We thought you might enjoy some information regarding the many varieties of trees that can be found in the region...

American Beech: Occurs at all elevations. Enter an extended beech stand and you immediately sense that you've penetrated a special zone. It's a world of lover's initials carved into thin gray bark and dangling wind chimes. The tree is easily identified in winter due to its tendency to retain dried leaves instead of immediately dropping them in the fall. Oak trees, which are in the same family, also maintain their leaves. but whereas oaks usually display thick brown leaves that rustle dully in the wind, beech leaves form thin, almost translucent tan curls. When these catch a breeze it seems as if the woods are hung with tiny wind chimes.

Blackgum: A common tree of low and middle elevations. Its fall foliage displays an eye-catching blood-red hue that can be spotted from great distances. The species was never used as a timber tree by early white settlers since its fibers are both inter-braided and cross-woven; however, it did produce wonderful shock-absorbing maul handles.

Sugar Maple: A common forest tree in rich soils at low and middle elevations. In fall the exuberant red, orange and yellow hues of this species at once outdo and unify the colors produced by all the other trees.

The Sugarlands Visitor Center  on the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is so-named because of the large sugar maples that grew in that vicinity during pre-park days. These trees and others throughout the southern mountains were tapped for their sweet sap in late winter. A single tree could yield 20 gallons of sap per year, enough to produce a half-gallon or more of maple syrup. Note: The Sugarlands Visitor Center (link) will take you to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park web site.

Red Maple: An abundant tree throughout the lower and middle elevations and fairly common up to 6,000 feet. Early white settlers made spinning wheels from the wood and obtained a black dye from the rootstock. Red and sugar maples can be easily distinguished by their leaves. Red maple leaves have V-shaped notches between their upper lobes, and leaf edges that have coarse teeth. Sugar maple leaves have U-shaped notches and smooth edges.

Sweetgum: Fairly common along streams and in moist areas in the lower elevations. The branches of mature sweetgum trees often display prominent corky wings. The star-shaped leaves of this species are among the last to display their lovely fall colors, which can range from purple to red to yellow on the same tree. the Cherokees once manufactured a sort of chewing gum from the sap.

Sourwood: Abundant in the lower and middle elevations. Its showy flower tassels decorate mountainsides from late June through July, at which time they attract bees that produce the famous honey named for this tree. For this reason the early white settlers avoided cutting the tree. Most mature sourwood trees have a natural bend in their trunks about two-thirds of the way above ground level. Noting this characteristic, settlers sectioned the trees to make ready-made runners for their sleds.

Tulip Poplar: One of the most abundant trees at elevations below 4,000 feet. Anyone observing the shape of its showy green and orange flowers would properly conclude that the common name is misleading - this tree is a member of the magnolia family. Like tallow flowing down the sides of a candle, the yellow leaf colors of this species can inundate entir