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Tana River Poplar | Siricha | Guduba | Mlalali | Mulalati | Mungai | Makini | Lalafto | Lalaftu | Malalai | Sirkh
Populus ilicifolia (Engl.) Rouleau (Salicaceae)
Riverine forest, alt. 330m
Tana River, Meru, Kenya

Two monkey puzzle seedlings sprouting up near a cultivated tree. These are growing wild, They aren’t in a place where it would make sense to have planted them intentionally. There are two large established monkey puzzles Close together here so it’s possible they cross pollinated naturally.

Update: I talked to the homeowner and he confirmed this tree gets pollinated and goes to seed on it's own and he removes seedlings yearly.

Possibly the only stand of Acer grandidentatum in Navajo County, but there could be pockets below the Mogollon Rim on the White Mountain Apache tribal lands. No other records on SEINet plant database or on iNaturalist of this species for Navajo County. Probably a seep here to sustain this species (besides northern aspect). I stumbled upon this grove by seeing satellite imagery on the Gaia Maps app that must’ve been taken in autumn, showing the red, orange, and yellow foliage on a clump of trees here. Most are <6-7m tall, would’ve burned over during the Rodeo-Chediski Fire of 2002, then regenerated since. The patch isn’t visible when driving down the road, you need to navigate to the approximate coordinates, park on the shoulder, and then hike down the north-facing slope about 100ft. through the Gambel oaks and New Mexico locusts that the maples are interspersed with.

Other observations from this patch:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139290217
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139290513
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139290605
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139290717
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139291727

These two trees are much older than the previous observation, but had their leaves at such height that, even at magnification, were less convenient for viewing. On the other hand, their large trunks and canopy-height upper branches tell their own stories.

The morphology of the leaves speaks of introgression between Acer rubrum and Acer saccharinum, but that event happened in a past very distant, for no natural Acer sacccharinum occur in this region. These are descendants of an ancient introgression that has been distilled by the sands of time.

see also: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/73510911