Tree ID ?

[pdqdl]

I came across this tree a couple days ago, and was embarrassed to find a local tree that I could not identify. Since then I have keyed it out, but you guys may wish to test your skills. Besides, there is always the possibility that I might be wrong.

Tree is in Kansas City, Mo., located in a cemetery that is populated with a lot of unusual trees not found in our area. (The current administration isn't really inclined to keeping an arboretum, our maintenance there is limited to removing dead trees.) I was drawn to look at this tree just to determine if it was still alive.




This tree is so characteristic, I will guess that you either know it right off, or are as clueless as I was until I keyed it out.

 

[pdqdl]

Dangit Del...You weren't supposed to read that. It's supposed to be Arb 101, not Arb graduate school.

 

[Del_]

Dangit Del...You weren't supposed to read that. It's supposed to be Arb 101, not Arb graduate school.

Deleted!

 

[ATH]

I see the alder...but I wouldn't have gotten that with the bark. Certainly wouldn't have thought European alder. Haven't see one close to that big!

 

[Zale]

Cemetery trees can throw you sometimes.

 

[pdqdl]

This cemetery is chocked full of giant old trees; the place has lots of pre-1900 burials. We have had several oaks blow over that took more than two days just to cut up and haul out. As you might imagine, all those damned headstones don't help any.

I took out a sweetgum last year that was a solid 4' in diameter.

BTW: this tree is 225 yards from Satchel Paige's memorial site. There are lots of famous folks in this cemetery.

 

[Teamgtree&lawn]

This cemetery is chocked full of giant old trees; the place has lots of pre-1900 burials. We have had several oaks blow over that took more than two days just to cut up and haul out. As you might imagine, all those damned headstones don't help any.

I took out a sweetgum last year that was a solid 4' in diameter.

BTW: this tree is 225 yards from Satchel Paige's memorial site. There are lots of famous folks in this cemetery.

Is that forrest hill Cemetery by chance? I have some turf & tree maintenance accounts close to there, always wondered if they ever did tree work in house or subbed it.

 

[pdqdl]

Yes.

They pick up all the dead branches themselves (always a rather extensive pile, I might add). They don't really spend enough on their monthly budget to handle hardly anything but the latest disaster. The place is chocked full of dead trees that they don't want me to remove because it isn't in the budget.

About 1/2 of the annual budget gets blown on me just disposing of their huge pile of accumulated branches.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Yes.

They pick up all the dead branches themselves (always a rather extensive pile, I might add). They don't really spend enough on their monthly budget to handle hardly anything but the latest disaster. The place is chocked full of dead trees that they don't want me to remove because it isn't in the budget.

About 1/2 of the annual budget gets blown on me just disposing of their huge pile of accumulated branches.

Piss-poor management if you ask me.
If they would get rid of the dead wood, once and for all, they'd eventually fatten their budget for beautifying instead of damage control.
I'd suggest they send out letters, asking for donations, to the relatives of all those famous dead folk occupying that land .

 

[pdqdl]

Not fair to blame the managers. The age of corporate takeover and asset extraction has even reached the cemeteries.

My checks come from a far distance away, always about 60-90 days after they are due.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Not fair to blame the managers. The age of corporate takeover and asset extraction has even reached the cemeteries.

My checks come from a far distance away, always about 60-90 days after they are due.

Still piss-poor management regardless if they are locals or out of state.
So, who actually owns the cemetery?

 

[pdqdl]

Some corporate conglomerate.

How do you figure poor management? They have a different goal than customer satisfaction or higher public esteem. They value profits, and little else.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Some corporate conglomerate.

How do you figure poor management? They have a different goal than customer satisfaction or higher public esteem. They value profits, and little else.

"Customer satisfaction"??? That's funny.
I suppose the reason they can get away with neglect is because the "customers" can't complain and their relatives probably don't know about it.
Who owns the property?

 

[pdqdl]

Some LLC in Pennsylvania, as shown by county records.

I believe that the individual lots are purchased, but I don't think that actually comes with property ownership. As I understand it, the state mandates that there is a trust fund of some sort that is used to maintain the property in perpetuity. I think the owner of a cemetery obtains the control of that fund, and it is obligated to honor all the contracts for maintenance.

We occasionally respond to complaints about trees from the living customers; those take priority over perceived problems elsewhere.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Some LLC in Pennsylvania, as shown by county records.

I believe that the individual lots are purchased, but I don't think that actually comes with property ownership. As I understand it, the state mandates that there is a trust fund of some sort that is used to maintain the property in perpetuity. I think the owner of a cemetery obtains the control of that fund, and it is obligated to honor all the contracts for maintenance.

We occasionally respond to complaints about trees from the living customers; those take priority over perceived problems elsewhere.

The rural cemeteries in this area sell the plots and take donations for expenses like mowing. They mail out a balance sheet including a list of names of folks who made donations, once a year to family members. Definitely not a money-making business... here, anyway.
If your place is collecting money for a trust fund, the family should have a receipt for what that money is being spent on.
Probably not enough people care about the dead and dying trees, to make a big stink about it, to make the owners clean it up.
I'll bet too, that there is sentimental value, to the living relatives, attached to those old trees. Heck, they might not want them removed, even if they are dangerous.

 

[pdqdl]

Some info for Missouri:

http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/21400000401.HTML
http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/07700001301.html?&me=cemetery
http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/21400000201.html?&me=cemetery

These rules seem to only apply to municipal cemeteries, but I suspect there are similar rules for privately managed cemeteries, except possibly the restriction against "no test for religious" ownership. I'm pretty sure it it still legal to require that everyone buried in a location be an adherent to some religion.


Edit: found a general stack of rules on cemeteries.
http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/ChaptersIndex/chaptIndex214.html

 

[BC WetCoast]

From my experience with corporately owned cemeteries, they remove dead trees that hinder or pose injury risk to the grass mowers.