Completely Arbortrary

Happy New Year Fungal Associates! We bring you a simultaneously revered and reviled tree: the red maple ( Acer rubrum ). Learn how this megasuperstar got its start, and how it rose to be the Starbucks, Red Lobster, and the Chris Pratt of the tree world. Happy 2023! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow...

THE QUINCE ( Cydonia oblonga ), a legendary fruit of myth and magic, lost to time and erased from history by its usurper, the evil apple. This golden-apple has a rich history and an ever better taste. Please enjoy our LAST episode of Treeson’s Eatings, and of 2022! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow...

We revisit the Triangle of Citrus to discuss a cornerstone of the shape, the Mandarin orange ( Citrus reticulata ). We talk etymology, genetic diversity and interbreeding before a visit from a pair of happy carolers. Merry Christmas! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow along on Instagram Find Arbortr...

This week we take a trip down the Mississippi River and dive into the world of the pecan ( Carya illinoinensis ). Our second installment of Treeson's Eatings, we chat about where this nut came from, how it got to where it is today, and just how lovely it truly is. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow...

This week we take another dive into history and question if the true cinnamon ( Cinnamomum verum ) really stands up to its name. This is our first installment of Treeson's Eatings, so get your spoons ready and listen in! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow along on Instagram Find Arbortrary merch on...

Enjoy this bonus episode as we take a quick break. We put out these episodes twice a month and they are available in our Patreon. So go check it out and hear more fabulous conversations about other related topics and trees. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow along on Instagram Find Arbortrary merch...

This week we bring you the Tom Hanks of the trees, the white oak ( Quercus alba ). We take a deep dive in how this ubiquitous tree has been a cultural icon since before the "first Thanksgiving" and see how it has maintained a reverence unlike almost all others. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow alo...

This week, we really jump off the deep end and we throw off the yoke of traditional treedom. This week we're coving the saguaro cactus ( Carnegiea gigantea ), a giant of its universe. Listen in for a look at what it takes to be a cactus, and stay for a new word game. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Foll...

Wollemia nobilis , the conifer we didn't know existed. This week we discuss the Wollemi-pine, a tree before time, and its geological journey across the world. We also hear from Ian Allen from the Sydney Botanic Gardens on this tree and its questionable future. Watch your step! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium M...

Headed down south to the land of the pine, our journey this week takes us to the flats of North Caroline. The longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris ) has a storied history that means a whole lot to a whole lot of people, and has for generations. Listen in for a walk through the southern forests and learn what makes this tree so unique. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! This week's tree is another elder that grew up in a different time, the rainbow wood ( Araucarioxylon arizonicum ). A fossil of a tree, we dig into what petrification actually is, and then we build ourselves a Trunkenstein's monster. Very spooky. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow a...

Last week we talked about a tree that has a unique--and deadly--relationship with birds. This week, the script is flipped and we hear about a bird that uses a tree to accomplish it gruesome agenda: the thorn mimosa ( Vachellia nilotica ). Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow along on Instagram Find Ar...

What happens when a temporary tattoo becomes permanent, and makes you permanently DEAD?! We find out in our most macabre episode yet coving the bird-catcher tree ( Pisonia grandis ). Join us this week as discuss this tree's unique means of spreading its seeds, and the dark repercussions. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a ...

This week we present to you a case for and against the sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua ). A tree that is lauded by some and loathed by others, we take sides and present the merits and demerits of the subject tree and leave it for you to decide its fate. Which side will you choose? Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Tre...

Due to a host of circumstances, our regularly scheduled programming has been postponed to next week! HOWEVER, we're taking this opportunity to tell you all about our Patreon revamp! And to share a Patreon episode - What is Phenology! We hope you enjoy it and we'll see you next week with the Sweetgum! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and b...

Close your eyes and imagine a maple leaf. What is it that defines the quintessential maple leaf? Well today, we chat about the bigleaf maple ( Acer macrophyllum ) and dive into how that standard image of a maple leaf is as accurate as you may think. Then we chat about the biggest news of the day with another edition of the Fungal Associated Press. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Ca...

A tree that has made no enemies, a tree that doesn't rock the boat, today's tree is the Canadian serviceberry, also knowns as the shad-blow, the shadbush, the bilberry, the juneberry ( Amelanchier canadensis ). This episode we have a classic fireside chat about this tree that has something for everyone, and on top of that we collaborated with Amanda Spinosa on a delicious recipe to show off the fr...

Alex and Casey go on a walkabout in the Overlook neighborhood of Portland to gander at some of the city's most gorgeous arboreal specimens. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow along on Instagram Find Arbortrary merch on our store Find additional reading on our website Cover art by Jillian Barthold Mu...

Today's story has us wondering who's the real victim. The Indian sandalwood ( Santalum album ) is a tree that has been used for millennia for cultural practices across the world, but it's also a tree that has its fair share of using other organisms for its own purposes. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member F...

The grand finale in our symbiosis 4 Act play. In this special episode of Completely Arbortrary, we discuss the much beloved Whitebark pine ( Pinus albicaulis ). We’re joined by Peri Sasnett from the Glacier National Park Headwaters podcast to discuss where these trees are and where they’re headed. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and beco...

In our penultimate episode about the topic, we explore symbiosis across kingdoms, and dive into the relationship between the trumpet tree ( Cercopia obtusifolia ) and its evolutionary partners, Azteca ants. Then we reveal a new game! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow along on Instagram Find Arbortr...

What happens when the guy who makes you pizza moves in and makes you pizza in your own kitchen--forever? Today, we get at that question and how it relates to cells in cells in cells in a tree that looks like parasols in parasols in parasols, the Japanese umbrella-pine ( Sciadopitys verticillata ). Buckle up. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the p...

How many characters can one introduce in one episode? Today we find out. The Andean alder ( Alnus acuminata ) takes us on a journey through time and space as we take on our first foray into a series dedicated to symbiosis and all its manifestations. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow along on Instag...

What does the purpleleaf plum ( Prunus cerasifera 'Thundercloud') represent for you? For Casey and Alex, it's the suburbs, and boy do they despise it. This week, we get a little snippet of American History and hear about how the suburbs came to be, and how this tree has come to represent them in the worst way. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the...

There are more than 20 species of Polylepis shrubs and trees. At the highest altitudes (upwards of 16,000 feet, they grow as small shrubs. Lower, they can grow up 120 feet. So this forest is a bit unique, and we need to get to the bottom of it: IS it a forest? Or is it a shrubland? When does it become such? Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the po...