New Signs, Tags and Post Labels

An arboretum is a collection of trees. Proper signage helps visitors learn their names and tell them apart. Routine maintenance of the Centenary Arboretum includes making new signs and replacing old ones.

Signs display the common name followed by the binomial (also called 'Latin') name. These signs may look fresh, but only the labels are new. The green signs are made of a hard, sturdy plastic; they can be used again and again. Believe it or not, rodents pose the greatest threat to the longevity of the plastic signs.

Squirrels gnaw on the plastic signs. What exactly are they looking for? Because squirrels will chew bones for calcium, it is possible that they confuse these signs with bones.

 

Characteristic squirrel damage

Long ago, Dr. Leuck purchased the raw material for these signs, the green plastic, in large sheets. He then cut it into small rectangles before drilling two holes through the new signs. Pictured above is the last remaining sign, which was, for years, used as the template for drilling holes. Is Hermes Incorporated still open for business? We'll eventually have to find out, as the signs are slowly destroyed by weather, entropy, and tree-dwelling rodents.

 

If we had a green sign for every individual in the arboretum collection, the landscape would be too cluttered. Each tree and shrub species receives at minimum one green sign. Sometimes, yellow tags are used to label additional representatives of that species.

Tags have the common name on one side and the binomial name on the other.

A few maroon tags will be added to the landscape this time, simply to try something new.

Post labels are used for some individuals. Some individuals are limbless or so small that they can't support a tag, so the post that marks their location carries the label.

For instance, we have a cypress knee coming up in the grass, a good distance away from the trunk of the tree. The post is there to protect the knee from lawn mower blades and the label explains what is being protected.