A surprising number of deciduous trees maintain some of last year's dead leaves well into late winter and even early spring. I took this picture of a young sugar maple on Feburary 18th of this year. However, it seems that lingering leaves on sugar maples are more the exception rather than the rule. It is very common, on the other hand, to find last year's leaves on young beeches and the lower limbs of white oaks of any age.

Pictured here is a more common sight in our PA woods: a copse of young beech trees with many of their previous year's leaves hanging on through the winter. This is not the case with the larger beech trees, although you sometimes see persistent leaves on their lower branches as well. Since the American beech is not often planted as a landscape tree, you will generally only see this demonstrated along the forest edge while driving or on your favorite woods trail.

White oaks, however, are frequently used in landscape and city street plantings. When you see a large tree with leaves this time of the year, it is most often the white oak.

I watch, every year, to note when the leaves are finally mostly gone from the oaks and beeches. However, I suddenly realize that the new leaves are emerging and the old ones gone. Perhaps I can finally nail down this spring the date range for the final demise of last year's leaves!