Somerville Scavenger Hunt: Big Tree Edition!

Look up! See it? That tall, tall pine tree in someone’s front yard? (This one’s on Hamlet Street.)

Somerville has lots of tall, tall pine trees. Once you spot one, you’ll start to see these beauties all over town! Take a look out your window, or go out on a Tree Hunt by foot, if you can. Find the biggest, most gigantic trees you can––they might be pines or any type or variety––and see if you're able to figure out what they are!

The City of Somerville’s Urban Forestry Division has an online tree inventory map. (The Growing Center’s hornbeam is on it, which you might recognize if you’ve ever done a little tree-climbing there!)

Is your tree on the map? If not, don’t worry, there are online tree identification guides to use. Try this one from the Native Plant Trust. Or this one from the Arbor Day Foundation. Visit iNaturalist and learn more about the trees––both native and non-native––that occur in Massachusetts.

Maybe you’ll find the next “Great Tree of Somerville”… or maybe you’ll just give your favorite neighborhood tree a little extra appreciation!

Send pictures of the biggest ones you spot, as well as where they can be found, to volunteer@thegrowingcenter.org. We’ll update this post with them and share them on our Instagram!