I live in Michigan. I visited Funk's Grove in McLean County this weekend. Near the restored church I saw a tree I cannot identify. All around were gravestones and historical monuments. This tree was about 30 feet high, shaped like a pyramid, leafless with light airy branches with tiny thorns, seed pods of some sort too high for me to describe, and reddish bark like a cypress. I have spent 2 hours in the Internet trying to find its likeness to no avail. Could you direct me to a resource to solve the mystery? Thanks!

Greetings Cassandra:

Fortunately, I'm very familiar with Funks Grove in McLean County. Without a picture image to base my answer upon, I'm going to go out on a limb (ha-ha) and say the tree might be black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). It has seed pods and thorns on its branches. However, I can't say that it has bark similar to baldcypress or much of a pyramid shaped crown. Now, there is a tree located in the area you are describing that is called Dawn Redwood, which is very similar in appearance to baldcypress but does not have seed pods like a legume (redbud, honeylocust, Kentucky coffeetree, black locust, etc.). However, the Dawn Redwood at Funks Grove is more like 60-ft.

Check the two trees I mentioned above (black locust & Dawn Redwood) on the Web to see if one of them resembles the tree you stumbled across in Funks Grove...