A Man in Search of Trees

– By Robin Jovanovich –

At a ripe age, David Blank finds himself doing one of the things he loves most and does best: tree identification. As Leader of the Tree Group at The Osborn Retirement Community where he has lived since August 2001, Dr. Blank is single-handedly doing a survey of the 1,500 trees on the property. “I’m not being immodest when I say I’m the only one on campus who can do it and I have to do it myself,” he says.

He took on the assignment last spring and says it will take him another three years to complete. “Tree identification isn’t as simple and scientific as you think,” he states, “and I’ve only got a good six months to work in, from May to October. I have to have leaves to make a positive I.D. and then can confirm by the fruits and cones.” When he’s still not sure about a tree, he sends samples to a County arborist or a Cornell University botanist. “Even he’ll get back to me and say, ‘It appears to be…’”

To date, Dr. Blank has identified close to 300 trees and has drawn detailed maps for the Osborn crew who are putting plaques on all of them. “My map skills have really improved through this process,” says Dr. Blank, who worked for the National Bureau of Economic Research before moving to CBS where he was Chief Economist for nearly 30 years.

Dr. Blank speaks with such authority that it’s hard to believe his Ph.D. isn’t in botany, but he’s all self-taught. As a college student, he got a summer job in 1939 (and was rehired the following summer) as a tree scout with the Department of Agriculture. “Dutch Elm disease was starting to spread and they didn’t want what happened to chestnuts to happen to elms,” he reports. His assignment was in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. “I knew absolutely nothing about trees! I was told to look for yellowing leaves and other signs of distress.”

The job required him to throw a rope around a tree and then climb up it carrying a pole pruner. “I was scared stiff every time, but I somehow got up there.” He also learned to read an aerial map.

Always in possession of a curious mind, after a week of climbing and taking samples, he was bothered by the fact that he could only identify Dutch Elm Trees. “So I bought a book and started learning about trees.” One book he highly recommends owning is Michael Dirr’s “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.”

In his “salad days,” Dr. Blank said he and his late wife, Hilda, owned a two-acre property in Pleasantville and he could identify every tree. “I know one thing: tree watching is a lot easier than bird watching. For one thing, the tree doesn’t move.”

Dr. Blank has encouraged residents and families who want to contribute trees to give interesting varieties with some height. “My mission is beginning to bear fruit,” he says brightly. Recent donations have included a Paper Bark Maple, a Lace Bark Elm (his gift), a Shingle Oak and a Persian Parrotia.

“As a speaker from the Rye Nature Center explained to us in a talk soon after I moved here, The Osborn is an arboretum from the 100-year-old European Beeches at the entry and exit to the London Plane Trees to the magnificent Norway Spruces,” says Dr. Blank. The grounds also include Japanese Pagodas, Golden Rain Trees, Ginkgos and a rare Dawn Redwood planted from seeds brought from China in 1948. “The seeds were brought back by a botanist at Berkeley who convinced a very tough U.S. Customs official to allow them enter the country as ‘antiques,’ as they were from trees over 150 years old.”

The property has gone through three waves of landscaping in its 99 years, according to Dr. Blank. The first was under John Sterling, the attorney who hired the original architect and oversaw the landscaping. The memorial trees, mostly smaller-scale, were planted on the South end 50 years ago. The final phase occurred in the last decade as the apartments were completed.

The forecast for the trees at The Osborn is beautiful, canopied skies, with Dr. Blank as unofficial arborist. There are 600 native varieties and 60,000 worldwide. You can see his well-rooted mind imagining how many more kinds he can identify and get planted. “My goal is to ensure that we pass on the extraordinary legacy we inherited.”