# Got Burl?



## Tom Smart (Oct 23, 2018)

No idea what kind of tree this is. The leaves on the ground look kinda like chestnut. About 4 feet across at the base.

Reactions: Like 3 | EyeCandy! 1 | Way Cool 1


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## Karl_TN (Oct 24, 2018)

Neat find. What's the story behind this tree?

As far as identification, take a close look of the branching to see if this tree has alternate or opposite branching. Horse Chestnut trees have opposite branching, and regular (aka European, Chinese or Japanese) chestnut trees have alternate branching. Also, horse chestnuts trees have 7 leaflets to a leaf rather than one leaf for chestnut.

A little trivia for those interested in chestnut trees. The horse chestnut trees (Family: Sapindaceae) are more closely related to buckeye trees than other chestnut trees (Family: Fagaceae). Here's an interesting article from Virginia about the efforts to save the American Chestnut tree: http://www.virginiaplaces.org/natural/chestnut.html


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## Mike1950 (Oct 24, 2018)

The real unanswered question- where is yer saw!!!!

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Tom Smart (Oct 24, 2018)

Mike1950 said:


> The real unanswered question- where is yer saw!!!!


Mike asked a good question. It is in the small town of Lavenham, England. 

I’ll try and get a better look in the morning, Karl. I can’t give any story about it. Just happened upon it when parking the car. 

And me without my chainsaw (again).

Reactions: Funny 1 | Way Cool 1


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## Lou Currier (Oct 24, 2018)

Tom Smart said:


> Mike asked a good question. It is in the small town of Lavenham, England.



Another good question is what are you doing in England


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## Tom Smart (Oct 24, 2018)

Funny you should ask as I had mentioned to Mike via PM earlier (guess that’s how’s come he asked the question). I’ve always had a fascination with 8th AAF and I always wanted to see where they operated from in England. So I’m in East Anglia wandering the sites of former airfields just to look at what’s left, see the ground and get a feel for what it was like for that generation to come here and fight a war in the air. The history of it intrigues me. Could you imagine yourself at the age of 21 or 22 commanding an aircraft with 9 other lives on it?

In most cases you have to search out what remains today. Most has returned to agriculture or become small industrial sites. But if you look you can see the remainder of the runways and taxiways, many now farm roads. Some control towers remain as museums run by dedicated volunteers. Many sites have memorials to those who came. Here are a few. Jimmy Stewart and Walter Mathau flew from Old Buckenham. 



 








 



 

We are spending a few nights in the town of Lavenham. The 487th BG flew from the airfield here. COL Bernie Lay commanded the 487th. He also wrote something called ”12 o’clock High”.

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 5


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## Mike1950 (Oct 24, 2018)

Very cool, i thought about saying something. Has to be a strange feeling, to almost hear the engines and the greatness of events that happened there.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tom Smart (Oct 24, 2018)

Mike1950 said:


> Very cool, i thought about saying something. Has to be astrange feeling, to almost hear the engines and the greatness of events that happened there.


It truly is that, Mike. There are ghosts here.

Reactions: Way Cool 3


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## Mike1950 (Oct 24, 2018)

WOW Cool pictures. Kathie's dad was an airline pilot. Flew stateside during war. when she was young she remembers pilots getting together and talking about the war. She remembers Bill Himmelreich -a pilot. He came back in one of those shot up planes. Landed it and was the only one left alive. Dave her dad started flying in the pacific for Continental airlines. His stories of opening up the islands to air travel were amazing. Flew Jacques Cousteau and team to Truk lagoon. Kathie was there in her teens. remembers planes and boats in lagoon. water was clear and you could see them. There is truth to the statement "We will never see the likes of them again"


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## Mr. Peet (Oct 24, 2018)

Horse chestnut...


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## Tom Smart (Oct 25, 2018)

Here is the best I could do on the leaves. Asked someone here who did say it was chestnut.


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## Mr. Peet (Oct 25, 2018)

Horse chestnut, _Aesculus hippocastanum_, not 'sweet chestnut', _Castanea sativa_.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tom Smart (Oct 26, 2018)

The person here I asked about the tree called the chestnuts “conkers”. She runs a small private museum and was placing them around her displays. Said they would keep the spiders and moths away.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## barry richardson (Oct 26, 2018)

I'm envious, love the English countryside....


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## Tom Smart (Oct 26, 2018)

barry richardson said:


> I'm envious, love the English countryside....


You guys would enjoy this trip then Barry. We are having a great time. Now, if I could just get theses guys to drive on their side of these blasted narrow, curvy roads.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## Tom Smart (Oct 27, 2018)

Another great tree.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Way Cool 1


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