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Maps by
Macalester College Geography Department

How do trees know it's spring? What happens if the leaves come out too early? How do my leaves fit into the food chain? Is it true that some songbirds arrive from the Tropics just as the leaves emerge on my trees?

We hope you'll explore these and other questions by reporting when leaves emerge on your trees.

Try This!

How to Participate in Journey North's Leaf-out Study

Sugar Maple

Please report to Journey North when leaves on trees of any of these 4 species emerge.

Our definition of "leaf-out" is...

When leaves are the size of a quarter.

Flowering Dogwood

Redbud

Quaking Aspen

Steps:

  • Adopt a local tree of one of the species above.
  • Visit your adopted tree on a regular basis. Sketch the buds on the same small branch each time you visit.
  • Watch the bud open, the tree bloom, and the leaves emerge.
  • Report to Journey North when your tree's leaves are the size of a U.S. (or Canadian) quarter—our definition of "leaf-out."
  • Using Leaf-out data reported by others, map spring's progress across the hemisphere:

to Display Latest Leaf-out Records


to View Latest Map

 

 
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