Completely Arbortrary

The tree under which The Buddha sat and reached enlightenment, the sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) is one of the world’s most iconic trees. As an ending to our Summer Vacation series, we trip to Sri Lanka where we visit the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi. Hear our uneducated takes on Buddhism, and a reminder about what dark waspy rituals go on inside your favorite figs. See you next Fall!

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

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The Baobab! One of Africa’s most storied and mythological trees, the baobab (Adansonia grandidieri) is one tall, thicc mother. Learn about how this tree is the camel of the arboreal world, listen to the myths associated with its topsy-turvy appearance, and learn about one of the best places to view them, Madagascar’s Avenue of the Baobabs.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

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This week we head to Sierra Leone and take a look at their famous kapok, the Cotton Tree of Freetown (Ceiba pentandra). The kapok is a tree that has had uses for humans for thousands of years, but the Cotton Tree of Freetown was far more than just a useful tree representing the spirit of a nation.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’re going on a Summer Vacation! First stop, Oaxaca, Mexico, to visit the sacred and legendary Árbol del Tule (Montezuma cypress, Taxodium mucronatum). This glorious and massive tree sits squarely in a church courtyard, and has found its way into the zeitgeist of Oaxacan culture. With a sordid taxonomic past, this tree tells a tall tale. But is it really a tree at all…?

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What makes a tree popular? What keeps a tree popular? Ask the Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens), whose commercial popularity has lasted decades with no sign of slowing down. The “Norm” to plant nurseries’ Cheers, this spruce is a common character from corporate courtyards to suburban yards. Plus, we ask the question: will this tree’s popularity ever end?

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our desert darling, the Blue Palo Verde (Parkinsonia florida) might just be one of the most desert-adapted trees in the west. Named after a funny pharmacist, this desert dweller is a team player as much as it is a lone wolf.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A tree of many names, the Alaska yellow-cedar (Cupressus nootkatensis) is a quintessential conifer with a plethora of identities. And in this episode, we discuss the wood of conifers, and how it differs from the wood of its harder, more broad-leafed counterpart.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you like paniculatas, and getting caught in the golden rain, you’ll love this episode all about the golden rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata). An instant house favorite, this Chinese lantern tree marks Buddhist tombs, grows big but small, and makes for a fabulous alleé. The slogan of this episode? Right Tree, Right Place.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this woody episode of Completely Arbortrary, we discuss the jewel of the east, the Northern red oak (Quercus rubra). Wood facts, wood terminology, bad wood jokes—this is the episode that wood built!

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In our final installment of Completely Arbortrary’s Excellent Adventure, we take it all the way back to the year 0, Kazakhstan, where we discuss the wolf to our apple’s dog, the Wolf apple (Malus sieversii). Today, we know apple as a supermarket produce section monopolizers, but these are simply the domesticated version of the wild animal that is sieversii, a Kazakhstani native from a different time.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

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Find Arbortrary merch on our store

Find additional reading on our website

Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.