Until I looked it up, this was just a “yellow tree in Bryant Park” to me.
I came across this big yellow tree in Albany’s Bryant Park on Sunday and wondered what kind of tree it was.
One of the many gaps in my education is the branch of botany that would allow someone to identify a tree species on sight. But as luck would have it, someone had invented the internet some time back.
So I found Plantnet.org, which allows you to submit a photo of the plant you would like to know the name of. I did that, submitting the photo below, and the site came back with “green ash” at 70.9 percent.
The app also suggested, with lower percentages, white ash and Oregon ash. So, considering where we are, maybe it’s an Oregon ash that dazzled visitors to Bryant Park with its bright yellow fall foliage this past weekend.
It would be helpful if the bigger trees in our urban forest came with labels. They do in some parks and other places, like on the grounds of the Linn County Courthouse in Albany. (I haven’t looked at the courthouse trees lately, so I don’t know if those little signs are still there.)
Labels or not, it’s great that Albany has a variety of deciduous trees that put on a show on a bright sunny day in early fall. (hh)
I submitted this photo to Plantnet.org, which said there was a 71 percent likelihood that it was a green ash.
Looks like Green Ash to me, which is a popular street and park tree. They are soon to be wiped off the face of the earth, along with White, Purple, and Oregon Ash, by the Emerald Ash Borer. Most people have no clue the ecological disaster this will entail in the Willamette Valley as the Oregon Ash is the dominant tree along secondary rivers, streams, and swales. Oregon Ash is second only to the big-leaf Maple for native fall color in the valley. ETTS
We have a purple ash. Very pretty this time of year.
Thanks for posting this.There is both an infected removal and inoculation program in effect to try and stop the destruction.
https://www.oregon.gov/odf/forestbenefits/Documents/eab-treatment-fact-sheet_2024.pdf
Oh please, that is like trying to put a bandaid on an already amputated leg.
Lovely tree – thanks for posting this beautiful picture!