Trees

I love trees. I recently sent a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation and I have been waiting impatiently for the trees they promised me. While I'm waiting I thought I'd do a Witch's Dozen, that's 13, of my favorite trees.

1. Dogwood. These are the prettiest trees I can think of and they offer something year round- white flowers in the spring, glossy leaves in summer, red leaves in the fall, and bird food in winter.

2. Willow. Another lovely being. Willows are the most graceful of trees. According to folklore, willows live about 100 years. They are very magickal and they guard the gateway of death.

3. Oak. Of course oak makes the top three because it is THE most magickal of trees. Oaks are easily recognized but identify the particular species can be a little tricky. There are post oaks, pin oaks, water oaks, red oaks, white oaks, a few dozen more and oh, they can interbreed and create hybrids. You could spend years studying the oak and not learn them all.

4. Black locust. Thorns. And more thorns. And thorns growing on top of thorns. That is the black locust. This is a tree of respect. The honey locust is exactly like the black without the thorns and the honey produces longer pods. Both trees teach us to pay attention to details.

5. Osage orange. This is another thorny, funky tree. It produces a green fruit which sort of look like green brains. It smells wonderful, but don't eat it, the fruit is poisonous. The wood is strong and Indians once used it to make bows. The wood will crack, but never break.

6. Sweet gum. I think this is a misunderstood tree. Commerically it is almost useless as the wood is too soft. It doesn't burn very well and it will take over rapidly. But the sweet gum is unmatched in autumn splendor. The whole tree will be crimson or a purple so dark it's almost black.

7. Orange. Yep, like orange juice. I planted an orange seed once. My father told me it wouldn't come up b/c oranges are kept refrigerated at a temperature that kills the seeds. Not only did my seed sprout, it grew into twin trees. Orange trees have dark, shiny leaves, thorns, and they produced very sweetly scented flowers.

8. Long-leaf pine. Not to be confused with those short needled pines which rapidly cover clear-cut land, long-leaf pines are very, very, very slow growing. Seedlings can be 70 years old. We've shot ourselves in the foot by ignoring this tree. The long-leaf pine is resistant to those beetles and fungi which are killing off the other pines.

9. Cherry. Freshly cut cherry tree bark smells just like cherry cough syrup. This is another pretty tree and is used in magick for love spells.

10. Apple. Probably the second most magickal tree after the oak. Apples are food, shade, magick, and home because its wood is used for furniture, boxes, and decoration. Apple is the tree of knowledge.

11. Fig. Fig trees produce several 'stalks' from a main tap root. There is no central trunk. The fruit is delicious and magickally is used to promote lust. Just don't eat too many, figs have a milky substance in them which can irritate the lining of the mouth. And I don't believe for one minute that Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves. The leaves are itchy!

12. Hazel. This is another tree without a main trunk. It's also high on the magick list. Hazel wood is used for divining.

13. Black walnut. Black walnut is a very valuable tree due to the fact that its trunk is long, straight, and thick making it suitable for furniture. It's used for gun stocks because of its lovely grain. The nuts are delicious. So why aren't there black walnuts everywhere? Because they're slow growing and the nuts are hard to crack. The black walnut is tree of hard work and endurance.