Exotic Trees on the University of Alberta Campus and Hello To My Blog Followers
I'd like to say a big hello! I've been running this blog for just over 10 years now, since November of 2011. I blog about my general interests, anime, various Japanese pop culture topics, and travel in Japan. I kind of figure I have about a dozen to two dozen regular readers and get about 5000 to 7000 page views a month. A bunch of these are stupid bots, but there a whole pile of people who read my instant noodle reviews. If you are a regular reader, drop a comment below just to say Hello!
The fall here in Edmonton has been pretty nice this year. We've had a nice warm October so far and leaves are still on the trees. Everything is a nice yellow and there is the constant flutter of leaves dropping to the ground. I'm also busy planning my trip to Japan in November and working to finish off my novel set in an alternate modern Japan where magic works (chapter 18, 6 to 7 more to go). Strangely enough, I just reviewed an Onomichi Shoyu instant ramen cup and my novel is set in a fictitious town nearby.
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| Fall in Mill Creek Ravine. Crunchy leaves underfoot. |
I found out that there are some "exotic" trees growing on the University of Alberta campus so I drove over to go see them and it is also a good place to play Pokemon Go too! In particular, I really wanted to see the Ginkgo tree that is there. I saw quite a few trees in the Quad area and I have to say that I was a little disappoint in the Ginkgo as it is quite young and the leaves had not yet started changing to that golden yellow. I'll be looking for Ginkgos when I'm in Japan later this year and it is quite gorgeous to have an umbrella like overhang of these these trees' fan shaped leave over you.
Anyhow, here are a few pictures of some the trees I saw.
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| Asian Black Birch. You can see the bark naturally peeling in big sheets! Quite neat looking. |
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| The ginkgo tree's unique fan shaped leaves. Very supple. |
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| As I said, it was a young tree. It had thick leafy coverage, but was quite small and slender. I actually walked by it twice before I took a closer look. I was expecting a larger tree with a big canopy. Oops. |
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| Leaves from a butternut tree. This particular tree didn't like the cold as much and had dropped most of its leaves already. |
The ginkgo tree is quite fascinating as it is an ancient tree species that is a living fossil originally native to China. These are very long-lived trees that provide beautiful tree cover and also drop edible nuts in the fall. These trees age very slowly and don't seem to show old age at all as a 600 year old tree still behaves like a 20 year old tree. These trees were introduced to Japan about 1000 years ago and I guess we have at least one in the city here! In Japan, there are often ginkgo lined boulevards with big canopies over the road. They are also found at Shinto Shrines and older specimens can be designated as shinboku or divine trees.
Other Edmonton Sights
Walking in Whitemud Ravine Park and I Want To Visit Mt. Takao Someday
Walking the Hiking Trails of Edmonton's Mill Creek Ravine Park
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