Researcher finds 317 tree species here
A researcher at Concordia has found 317 tree species on the island of Montreal, and that the eastern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis), sugar maple, lilac and boxelder (Acer negundo) are the four most common species. (A caption in the item says the boxelder is one of the most commonly planted, but nobody plants the boxelder, it just shows up.)
MarcG 19:39 on 2025-05-05 Permalink
I’ll shoehorn in a couple things: The Un Arbre Pour Mon Quartier program spring campaign, which sells fairly priced trees, is still running, and Box Elder is one of the few listenable early Pavement songs.
dwgs 19:44 on 2025-05-05 Permalink
The boxelder, or Manitoba maple, is a weed tree. And if you try to prune it or cut it it just comes back twice as hard. Come the apocalypse rats, cockroaches, and Manitoba maples will rule.
Kate 19:46 on 2025-05-05 Permalink
I had friends from Manitoba who claimed their dad tapped his boxelder trees and made syrup.
EmilyG 22:33 on 2025-05-05 Permalink
I enjoy the Quebio tree map of Montreal.
This is the French version: https://quebio.ca/fr/arbresmtl
There’s an English version, but that version seems to have lost the ability to search for particular kinds of tree.
EmilyG 22:36 on 2025-05-05 Permalink
As for lilacs, I wonder if all lilac species are lumped in in this study.
It seems to me that there are at least two kinds of lilac trees in Montreal: the usually-purple variety that blooms in May, and the Japanese lilacs that bloom in June, are white, and are a common street tree in Montreal.
Ian 07:30 on 2025-05-06 Permalink
Ther’s also the smaller dwarf lilac that has more of a shrub form and blooms several times a year – pretty common as a yard planting throughout the island.
Steve 08:14 on 2025-05-06 Permalink
Or my mystery lilac which hasn’t bothered to flower for at least seventeen years ♂️
walkerp 08:50 on 2025-05-06 Permalink
Is the boxelder called érable à giguère en francais?
Kate 08:54 on 2025-05-06 Permalink
Yes.
walkerp 09:54 on 2025-05-06 Permalink
I know everyone calls them weeds but I kind of like them. They get into neglected places and grow fast, bringing green and living spaces for birds and bugs where there might not otherwise be.
Ian 12:02 on 2025-05-06 Permalink
Lot of invasive plants look nice. Purple loosestrife is beautiful.
I agree though, it’s interesting seeing how nature reclaims urban space and boxelder is a handy first stage rewilding species. It’s also another one that like cottonwood plays an important role in preventing erosion in the city.
Blork 14:00 on 2025-05-06 Permalink
Well, to be fair, box elders are native to North America, so they’re not really invasive, even if their habitat has been spreading. Weedy, yes, and spreading, but they’re not as disruptive to local ecologies as true invasive species like purple loosestrife can be.
Tyler 23:44 on 2025-05-06 Permalink
I have recently tasted the syrup from some Manitoba maples tapped while growing in a Plateau alleyway, courtesy of a friend. Quite respectable.
Ian 07:42 on 2025-05-07 Permalink
I know that in Germany they make syrup from birch sap, too. Did your friend make bxoelder syrup in the regular way or did they have to reduce it at a lower temperature than sugar maple?
nau 09:54 on 2025-05-07 Permalink
I’d like to see the list to see which ones I’m missing. The closest I can get associated with the researcher is a list of 187 from the chaireforeturbaine at UQAM, which admittedly is a good start. A lot of the others are going to be from genera like willow or oak or hawthorn that have multiple species that are difficult to quickly distinguish.
Kate 16:23 on 2025-05-07 Permalink
Ian, I don’t know the details. I only know they said it tasted “wilder” than sugar maple syrup, but I never got to try it, and now they’ve gone back home.