Conifers, special cone-bearing trees with needle and scale-like leaves, can be found throughout the arboretum. Kids and their families will have fun locating these trees and then exploring Discovery Stations and the Hike of the day during the afternoon. HANDS-ON DISCOVERY STATIONS, led by Volunteer Naturalists, from 1 – 4 p.m. HIKE OF THE DAY, led by […]
Vanishing Acts: Kentucky Trees of Concern – Eastern Hemlock
Eastern Hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, is a graceful conifer of the southern Appalachians. With its lush evergreen foliage it is more than lovely, it is also ecologically significant. This is especially pertinent in mountain stream areas of its range, where hemlock trees play a dominant role in regulating water temperature, transpiration, and stream flow – all of […]
Vanishing Acts: Dawn Redwood
While fleeing the impending Japanese invasion of the Chinese mainland, well-to-do members of the aristocracy were scouting possible safe zones deep in the wild interior of China, when a forester discovered a tree unlike anything he had previously experienced. Considered one of the greatest botanical finds of the 20th century, the dawn redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, […]
Vanishing Acts: Serbian Spruce
Native to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian spruce, Picea omorika, is known from a specimen of fewer than 1,000 trees. Before the ice ages, the native range of the Serbian spruce spread across the majority of Europe. Over many years, its range has diminished dramatically in part due to fire, overexploitation, and competition from Norway […]
Vanishing Acts: Fraser Fir
The Fraser Fir, Abies fraseri, has been in existence for over 12,000 years (called a glacial relict, because its existence dates back to the last glacial age), that is now found only in the highest regions of the southern Appalachians. As the climate warmed since the end of the last glaciation, fraser firs have been pushed […]