Completely Arbortrary

What makes a tree popular? What keeps a tree popular? Ask the Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens), whose commercial popularity has lasted decades with no sign of slowing down. The “Norm” to plant nurseries’ Cheers, this spruce is a common character from corporate courtyards to suburban yards. Plus, we ask the question: will this tree’s popularity ever end? Completely Arbortrary is produced and ho...

Our desert darling, the Blue Palo Verde ( Parkinsonia florida ) might just be one of the most desert-adapted trees in the west. Named after a funny pharmacist, this desert dweller is a team player as much as it is a lone wolf. 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 mer...

A tree of many names, the Alaska yellow-cedar ( Cupressus nootkatensis ) is a quintessential conifer with a plethora of identities. And in this episode, we discuss the wood of conifers, and how it differs from the wood of its harder, more broad-leafed counterpart. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow...

If you like paniculatas, and getting caught in the golden rain, you’ll love this episode all about the golden rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata). An instant house favorite, this Chinese lantern tree marks Buddhist tombs, grows big but small, and makes for a fabulous alleé. The slogan of this episode? Right Tree, Right Place. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Cro...

In this woody episode of Completely Arbortrary, we discuss the jewel of the east, the Northern red oak (Quercus rubra). Wood facts, wood terminology, bad wood jokes—this is the episode that wood built! 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 addi...

In our final installment of Completely Arbortrary’s Excellent Adventure, we take it all the way back to the year 0, Kazakhstan, where we discuss the wolf to our apple’s dog, the Wolf apple (Malus sieversii). Today, we know apple as a supermarket produce section monopolizers, but these are simply the domesticated version of the wild animal that is sieversii, a Kazakhstani native from a different ti...

A curse word ‘round these parts, the Arborvitae ( Thuja occidentalis ) is not a species in itself, but a cultivar of the great Northern white-cedar, a majestic and hearty tree of the North of America. This beauty can be found growing on the roughest terrain of the Niagara escarpment, so why do we plant it as a middling hedge and street tree in other parts of the country? Then, we undergo a massive...

The dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) was once the water fir, a tree endemic to a small valley in China. But thanks to the likes of Chinese foresters, a Japanese paleobotanist, and American plant explorers, this tree is now a worldwide sensation. Join us as we journey to China, 3,000,000 BC and 1940s Japan to witness the birth of a forest giant. Completely Arbortrary is produced and host...

It’s Completely Arbortrary’s Excellent Adventure! To begin this journey through tree-time and tree-space, we revisit the crown of the Pacific Northwest and the very first tree we covered on this podcast, the Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). A long-lived tree with indigenous significance, modern lumber hypersignificance, and a huge native range, the Douglas-fir has few downsides. Learn new fact...

CW: Death Straight from the Patreon (patreon.com/arbortrarypod) we give you this HUGE two-parter-turned-one-parter episode on how trees die. What does it mean to "die"? And how is human death different than tree death? Hear all about the process and the philosophy behind tree death in this unlocked bonus episode! We'll be back next with an excellent new series of Completely Arbortrary. Completely...

Oh, Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus), how we love you (please love us back). A tree living out of its time that makes every effort to thwart attention and interaction, the Kentucky coffeetree may be the most curmudgeonly tree ever discussed on Completely Arbortrary. Learn about indigenous dice games, ecological anachronism, poisonous parts and scarification—this truly is a tree that hurts...

To conclude our miniseries on logging, we discuss sugi (Crytomeria japonica), a unique conifer that hails from the forests of Japan. In a nation spared by colonization, where tradition and modernity coexist, sugi and its growing and processing methods are emblematic of this non-dichotomous dynamic. Yakisugi (or burnt cedar) is a method of treating sugi wood by means of fire, creating a phoenix-lik...

What do you get when you treat trees like corn? A plantation, of course. And a whole lot of Monterey pine ( Pinus radiata ). A tree that grows stubby and wonky in its native range, the Monterey pine grows like a poster child for logging in New Zealand, where its stick-straight form makes it the tree of choice for an unthinkably large swath of logging land. But oh, that cone... Completely Arbortrar...

