Thursday, October 23, 2008

THE TAMARACK TREES




Old Trunks asks you to look back or think back to the pictures of the colored leaf photographs and the mention of tamarack trees. Remember while in the Scenic State Park the ranger stated the tamaracks had not turned color yet?




When ever I saw these trees in the fall, I thought they were ever greens which had died. I was always amazed at how many were dead each year. What was killing them off?




Nothing was killing them off, that is just what they look like when they turn color and loose their leaves in the fall.


Tamarack National Wildlife Refuge is near Maplelag. It covers 42,724 acres and lies in the glacial lake country of northwestern Minnesota in Becker County, 18 miles northeast of Detroit Lakes. It was established in 1938 as a refuge breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife.





Refuge topography consists of rolling forested hills interspersed with lakes, rivers, marshes, bogs and shrub swamps. The token of the refuge is the tamarack tree. This unusual tree is a deciduous conifer, turning a brilliant gold before losing its needles each fall.


As you can see by the map, the tree grows in only part of the United States. When Linda from New York stated they had them in their front yard at one time, we know that because of the location on the map. If Thief River Falls and the area around it has them, I don't remember them. One would think they had them in New Solum township because it is marshy, swampy, and boggy. Anyone out there in Internet land making a trip to Rosewood soon? Look for evergreen looking trees with golden needles. It is a tamarack!
There are two spellings: Tamarac and Tamarack
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