City Trees

SPRING TURNED TO SUMMER, and I found another tupelo grove—the largest of them all—in the High Head area of Truro. It is clearly seen from the highway, but tucked way back along a dirt road, possibly a half mile. I had to make a special trip. I parked on the road and walked in, but by now the mosquitoes and horseflies were out in full force. I also heard some barking nearby, possibly a pack of coyotes, as this remote spot would be the perfect place to have a den of them undisturbed by summer Cape residents. Swatting the insects was worth it, as the tupelo grove was magnificent. I estimate 40-50 trees formed a 60 yard (55 m) circle, with about a 60-foot-high (18.3 m) dome. Otherworldly, the tropical-feeling interior sug- gested Yoda's home, and possibly Luke Skywalker's half-sunken resistance fighter craft. I ran the entire way back to my car to escape the biting flies. There's one more I must tell you about. The "Beech Forest" in Provincetown is one of the most visited inland sites within the Cape Cod National Seashore. Found on a road leading out to Race Point (essentially the tip of the Cape), visitors walk a gorgeous, shady loop trail surrounding two lily-covered kettle ponds. It is a spectacular pocket of old growth American beech (Fagus grandifolia), largely untouched by the deforestation that happened everywhere else. (It's also a favorite spot for birders; a black-capped chick- adee landed on my finger while I was there.) As I explored, I thought one might change the name "Beech Forest" to "Tupelo Forest" for all of the Nyssa sylvatica found inside it. I entered over a short bridge and ambled the hilly path, marveling at one tupelo grove after another. In fact, the trees form a nearly con- tinuous stand all the way around the ponds, equaling the beech in number. Apparently the tupelos were for- gotten in the branding, but I get it—the silver-barked beech trees glimmer at center stage. I admired the striking contrast between the bark of the two trees, their canopy patterns, and their gnarly roots. The pro- tection that these beech trees had from historic cutting meant that the tupelos were protected too. If there was a way to look back in time at Cape Cod's forest before European settlers, this was it … a tantalizing snapshot. I STILL DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND the origin of the Gross Hill tupelo grove—the first I came upon—but I better understand the tupe- lo's "essence." I know how it grows, where it wants to be, how it thrives. I also better understand my own need for growth. In discovering tupelo groves on Cape Cod, I reconnected with that excite- ment all arborists have when just starting out, when learning the names of trees is new and the secrets of the natural world become unlocked. Naive wonderment propelled me to a career change thirty years ago, from the art world to the tree world. Leave it to a tree to help me find my mojo again. Like the Gross Hill tupelo grove, I sometimes don't behave as expected, tucked in my forest, a bit hard to understand. But my spirit's been revived, and I'll keep looking for tupelo groves. If there was a way to look back in time at Cape Cod's forest before European settlers, this was it … a tantalizing snapshot. 36 CityTREES

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