Another month and another walk full of surprises at the Washington Park Arboretum. The leaves are so lush right now I wanted to wrap myself up in their soft green blanket. The highlight of this trip was stumbling into the grove of tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) so tall and tree-ish. Hidden among their branches were the almost camouflaged flowers in muted colors of yellow and green. Standing upright like a tulip, once you noticed them they were everywhere! So high above my head, most of the blossoms were up near the top. Another amazing plant was the bladder nut tree. As I wandered down the path I noticed these air filled sacks hanging from the tree. When I walked over the fallen ones they popped! After doing a bit of research I found that these trees grow near rivers and when the air filled seed pods fall into the water they float away, dispersing the seeds far and wide. What a great adaptation, little tiny seed boats!
Rainyleaf 
Love the idea of little seed boats – isn’t nature wonderful! Thanks for sharing your photos Elaine – the flowering trees are all lovely, but the golden oak stands out above the rest for me. Beautiful!
Do you have an arboretum near your home? I’m glad to have the one in Seattle, even though it’s 30 minutes away and I have to cross a toll bridge ($2.50 each way) to get there. To me it’s worth it! It gets expensive to look at plants sometimes!
What a great walk through a beautiful place….cool to have seed dispersal from water…