It is with serious misgivings that we are forced to announce that

Calvin Gatch Jr

is the winner of the Chambers Name That Tree Quiz. His shifty entry, Prunus americana is, begrudgingly, the correct answer, but only because of a very lenient naming system that allows Prunus americana var lanata as a synonym for Prunus mexicana S. Watson which is really what this tree is.

Family: Rosaceae (ro-ZAY-see-ay)
Genus: Prunus (PROO-nus)
Species: mexicana (meks-sih-KAY-nuh)
Synonym:Prunus americana var. lanata <--here is the offending, lax synonym! Cost us a jar of Maple Syrup!
Synonym:Prunus lanata
Synonym:Prunus mexicana var. flutonensis
Synonym:Prunus mexicana var. polyandra
Synonym:Prunus pensylvanica var. mollis

The following is an excerpt from a detailed description which can be found online here:

“From Missouri to Texas, Mexican plum sets the woods ablaze in late winter with splashes of white in an otherwise barren landscape……

Poking out of the still-dormant countryside, Mexican plum appears as a companion to redbud (Cercis canadensis), welcoming us to a warmer season ahead. Unlike the thicket-forming native plums, this fine specimen is a single-trunked, irregularly shaped tree reaching 25 feet tall and does not normally produce suckers. Where it’s not crowded it will spread as wide as a callery.”

As though this wasn’t enough, David Pentland, although incorrect in calling the tree a flowering dogwood (he was in good company given that Suzanne Skinner and Eleanor Kalish also offered that suggestion) correctly identified the site – between the Wild Steer Pasture and the Horse Pasture. Mind you, the real name for this site is the Horse Cemetery, since this is where Sweet Rocket, Honey and Dusty repose. That’ll probably cost us another jar of Maple Syrup!

Kudos to all the participants who were willing to “go out on a limb” …ouch….

Maple syrup is in the mail

The Management

Here’s another Chambers Quiz – Can anyone name the flowering tree in the photo? Extra credit – where is it located at M.A. ?

If you want more information, here’s a video clip that may help out…

If you want to compete, email your answers to our Chambers list (or post a comment here) – winner will get a jar of Dunnhill Organic Genetically Unmodified Free Range Maple Syrup, harvested at Moone Athy. Extra credit gets you a large jar of same…

Following in the footsteps of the peripatetic Chambers’ ancestors, Sarah Porter Law is leaving tracks all over South Asia. Hugh writes that

“Sarah worked as an intern for Paterson’s Consultancy in Chennai, doing research on Indian issues and markets. This week, she is starting with REGroup in KL, a real estate firm dealing in real-property management, management and commercial sales.”

We can all derive vicarious pleasure from the following photos – I won’t attempt to name the various wardrobes Sarah sports but Hugh can if you are interested…

	Dehli – the Taj Mahal
	The Red Fort of Agra
	Example of Mughal Architecture – Humayun’s Tomb near Dehli – with Sarah out front.
	Fatehpur Sikri, the deserted capitol of the Mughal emperor Akbar
	Hindu Temple near Chennai, Tamil Nadu
	Kodaikanal Hill Station in South India
	Dinner with Charles Lowenhaupt, Hugh’s law partner, in Chennai Tamil Nadu

From our stint in Kuala Lumpur in 1979 I can recall an apt Tamil phrase (my other two I can’t remember) – pronounced “nala pilla” – meaning, we were told, “Good Girl !”

Certainly applies to Sarah!