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News & Events, March 2009
Dear Friend,
The Friends of Mount Auburn is pleased to present the March 2009 edition of our electronic newsletter. We invite you to join our email list to receive this mailing on a monthly basis. If you haven't done so already, click the link above to verify your interest in receiving our newsletter. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add friends@mountauburn.org to your address book today.
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 "Winter Tree & Shrub Identification and Signs of Spring"
Join Mount Auburn's President, Dave Barnett, at 2:00 P.M. on Thursday, March 19th, for this walk to observe early signs of spring. Learn how to identify some of the most interesting trees and shrubs at Mount Auburn by their buds, twig and bark characteristics. Hot refreshments and an indoor quiz will bring the walk to a warm conclusion.
In case of severe weather, our alternative date is Friday, March 20th. Please register online for this and other programs at Mount Auburn.
$5 for members of the Friends and $10 for non-members.
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Horticultural Highlight
Admired around the world for thousands of years, the tall and majestic Cedrus libani is perhaps the most widely known of all the cedars and is more commonly referred to as the Cedar of Lebanon.
The tree is native to Lebanon, Syria and southern Turkey, but has been of great significance to many civilizations around the world.
Cited in a myriad of texts throughout history - in religion, culture, medicine and mythology - the coniferous Cedar of Lebanon is truly a tree for all seasons and all people. A symbol of fertility in biblical times, used in various religious and civil ceremonies by dignitaries around the globe, the "dwelling place of the gods" according to the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the national emblem of Lebanon, the Cedrus libani has been important to Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Persians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Jews, ancient Phoenicians and the Turks of the Ottoman Empire.
Ancient Phoenicians used the tree to build their houses, temples, palaces and ships. Others used pitch and bark from the tree in the treatment of toothaches and leprosy and to keep snakes away. Sawdust from the tree has been discovered in pharaoh's tombs. Legend even suggests that Jews may have once burned Lebanese cedar wood on the Mount of Olives to ring in the new year.
The Cedar of Lebanon has broad, expansively spreading horizontal branches, 1 ½ inch bluish-gray to dark-green needles and 4-inch barrel-shaped cones. The tree on Central Avenue at the Cemetery is just a short walk from the entrance gate and is number 14 on the "Big Trees of Mount Auburn" map (and number 23 on the Cemetery's "Unusual Trees" map).
Although widely planted as an ornamental tree in gardens, parks and arboreta around the world, very few original forests of Cedrus libani survive in their native habitat due to extensive deforestation - there is now an active and ongoing effort to regenerate forests in those areas through extensive replanting and conservation.
"A Field Guide to Mount Auburn's Interesting Conifers," "Big Trees at Mount Auburn" and "Unusual Trees of Mount Auburn" are all available for purchase at the Entrance Gate to the Cemetery.
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 Mount Auburn Book Club
Join us at 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, March 12th, for Mount Auburn's Book Club. Each month, we read a different book, fiction as well as non-fiction, that speaks to one of Mount Auburn's many facets - history, horticulture, nature, or the lives of those commemorated here.
This month we will discuss American Chestnut: The Life, Death and Rebirth of A Perfect Tree by Susan Freinkel (2007). The opening lines of Longfellow's poem The Village Blacksmith are "Under a spreading Chestnut-tree / the village smithy stands." Mount Auburn is an arboretum of great renown, with over 5,000 trees, although no American chestnuts exist within the Cemetery itself. This book tells the story of the American chestnut and the mysterious blight that infected these majestic trees in the early 20th-century.
Meet at Story Chapel, coffee and tea will be served. FREE.
Visit mountauburn.org to learn about other programs at the Cemetery.
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 Birds & Birding at Mount Auburn
A member of the Bombycillidae family, the Cedar Waxwing is a medium-sized frugivorous songbird that may have waxy red appendages on the tips of their secondary wings.
Grayish-brown on top and with a yellow belly, the Cedar Waxwing is 6-7 inches long with a wingspan of 9-12 inches, and a crest of feathers on its head. Perhaps the most striking feature of the bird is the black "mask" outlined in white across its face.
The tail of the Cedar Waxwing is usually yellow or orange, depending upon its diet - if a waxwing eats a particular species of Eurasian honeysuckle berries while growing their tail feather, the red pigment from the berry will cause the tip of the feather to become orange instead of yellow.
The Cedar Waxwing has a very high-pitched whistle that sounds like "bzeee" or "sreee" and gets its name from the source of one of its favorite foods - the small cones of the evergreen Juniperus virginiana - more commonly referred to as the Eastern Red Cedar tree.
One of the few frugivorous temperate dwelling birds, the Cedar Waxwing can survive on berries and fleshy-fruit for many months - with small insects becoming an important part of their diet during the breeding season.
During winter at the Cemetery, you may find these birds feasting at one of their favorite "Mount Auburn trees": Mountain Ash, Hawthorne, Japanese Pagoda and of course Eastern Red Cedar. In the spring, the birds like to feed on running sap, and can actually be vulnerable to alcohol intoxication after feeding on fermenting fruit!
Social and non-territorial, Cedar Waxwings are often one of the last spring migrants and have been known to travel and feed in large flocks of 40 or more birds - some even perching in a line along a branch to pass berries to one another.
The bird breeds in open woodland areas - farms, suburban gardens, parks, golf courses and cemeteries that have well-spaced small trees and shrubs - in southern Canada and the northern United States. Very localised breeders at Mount Auburn Cemetery, there are usually never more than a few pairs of Cedar Waxwings here - if at all - during some seasons.
Photo of Cedar Waxwing; courtesy of George McLean, Medford, MA.
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Birds and Birding at Mount Auburn Cemetery: An Introductory Guide is regularly available for purchase at the Cemetery from 8:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. everyday (except holidays). The cost is $8.00. Copies are available by mail order by sending payment to the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, ATT: Bird Guide, 580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Please include the cost $8.00, plus $2.00 for mailing and handling (total $10) for each copy ordered.
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Remarkable Women Walking Tour
Join us at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, March 21st, for the "Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet: Some Remarkable Women at Mount Auburn" walking tour.
On this walk celebrating National Women's History Month, we will visit the memorials of women who dedicated their lives to improving the planet for future generations, from co-founder of Massachusetts Audubon Society, Harriet Lawrence Hemenway, to landscape architect Rose Standish Nichols. We will also talk about what Mount Auburn is doing today to create a greener Cemetery for the surrounding community.
$5 per person for members of the Friends and $10 for non-members.
Please register online for this and other programs at Mount Auburn. ___________________________________________________________________ |
Think green. Do not print this email and you will help to conserve valuable resources. Thank you!
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You can now join or renew your membership in the Friends of Mount Auburn quickly, securely and easily online! The Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in 1986 as a non-profit educational trust to promote the appreciation and preservation of Mount Auburn. Join the Friends of Mount Auburn. Learn about volunteer opportunities at Mount Auburn.
Mount Auburn Cemetery is still a unique choice for burial and commemoration. It offers a wide variety of innovative interment and memorialization options for all. Learn about Mount Auburn's many burial and memorialization options.
Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery
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