display its European leaf-fall characteristics. Interesting!
Leave a Reply