The July EcoQuest is TRACKING TREE OF HEAVEN. Nearly 1000 observations across the City have been made so far, almost all of them Research Grade. It looks like Central Park and the east side of Manhattan are Ailanthus havens, but that's because of observer bias. We all know the whole city could be covered with observations. The trip to Newtown Creek and more observations throughout the City can address that bias and provide more data for monitoring the dreaded Spotted Lantern Fly.

There is still time to register for the Newtown Creek Field Trip. And we hope you will come to the First Annual EcoFlora Conference on August 3rd.

Saturday, July 14
We will explore the urban wilds of Newtown Creek documenting as many Ailanthus trees as possible. The Tree of Heaven is a host for the highly destructive Spotted Lantern Fly (Lycorma delicatula) a pest not yet found in New York. Our hosts, the Newtown Creek Alliance will give a brief history of the site and share their work to bring the creek back to life. RSVP here.

Friday, August 3
On August 3, 2018, The New York Botanical Garden will hold the First Annual New York City EcoFlora Conference. This event will be an update on the progress of the first year of NYC EcoFlora Project, and a celebration of the many citizen scientists who have made original observations of Nature in New York City. RSVP here.

We will soon surpass 3,000 observations of Tree of Heaven— the most EcoQuest observations yet.
@spritelink (Janet) has observed more Tree of Heaven than many have observations! Click the 834 next to her name spritelink to see her amazing effort.

Tree of Heaven look alikes in NYC are Sumac species (Rhus) and Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). In both the Black Walnut and the Sumacs, the leaflets are sessile or not stalked (vs stalked in Tree of Heaven) and the margins are serrate from base to tip (vs smooth except a few teeth or lobes near the base). Silhouetted against the sky, the Tree of Heaven leaflet stalks (petiolules) should be visible. If you can get close enough, you will see also that the Tree of Heaven always has small glands on the leaf margins. It also has a rank odor, vs no odor in Sumacs and Spicy odor in Walnuts.

On August 3, 2018, The New York Botanical Garden will hold the First Annual New York City EcoFlora Conference. This event will be an update on the progress of the first year of NYC EcoFlora Project, and a celebration of the many citizen scientists who have made original observations of Nature in New York City. RSVP here.