the city lined the boulevards of some recently reconstructed roadsides near us with a a species of tree i was not familiar with. the leaves were at once recognizable as oaks, but not like any of the oaks i new to be native to minnesota.  just a few minutes on google , and a couple of dead ends down bur oak and chinquapin oak rabbit holes, and i found out it is a swamp oak. native after all, and, even better, 400 of these beauties are being planted in the newly constructed september 11 memorial plaza in manhattan. this comical fellow looked so forlorn in his effort to hold on to summer, that i figured i had to share him on such a wintery day.

swamp oak tree branch in winter with single leaf attached

boulevard planting, saint paul, minnesota