Morton Arboretum : Search Objects :

January Calendar (3.19467)

Date: 1940s
Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Calendar for the month of January consisting of five rows and seven columns depicting days and dates from Sunday through Saturday, the 1st through the 31st. Each square has a date plus illustration and text, some of which anticipates the coming Spring and some which show reminders of the past year.

Header: January

Text and illustrations, from top to bottom, left to right:

(Friday, 1) [image of dogwood stems and buds] flowering dogwood is ready for Spring
(Saturday, 2) [image of hemlock needles and cones] small cones drip from the hemlock tips -
(Sunday, 3) [image of unidentified stems and fruit]
(Monday, 4) [image of one chickadee and a birdhouse]
(Tuesday, 5) [image of two chickadees and a birdhouse] chikca-dees stay to crack their seeds
(Wednesday, 6) [image of evergreen needles and star magnolia stems and buds] star mag-nolia buds are pale against evergreens
(Thursday, 7) [image of long-eared owl on branch of Norway spruce] long-eared owls look down from Norway spruce trees
(Friday, 8) [image of 2 pellets on ground beneath evergreen branch] 2 pellets under an owl roost contain skeletons of 2 deer mice
(Saturday, 9) [image of small animal bones on ground] when an owl pellet is pulled apart, evidence of sudden death is re-vealed
(Sunday, 10) [image of euonymus stems and fruit] Euonymus still holds some of the "little hearts bursting with love"
(Monday, 11) [image of birch stems, cones, and catkins] wind and birds have shattered birch cones but catkins are ready for Spring
(Tuesday, 12) [image of zumi crabapple stems and fruit] Zumi crabs still hold their fruit
(Wednesday, 13) [image of one cardinal and a birdhouse] the cardinal is back now that we have sunflower seeds again
(Thursday, 14) [images of canker-worms on a dogwood twig] on a dogwood twig, canker worms are ready for Spring
(Friday, 15) [images of evergreens and a hawthorn] hoar frost is on the hawthorns ---
(Saturday, 16) [image of redbud stems, buds, and fruit] on red-bud, flower buds are ready for next Spring, and pods recall last Spring's flowers
(Sunday, 17) [image of a bird on a tree branch]
(Monday, 18) [image of sycamore trunks and branches] sycamore bark
(Tuesday, 19) [image of trees and a trail] evergreen trail
(Wednesday, 20) [image of rhododendron stems and leaves] Rhododendron leaves pointing down say it's COLD!
(Thursday, 21) [image of a white Oak] white oaks hold last summer's leaves on lower branches
(Friday, 22) [image of a Norway spruce] Norway spruce holds long cones
(Saturday, 23) [image of pixie-cup lichens through a magnifying glass] there are Pixie-cup lichens in the spruce plot
(Sunday, 24) [image of two ostrich ferns] the fertile fronds of ostrich fern stand stiff and dark
(Monday, 25) [image of American cranberry-bush stems and fruit] high-bush cranberry wears puffs of snow
(Tuesday, 26) [image of winter wren in brush] the winter wren weaves through low brush
(Wednesday, 27) [image of hazel stems and catkins] hazel catkins feel softer
(Thursday, 28) [image of vernal witch-hazel and close-up of flower] vernal witch hazel is in bloom
(Friday, 29) [image of one set of raccoon tracks] raccoon tracks are plentiful after a mild night
(Saturday, 30) [image of two sets of deer mouse tracks with trail mark between] white-footed deer mouse hops past
(Sunday, 31) [image of three sets of Junco bird tracks] juncoes hop too

Extent: 1 sheet

An Example of Parallel Species (3.19471)

Date: 1940s
Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Illustrations comparing two parallel species of trees, one in America and one in Europe. Illustrations depict a branch with leaves and fruit.

Header: An example of parallel species

Illustrations from left to right:

one in southeastern America
- ironwood -- Ostrya virginiana
one in Europe
- European hornbeam -- Ostrya carpinifolia

Extent: 1 sheet

Three Trees Whose Relatives Are Largely In the Tropics (3.19472)

Date: 1940s
Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Illustrations of three types of leaves layered one on top of the other.

Text at center left: Three trees whose relatives are largely in the tropics

Illustrations from center outward:

Silver Bell
Fringe Tree
Paw-paw

Extent: 1 sheet

Four Plants Whose Relatives Are In Eastern Asia (3.19474)

Date: 1940s
Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Illustrations of leaves of four types of plants, including two with flowers.

Upper left text: Four plants whose relatives are in eastern Asia

Plants depicted, from left to right:

tulip tree
sweet gum
Jeffersonia
May apple

Extent: 1 sheet

Morton Arboretum Map (3.19479)

Date: 1943
Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Map
Description:2014 reprint of The Morton Arboretum's first color map, circa 1943.

Detailed map of Arboretum grounds, showing roads, paths, landscaping, shelters, structures, enlargement of some specific features, hedge garden, some specific trees, and trails with markers numbered 1 - 42. Other features include a scale, a calendar, and a compass rose consisting of directions depicted with leaves. A highly ornamental border includes grid marks, as well as drawings of animal tracks and detailed drawings and labels of plants. The Morton Arboretum encompassed 813 acres at time of map.

Extent: 1 sheet

Morton Arboretum Map (3.19481)

Date: 1943
Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Map
Description:Detailed map of Arboretum grounds, showing roads, paths, landscaping, shelters, structures, enlargement of some specific features, hedge garden, some specific trees, and trails with markers numbered 1 - 42. Other features include a scale, a calendar, and a compass rose consisting of directions depicted with leaves. A highly ornamental border includes grid marks, as well as drawings of animal tracks and detailed drawings and labels of plants. Some replacement illustration and text has been adhered to the map. The Morton Arboretum encompassed 813 acres at time of map. One section is partially missing.
Extent: 1 sheet

Tree Portraits: Persimmon (3.19514)

Date: 1940 – 1950
Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Painting
Description:Color silhouette of a Persimmon tree, including a nature print outline of a leaf, a drawing of a fruit, and descriptive text.

Header: PERSIMMON

Drawings and text, from top to bottom, left to right:

leaf: alternate
tree: opossum's tree; native from central Illinois southward; bark broken into block, showing orange underbark
fruit: astringent unless fully ripe

Extent: 1 sheet