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| An acorn of the Overcup Oak |
Belladonna and I moved a Mound's Oak (Quercus x humidicola) this afternoon. This is an officially recognized, natural hybrid of the Overcup Oak and the Swamp White Oak. Both species are wetland species.
Like many of my most interesting trees, the original seed came from Lucky-in-Kentucky.
The cup of the Overcup Oak acts like a personal flotation device and since the species prefers floodplains, floods carry the acorns downstream and deposit them near the high-water mark.
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| The Overcup Oak is the more southern of the two species |
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| Swamp White Oak is the more northern species with the ones in central Wisconsin and northeastern New York surviving -35F. |
It is amazing that there is enough overlap in their ranges for natural hybrids to occur.
What was notable about this tree, an open pollinated seedling, was the extensive development of finely feathered feeder roots. That is not something I am used to seeing on oak trees.
We planted the oak 8' from the trunk of a 30' tall Carpathian Walnut that I never harvested a nut from. The walnut didn't pay its rent and he was evicted.
My motive for planting this tree with Bella was to make one more memory. She will be departing in August and trees make excellent memory jogs.
To date I have two Bur Oak, one Swamp White Oak, one Chinquapin Oak, a European Oak (aka, Robinhood/Sherwood forest type) and now one Q. lyrata X bicolor hybrid in our yard.
Truck update
The truck is back. The brake-lights work. It was diagnosed as a wire with high resistance in the dash harness. I don't know if it was a broken/pinched wire or a corroded connector.
A note in passing
Mrs ERJ cancelled our Cable TV.
We disconnected the box when we were remodeling the guest bedroom at the end of February. Nobody missed it.
Mrs ERJ decided that she had better things to do with the $80 (give or take a bit) that was going out every month.
I already told the kids I was canceling our cellphone plan with Verizon in Nov 2022. That gives them time to find their own plans. Neither Mrs ERJ or I stream video on our phones so we don't need much data. Two 1Gb a month plans will run $40 a month at Tracfone vs. the $180 a month I am shelling out for the Verizon plan. According to my math, that will buy 1400 primers a month.
We cancelled "Pay TV" probably 12 years ago (maybe more). Just decided it was more money than I wanted to spend and I thought that there was a better way we should spend time. Don't miss it too much at all. Had Hulu , Amazon Prime (2 months) and netflix over the years but dumped them all because of how woke they were.
ReplyDeleteERJ - We have not had cable in more than 14 years at this point. We do have some of the streaming services, but I suspect these will be cutting themselves down as there really is not much to watch.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Mint for phone service. Good prices and have had no coverage issues in Eaton or Ingham. Actually, good coverage everywhere I travel.
ReplyDeleteI have some cork oak acorns planted in pots.
ReplyDeleteI ordered off Etsy Eastern Europe.
I will never live to harvest but another odd thingy.
1400 primers per month? You must have a good source for them, that's cheaper than anything I've seen.
ReplyDeleteThat Q. X humidicola, acorns of which I sent to you, originally came from the Osage City, KS area...Overcup oak appears not to be present there in the 'natural range' map...but I have no doubt that Q.lyrata and Q.bicolor are the parents, based on acorn & leaf morphologies.
ReplyDeleteNo cable out here in the boonies,, but we canceled our satellite TV contract a year ago. Put up a $200 antenna (less than two months' satellite bill), and get 30+ channels(UHF & VHF out of Nashville TN)...more than we ever care to watch. Plus...can still do Netflix, Prime Video & Hulu for movies, etc.
That Q. X humidicola, acorns of which I sent to you, originally came from the Osage City, KS area...Overcup oak appears not to be present there in the 'natural range' map...but I have no doubt that Q.lyrata and Q.bicolor are the parents, based on acorn & leaf morphologies.
ReplyDeleteNo cable out here in the boonies,, but we canceled our satellite TV contract a year ago. Put up a $200 antenna (less than two months' satellite bill), and get 30+ channels(UHF & VHF out of Nashville TN)...more than we ever care to watch. Plus...can still do Netflix, Prime Video & Hulu for movies, etc.
I think its funny when I hear of people having several hundred TV shows to tune in and claim 'there is nothing good to watch on TV'. I recall my boyhood and remember two channels (ABC and CBS - NBC was very snowy) and that was it pal.
ReplyDeleteI'm all in deciding maybe time to give up DirecTV. A basic package (200+ channels plus PPV, HBO and U-Verse internet ring up to $160 / month. I get a bit antsy anteing up for that. Internet takes up a lot of my viewing time any way.
Tracfone plan is old. Pay as you go 4G plan, I spend $25 for 90 days of basic service. So a $100 a year, not too bad. No smart phone for me, a simple flip phone gets it done. I sometimes wish I had a camera that takes decent photos, I rely on an old Sony pocket camera for them.
We cut the cable 12 years ago and about the same time off loaded the monthly cellphone nonsense too. About every 3 years I get a new samsung phone from QVC for about $125 and it includes 1500mins, 1500 txts, 1500gb of data from Tracfone. In that 3 year period I'll add another $100 worth of time, then the process starts all over again. When I hear someone talk about their cellphone "plan" I grin, knowing the "plan" is making money for the supplier. My plan is to keep as much of my wealth as possible and use it as I see fit.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing. Now, even OTA tv isn't fit to watch. And streaming is a major PITA. I got better things to do.
DeleteAre you saying you get more bang for the buck from primers than cable TV?
ReplyDelete