Description: Radio Host, Citizen Journalist, Environmental and Health Educator
Radio Host, Writer, Environmental Educator, Food Forest Gardener
Thursday, June 29, 2023 – While out walking this morning, I noticed an American Basswood tree (a.k.a. “Bee Tree”) in bloom. I took a small branch home to do some nature drawing. The leaves look like lopsided hearts, and the flowers look like bursting stars.
Using the ruler on my magnifying glass, I sketched out the proportional structure of my drawing. I examined my live sample closely from different angles and drew in the details of the bract, flowers and leaves. Then I searched for botanical descriptions of plant details in a couple reference books and added some botany terminology (ie., broadly ovate, palmately veined) to my drawing. The America Basswood tree is a pollinator attracting tree that bee use to produce honey. This is a wonderful tree to use in t