Completely Arbortrary

Latest Episodes:

水杉 (Dawn Redwood 2) May 11, 2023

Show notes

The dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) was once the water fir, a tree endemic to a small valley in China. But thanks to the likes of Chinese foresters, a Japanese paleobotanist, and American plant explorers, this tree is now a worldwide sensation. Join us as we journey to China, 3,000,000 BC and 1940s Japan to witness the birth of a forest giant.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

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Episode II: Attack of the Cones (Douglas-fir 2) May 04, 2023

Show notes

It’s Completely Arbortrary’s Excellent Adventure! To begin this journey through tree-time and tree-space, we revisit the crown of the Pacific Northwest and the very first tree we covered on this podcast, the Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). A long-lived tree with indigenous significance, modern lumber hypersignificance, and a huge native range, the Douglas-fir has few downsides. Learn new facts about this arboreal everyman and its family on this bodacious episode of Completely Arbortrary’s Excellent Adventure!

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

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Find Arbortrary merch on our store

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

BONUS EPISODE - How Do Trees Die? Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

CW: Death

Straight from the Patreon (patreon.com/arbortrarypod) we give you this HUGE two-parter-turned-one-parter episode on how trees die. What does it mean to "die"? And how is human death different than tree death? Hear all about the process and the philosophy behind tree death in this unlocked bonus episode! We'll be back next with an excellent new series of Completely Arbortrary.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

Follow along on Instagram

Find Arbortrary merch on our store

Find additional reading on our website

Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Botreemian Sapsody (Kentucky Coffeetree) Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

Oh, Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus), how we love you (please love us back). A tree living out of its time that makes every effort to thwart attention and interaction, the Kentucky coffeetree may be the most curmudgeonly tree ever discussed on Completely Arbortrary. Learn about indigenous dice games, ecological anachronism, poisonous parts and scarification—this truly is a tree that hurts to know and must be hurt to grow.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

Follow along on Instagram

Find Arbortrary merch on our store

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Burnt Wood Plank (Sugi) Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

To conclude our miniseries on logging, we discuss sugi (Crytomeria japonica), a unique conifer that hails from the forests of Japan. In a nation spared by colonization, where tradition and modernity coexist, sugi and its growing and processing methods are emblematic of this non-dichotomous dynamic. Yakisugi (or burnt cedar) is a method of treating sugi wood by means of fire, creating a phoenix-like rise from the ashes, making the wood more impermeable, and more resistant to insects and decay. Then, we play Family Tree: Mario Edition!

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

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Find Arbortrary merch on our store

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Arboreal Corn (Monterey Pine) Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

What do you get when you treat trees like corn? A plantation, of course. And a whole lot of Monterey pine (Pinus radiata). A tree that grows stubby and wonky in its native range, the Monterey pine grows like a poster child for logging in New Zealand, where its stick-straight form makes it the tree of choice for an unthinkably large swath of logging land. But oh, that cone...

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

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Find Arbortrary merch on our store

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Under The Tree (Jarrah) Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to Australia, land of strange plants. Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) is no exception! This superfluously hardwooded tree of the Darling Range of western Australia is home to many a marsupial, and sports an astronomically deep root system. But when it caught the attention of voracious European loggers for its striking wood, Jarrah's future turned irreversibly grim.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

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Find Arbortrary merch on our store

Find additional reading on our website

Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wet Hot American Lumber (Eastern White Pine) Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

Logging has seen a stark evolution since its origins. What started as a wildly dangerous and often deadly process done largely by hand is now a multibillion dollar industry facilitated by manmade machines. Herein we meet our character, the eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), a ghost from the early days of American logging. In the first of a short series on logging, we hear the tragic tale of this quintessential pine species and the lumber barons who ensured its demise.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

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Find Arbortrary merch on our store

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Queen of the Canoe Crops (Noni) Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

1000 years ago, Polynesians reached the islands of Hawaii. On their seaworthy canoes were only a handful of plant species, but among them was the divisively flavorful botanical wonderdrug known as noni (Morinda citrifolia). Known for its funky flavors and breadth of influence on traditional Hawaiian medicine, this pan-tropical tree knows how to grow just about anywhere a canoe can bring it. Learn all about noni and the much broader classification of 'fruit', this week on Completely Arbortrary.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

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Find Arbortrary merch on our store

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Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Tree's Knees (Bald Cypress) Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

The devil went down to Georgia, where the Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) lives its days in peace and harmony. This record-breakingly long-lived tree found the perfect place to call home--the swamps of the Southeastern United States. There, it sheds stereotypes as well as it sheds its needles, growing with grace and beauty against the harsh and dreary landscapes in which it resides. This deciduous conifer is without a doubt and from top to bottom a unique species. Then, we play a new game all about puns: A Little Bit Puntree, A Little Bit Log and Soil.

Completely Arbortrary is produced and hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson

Support the pod and become a Treemium Member

Follow along on Instagram

Find Arbortrary merch on our store

Find additional reading on our website

Cover art by Jillian Barthold

Music by Aves and The Mini-Vandals

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.