Are trees lonely?

If trees could experience loneliness, the one species I would think is the loneliest is the American Elm (Ulmus americana).

They are most often seen by themselves along a road allowance, or a fence line. Here is one of the largest in the area, shown on a cold winter day. Measuring it at ~4.5 feet above ground, the standard height for what is known as diameter at breast height (dbh), it measures 1.25 metres diameter.

American Elm in winter

 It is located on a quiet gravel road (Harwich Line) just southeast of Blenheim.

American Elm in May

American Elm in November

 It is an attractive, and easily identified species. From a distance, a mature open-grown elm tree has a distinctive umbrella shape to the crown.

American Elms used to be very common on the eastern North American landscape...up until the first half of last century. All tree species will host an array of insect types that feed on leaves or burrow under the bark. A native bark beetle was a regular 'pest' of elm trees, but not a serious one. However early in the 1900s, a non-native fungus arrived from Asia, quite accidentally I suppose, but still a result of the settlement of non-native humans, and the results have been devastating. The native bark beetle burrows holes into the growing tissue of the host elm, and if the beetle came from an elm that was already infected, would transfer the fungus to the new host tree. As a result, mature elms across their normal range died by the thousands.

Elms are prolific seed producers and to their benefit, begin producing seed at a fairly young age. So there are lots of young elms that get a start on life, and if they are relatively isolated, may grow to maturity. But many just get started and die back, so they look quite scrubby along the road side.

Even some mature trees may have a scrubby base, such as this one along another quiet rural road between Blenheim and Ridgetown.

A much rarer tree in Ontario is the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata). It was a forest dwelling species, and the handful of individuals that remain are mostly still in forests. They were a dominant forest species up until about 1900. It too was the victim of an Asian bark fungus that arrived on the intentionally introduced Asian Chestnut. Having no resistance to this fungus like its Asian counterpart, the American Chestnut dwindled from comprising almost 30% of the forest trees to being almost completely obliterated.

American Chestnut

 This American Chestnut leaf was photographed in a crown forest near Simcoe.

American Chestnut flowers

 These American Chestnut flowers were ones I photographed on a tree just west of Thamesville, in the early 1980s. The tree no longer exists.

American Chestnut fruit

The photo of the fruit cluster was taken in a forest southeast of Ridgetown in 2013.

While the American Chestnut is usually surrounded by other tree species, it could be considered a lonely species since there is seldom more than one or two of its kind in any location.

American Elm, does still occur in the forests, but some of the most impressive individuals are well away from a forest. Being relatively isolated may work to their benefit: they are a greater distance from other individuals which may be affected by the fungus, so their chances of the fungus being transferred causing a premature death is reduced. Hopefully this individual along Hwy 21 a bit south of Thamesville will have a long and productive life!