AMERICAN CHESTNUT TREES IN FULL FLOWER

THE EVER-CHANGING MOUTH OF THE SIOUX RIVER

BUDDY AT THE BEACH

AMERICAN CHESTNUT STREET TREE IN FLOWER...

...DISTINCTIVE MALE FLOWERS OF AMERICAN CHESTNUT...

...DITTO

Sunday, 12 Noon.  75 degrees F at the ferry dock, 68 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, light with stronger gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 78%.  Thebarometer s 29.70" and beginning to rise.  Rain is still predicted for tonight, with clearing Monday and Tuesday, followed by rain on Thursday and Friday, but for now it is a pleasant summer day,
   I took Buddy for a much needed run at the beach this morning, and the rains and flooding have changed the mouth of the Sioux River dramatically again.

   I have written extensively about the American chestnuts, Castanea dentata, in the Beech Family, the Fagaceae, that we are fortunate to have in Bayfield.  They are in full flower now, and it is a sight unusual enough to most people that I highlight it in today's blog.

  The American chestnut, as most people know, was until around a century ago a major component of the temperate deciduous forest of northeastern North America east of the Mississippi River.  It grew in close association with sugar maple, beech, and red oak.  The trees were so numerous that it was said that a squirrel could travel from chestnut tree to chestnut tree from the east coast to the Mississippi  River without interruption.
   The native population was decimated by an invasive Eurasian fungal disease that wiped out all but a few outlier populations of the species.  Those in and around Bayfield were either isolated enough to escape the disease or may have some immunity to it, I suspect the former.  In any case, a few of these trees were propagated and planted around Bayfield, and the one pictured is a street tree located on the corner of Ninth Street and Mannypenny Ave.

   The male flowers are long and filamentous, and are a creamy light green in color.  They have a very distinctive, pungent odor, akin to that of freshly turned earth. The female flower, which develops into the chestnut upon fertilization, is a minuscule catkin which subtends the male flower bract, or develops in the axils of nearby leaves.
   At this point, the tree on Ninth St. is full of flowers, and well worth a look if you are in Bayfield. A mature tree, unfortunately much in decline, is located on Seventh St. and Manypenny Ave., and more trees are located in a ravine on the Apostle Highlands Golf Course.

OFF THE CUFF

   The "lead from behind" strategy of the Obama administration is directly responsible for most of the turmoil  the nation and the world finds itself in.  The concept is itself an oxymoron, and its pursuit nothing more than an abdication of all responsibility, both nationally and internationally.  Our democracy is collectively guilty of embracing it, and if we do not change our ways we will succumb to chaos.

   I have not been a fan of Donald Trump, but I believe he is our best hope for leadership out of our current mess, and his choice of Governor Pence of Indiana as a running mate goes a long way towards convincing me to support him fully.
   The news is just in that several policemen have been shot and killed in Baton Rouge.  This idiotic carnage must stop if we are to expect local police to respond to crimes and emergencies. Support your local police, their lives matter too, and there can be no civilization without domestic law and order.