Welcome to Australia, land of strange plants. Jarrah ( Eucalyptus marginata ) is no exception! This superfluously hardwooded tree of the Darling Range of western Australia is home to many a marsupial, and sports an astronomically deep root system. But when it caught the attention of voracious European loggers for its striking wood, Jarrah's future turned irreversibly grim. Completely Arbortrary is...

Logging has seen a stark evolution since its origins. What started as a wildly dangerous and often deadly process done largely by hand is now a multibillion dollar industry facilitated by manmade machines. Herein we meet our character, the eastern white pine ( Pinus strobus ), a ghost from the early days of American logging. In the first of a short series on logging, we hear the tragic tale of thi...

1000 years ago, Polynesians reached the islands of Hawaii. On their seaworthy canoes were only a handful of plant species, but among them was the divisively flavorful botanical wonderdrug known as noni (Morinda citrifolia). Known for its funky flavors and breadth of influence on traditional Hawaiian medicine, this pan-tropical tree knows how to grow just about anywhere a canoe can bring it. Learn...

The devil went down to Georgia, where the Bald cypress ( Taxodium distichum ) lives its days in peace and harmony. This record-breakingly long-lived tree found the perfect place to call home--the swamps of the Southeastern United States. There, it sheds stereotypes as well as it sheds its needles, growing with grace and beauty against the harsh and dreary landscapes in which it resides. This decid...

In this BONUS EPISODE from our Patreon (c. Treeson's Eatings 2022), we discuss three non-tree food plants we love eat during the holidays: vanilla, cranberries, and peppermint! While we take a breath after our SUCCESSION series, please enjoy this unlocked episode and learn a thing or two about some classic holiday foods. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson...

Late succession... the third and final act of a seemingly eternal stage play, and a self-perpetuating phase of the lifespan of a forest. The Yellow carabeen (Sloanea woollsii) dominates late succession in Australia. How and why is it so successful, and how does it set up generational success for its kind? In the final episode of our SUCCESSION series, we take a long look at the late stages of a fo...

Weed tree? Or... the unsung hero of mid succession forests? The red alder (Alnus rubra) is our official representative from mid succession forests, and the lens through which we view this second phase, the early adulthood, of forest growth. There are no shortage of benefits this tree provides to its habitat, so does it deserve its bad reputation? On our way to late succession, we find shade intole...

When a forest goes through a massive disturbance, little survives. We begin our journey here. What happens in the first stage of the succession of a forest? Learn in this episode through the eyes of the staghorn sumac ( Rhus typhina ), an en'tree'preneur of the early succession. MAKE YOUR MOVE. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become...

Thick, thorough, and quite enjoyable, today's episode is all about the koa ( Acacia koa ) and its endemism on the 5 million year-old islands of Hawai'i. This special tree is unique in so many ways, we lost count: fake leaves, exploding bark, instrument wood... this tree's got it all. We also chat about Hawai'i, and the incredible odds of life landing, rooting, and thriving on these islands. After...

EPISODE 100! We truly made it. And to celebrate, we're joined not only by the obligatory Kool & The Gang, but by TWO true firs, the Subalpine fir ( Abies lasiocarpa ) and the Noble fir ( Abies procera ). It's a two fir one! Then we take a trip down memory allée and visit our very first episode. Happy Episode 100 everyone! Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Cro...

A big flower with a big name. This week we discuss the bull banksia ( Banksia grandis ) and the prolific capitalist-botanist it’s named after, Sir Joseph Banks of the Royal Society. 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 ou...

What does it mean to be endemic? This. Tree. KNOWS. As does its homeland, the Klamath Mountains, a hotbed of endemic species. We chat with author and coniferman Michael Kauffmann about the Brewer spruce ( Picea breweriana ) and its unique place in this world. Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson Support the pod and become a  Treemium Member Follow along...