What is your favorite kind of tree?

[jackie jones]

The Tamarack is the only type of evergreen which sheds its needles in the fall. Its needles are delicate. It is found in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.

 

[freehugs]

 

[slef]

Juniperus virginiana

Favorite due to sentimental reasons such as climbing and spending fuck knows how much time in the one in my parent's backyard.

.........and the smell. Love the smell.

 

[alasdairm]

i love japanese maple trees:

alasdair

 

[erthqke]

Weeping Willow


Always has been. I remember when I was really little I used to say when I was older I would have a huge weeping willow outside my house.

 

[euphoria]

Ginkgo biloba, Eucalyptus, and Jade

 

[Busty St Clare]

We have loads of Moreton bay Figs in our city. Not only are they great for climbing, they are perfect for building tree houses in. It also helps that most of then reside in parks next to the river. they always remind me of the Faraway Tree

NSFW:

 

[izzy66]

+1 for weeping willows. they are so beautiful.
i love the 100+ yr old live oak trees in the southern u.s.
also banyan trees
-izzy

 

[GenericMind]

 

[jackie jones]

Very nice, Generic Mind.

 

[michael]

the weeping beech, of which i can find no good pictures, here is the wikipedia entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_Beech

 

[slef]

Not only are they great for climbing, they are perfect for building tree houses in.

NSFW:

badass

 

[Belisarius]

Oh my God, I've been waiting for a tree thread. I *love* trees; I even considered joining the Forest Service once.

For trees that I've actually experienced, I'd pick the European yew. For trees that I want to see--the coast redwood, hands-down.

 

[AmorRoark]

Magnolias in DC.

 

[Cyc]

Believe it or not, I was asked this in an interview once. It was for a biology related job, but the question still stumped me (no pun intended)

 

[Fawkes]

i really like Japanese Maples. Weeping Willows are lovely too.

but i'd say the sakura trees (Japanese cherry blossom) are my favorite though i've only seen them in photos:

*NSFW tags due to size*

NSFW:

 

[Keaton]

^definitely
I love the cherry blossoms


a close second being:

NSFW:

 

[silvercrimson]

banyan tree.

 

[amanitadine]

Oooooh great thread, this is my forte!:D

My answer varies quite a bit (depending on my moods and my current obsessions..) but I'd say right now my favorite tree is....

The Dawn Redwood. (Metasequoia Glyptostroboides)

Super beautiful redwood from China. It was known only in the fossil record and was thought extinct until some intrepid botanists found it in the Hunan Valley (i think hunan?) in China in 1944. Cuttings were taken, and now it is a popular specimen tree in conservatories and has even made its way into some commercial landscaping and nurseries. There are a few famous specimens in the U.S. that are clones from the original tree. It has the beautiful foliage and form of a Coast Redwood but has this awesome mysterious J.R.R. Tolkien-esque trunk. Looks all wizardy and shit, especially in the mist. Grows fast and is pretty damn hardy...A few that I planted 15 years ago are now over 25ft tall. Its a beauty

edit -- goddamnit I still don't know how to post a pic correctly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MetasequoiaGlyptostroboides.jpg

 

[artaxerxes]

The last pic of the Japanese Maple, Alisdair, is stunning. i love them too.

I can start a list of trees that I love, but I can't finish it. I really like trees. A lot. I must start with Redwoods as they're the tree I most often hike among. Then the Live Oak, for similar reasons, being as I live in the California Chaparral. All Oaks (climbing!!). Madrone. Date palms and other varieties. I love enormous palm trees. Plenty around SF. Willows and Magnolia.

Buckeyes for their awesomeness throughout all seasons. Autumn game with dog: Find a valley/ravine full of buckeye trees. Find a solid stick – oak is easily found near the buckeyes trees where I hike (East Bay Hills, private, unpopulated grazing land, not patrolled). Hit fallen buck-eyes out of the "park" (further into the trackless wilderness) for dog to chase. Chase dog, pick up Buck-eye, repeat. Always involves hiking up fairly steep ravines covered in sparkling green Autumn/Winter/Spring grass... heaven.

Not in my area: birch (Russian lit. and beauty), firs (Tove Jannson and beauty), BAOBABS (elephant/snake, etc. & beauty), monkey-puzzle, travellers' palm, banyans. The institutionally-coopted and clipped Plane Trees b/c of Proust and other Euro writers. Mimosa (found in BA, but not native). Gingkos: gorgeous and extremely functional in urban settings.

All I can think of right now. J'aime les arbles.

Oh, mangroves…they seem very climbing-friendly and very graphic-novel creepy.