I Can Teach You: How to Find a Star in Nature

{Meet your professor, Leah, who is an ecofriendly biologist traveler and one of my long-time blog friends!}

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I'm a naturalist in the lovely state of Minnesota.  I grew up in a few different states (Iowa, Nebraska, Washington, and Oregon) and somehow ended up out here.  Right now, I teach kids about nature during fieldtrips and summer camps.  Bar none, looking for stars is my favorite little activity to do outdoors.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a cottonwood.  This is what serves as a majestic tree for those of us who don't have regular access to towering redwoods.  Cottonwoods love to grow in damp ground, so you can often see lots of them around lakes, marshes, and rivers.  Pioneers used to plant this quick-growing tree around their houses to create a windbreak and help insulate their house from strong winter winds. 

These have always been my favorite tree.  Even thought their cottony seeds upset my allergies and seem to get everywhere, I still love this solid, huge tree.  another downside is that cottonwoods produce low-quality wood, so they don't make good furniture or fuel (but do make decent pallets).  Now, the leaves are pretty.  It's certainly in old tree worthy of respect.  In fact, it's even the state tree of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Kansas.  But I have one even cooler reason for loving a cottonwood . . .

there's a star hidden inside.

Yup.  Inside each and every cottonwood branch, provided the wood is mostly dried out, you can find a little star.  Here's how you look for it:

1.  Find a cottonwood.  Look for deep, craggy bark (like in the picture above).  The leaves are alternate on the main stem, and the leaves are diamond shaped. This picture shows a cottonwood in early spring when the seeds are still inside their little cases.

2. Once you've located a cottonwood, look around the base.  You're trying to find a wrinkly, knotty looking branch like this. 

3.  Find the little eighth-inch sections of really wrinkly bark.  See, this part!

4.  Snap the branch.  As long as the wood is not green, you should find a nice little star.  Some work better than others, so be persistent if it doesn't work the first time. I assure you, this is a real branch with a real star. I know it looks fake; that's how cool the stars are!

Apologies to those west coasters which might have a tough time locating this tree.  Tell you what: you are always welcome in Minnesota.  My little town has killer margarita deals at the local Mexican place, so let's go get cocktails and then explore the woods together, okay?

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Okay! A good margarita and finding stars sounds fabulous to me!

Comments

[Janet]

How adorable! I want to find one!

[janet]

Ooh I wonder if we have cottonwoods in DC...? We have dampness so maybe?

[Leah]

whoops, should have said triangle shaped. Definitely more of a triangle than a diamond.

There should be some in the DC area -- the range of cottonwoods is all down the east coast and pretty far west. The tree I know (eastern cottonwood) goes to the rockies. There is apparently a cottonwood that does occur in California. Readers out there will have to let us know if that cottonwood also has a star; I've only ever looked for the star in the midwest.

[Mary]

There cottonwoods in Mendocino County. I have never looked for a star but now I plan to!