My Species Story
In early 2022, down in the "bottomlands" of the Landry Property, beneath the Mother Cow Oak, there were suddenly a ton of small trees with little bright green leaves on them in the middle of a sleepy, bare forest.
These little trees with their smooth, sinewy gray bark were lighting up the understory throughout this area of the property, stretching back toward the southern edge along the creek. iNaturalist told me they were American Hornbeam, aka ironwood, and I've loved them ever since. They were maybe the first new species of tree I learned about at the Landry Property.
They don't all flower and go to seed every year, but we get quite a bit of them, and I've found some pretty large specimens around the Dead Pine Woods part of the property.
Locations
Landry Property
Found throughout the lower, wetter sections of the property as it slopes toward the southeast corner and confluence of Hub Creek and the Drainage Ditch. There is an especially large colony in the understory of the Mother Cow Oak, and several older specimens in the area.