Completely Arbortrary

Should Man hold dominion over nature? And where did this idea come from? What got us in our current environmental mess in the first place. Today we talk the Judas Tree ( Cercis siliquastrum ) and tackle some BIG picture stuff too. 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...

A tree that truly grows its own way, the Pacific madrone ( Arbutus menziesii) is a prolific grower and a gorgeous shower. Listen along as we discuss this curious beauty and the special place it’s found in the world. 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 s...

Can a tree help you be smarter? This week we dive into that question and discuss how air pollution effects our brains, and how trees can help keep us operating at our top level. After our rating, we head LIVE to the Grand Finale of the Tournament of Champion Trees with Tobin Mitnick (@jewslovetrees). Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and b...

This week we have our work cut out for us. The black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) is our tree of topic, and there's no getting around it: it's an emotional roller coaster that pulls us in every direction at once. Listen in and make your own opinions on this complicated tree, and stick around for the second round of the Tournament of Champion Trees, with Tobin Mitnik as our guest. Completely Ar...

Join us this week where the trees have no name. But this one does! It’s Joshua! Learn all about yuccas on our last of three monocotic adventures. 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 Barth...

Our quest to further define "tree" continues with the STUNNING Socotra Dragon Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari). We talk all about this unique, altruistic "tree" and all the curious strategies it takes to get where it's going. Then we answer a question about tree albinoism! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member...

What exactly isn't a tree? This week we cover the other side of the controversy coin with a discussion on the Chinese windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei). We get into the thick of it and find out just what a palm is if it's not a "tree". 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 A...

One of the biggest trees around, the tuliptree is an ancient species and a champion of the people. Learn all about the arbitrary intricacies of measuring Champion Trees and select who you think will make it to the end! 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 ou...

The fruit that went ‘round the world, and the fruit that we both like the best, this week we are covering the peach tree (Prunus persica). However, we go one step further and Casey tries to convince Alex that it's not just the peach, but everything like a peach that reigns supreme in a world full of fruit! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod...

A fruit tree that has been in all the right places with all the right stuff, the pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a folk hero among fruits. But that's not all to the story. This week we chat about the pawpaw and it's slow, methodical march to success from the tropics to Canada. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Membe...

What is a penny worth? This is the philosophical question we grapple with today as we debate the merits of the dogwood (Cornus spp.). This episode is a little different than our normal shows because we're covering three different dogwoods all at once, but we assure you that's not where the controversy ends. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the po...

A cosmopolitan tree that has humble roots, the white mulberry (Morus alba) has been transported across the world to support our insatiable appetite for silk. This week we discuss this relationship and how it's brought both the worms and the trees to every corner of the globe. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Me...

This week we chat about the famous southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) of the southeastern United States. A tree that has had many different identities, we discuss how this tree was the base of naval power during the height of colonialism and beyond, and how it's both gorgeous yet also fraught with imagery of a sordid past. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Cr...

On this BONUS EPISODE, we sit down with Lizzie Falconer and Jen Thomas from the podcast Shorts. to discuss the Ursula K. Le Guin short story Direction of the Road. Find Lizzie and Jen's podcast at shortsthepodcast.com or any your podcast platform of choice! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow along o...

The Lord of the Tree Rings comes to a flashy finish with the Japanese stewartia ( Stewartia pseudocamellia) . This week we chat about all things specimen trees! Then we round off the saga with some tree lore from Alex. 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 ou...

This week we march on through Middle-earth, our path leading us to the Norway spruce (Picea abies) and into the Fangorn Forest, found on Vanilla-earth as the Białowieża Forest (bee-ah-wo-vee-EDGE-ah). Join us as we ruminate about forest management and what it means to preserve a forest. Then we play a family favorite game! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowso...

The world is changed... In our first installment of The Lord of the Tree Rings trilogy, we discuss the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) and take a deep dive into how we take care of trees as they enter their geriatric years, and the differences between American and European tree care. Then Alex has Casey solve a series of riddles... The Fellowship assembles. Completely Arbortrary is produced and ho...

Do trees even exist, man? This week we finish our second part on the "idea" of taxonomy and we dive into this question using the beautiful, rugged, southern catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) as our guide. Come with us on this most pendantic of journeys. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a Treemium Member Follow along on Instagram F...

How do you see the world? How do you organize the world, all the plants and animals around you? This week we have a discussion about taxonomy that revolves around the gorgeous Italian cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), and it opens a door to an entirely new way to see the world. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a Treemium Member...

Does competition or cooperation get you further in life? That's the question we tackle this week while we discuss the paper birch (Betula papyrifera). We end this episode with a game that we all love, and get some ideas on how to love the trees in your neighborhood. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a Treemium Member Follow alon...

The Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), like nearly all junipers, is a conifer that took a different strategy to get its seeds dispersed. This week we chat about convergent evolution, and how nature can find the same solutions to problems in very different ways. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a Treemium Member Foll...

What can't this tree do? The coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) rounds off our two-part series on the oft-confused redwoods of California. This week we celebrate this tree and all that it is, then Alex finds himself in Jeopardy. 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...

What does it take to be a perfect tree? We'll come to figuring it out this week as we dive into a flowing conversation about the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum). Stick around for a discussion that explores everything about these trees, and then looks into where the term tree even comes from. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and b...

The hickories (Carya) are a part of an ancient forest system that once existed across the entire northern hemisphere, from North America to Europe, across Asia to the Pacific and back again to the North America. This week, we chat about the shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) and discuss how it and it's closest relatives have been so successful, yet ended up so far from kin across the world. Completely...

The English yew (Taxus baccata) is one of our most storied, mythological, and metaphorical trees to date. Death, disease, toxicity, warfare... it has it all! Listen along as we discuss this poisonous protector of the dead. All hail Hecate! 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...