Some time ago, on the subject of Halloween, I had occasion to mention osage orange trees. Last evening I learned, from a crossword puzzle of all things, that the osage orange is also called Bois d'arc. This leads to the supposition that the French used this wood for bows, unlike the English, whose longbows that proved so effective at the battles of Agincourt and Crecy were made, I believe of yew.

This led me to a contemplation on our words for trees. The first that came to mind was Platanus acerifolia, the London plane tree, which we in the US call the sycamore. But then, I wondered, if we here call it a sycamore and the English call it a plane tree, how come King James' translators used the expression sycamore tree in the story of Zaccheus?

There are tons of interesting, even romantic tree names. (I noticed a mention this morning of one called Harry Lauder's Walking Stick). In front of my house is a huge and magnificent specimen which I have been informed is called a pepperidge tree. Good thing someone told me, because I have never seen another one anywhere. Research develops that it's Nyssa sylvatica, also called black gum, sour gum, or tupelo, and is the source of tupelo honey.

Across the street from my office is a paulownia, Paulownia tormentosa, which my dictionary says was named for Anna Pavlovna, daughter of Tsar Paul I. There are quite a few of these trees scattered around wooded areas near me. They have beautiful lavender flowers in early spring, while they and other trees are first putting out leaves. The wood is extremely valuable, since the Japanese will pay very high prices for it (it's used for musical instruments). In fact, owners of paulownia trees have come home from work or vacation and found their tree(s) cut down and gone.

Anyone else care to contribute to tree names and lore?