Week 2 Huntsville Botanical Native Tree Identification Class Instructor: Tracy Cook Garden
Order Common Name Scientific Name Characteristics Location Grid Notes
Bark: scaly-flaky Leaf: alternate, odd-pinnately compound, inequilateral 11-17 falcate (crescent shaped) leaflets, serrated 60-80 ft; tall, strait trunk, often buttressed Carya illinoinensis 11 Pecan w/black gland at the tip of each "tooth"; deciduous Flower: E of Trading Post K9 base, usually vase shaped canopy; (Juglandaceae) monoecious, pointed valvate bud, inconspicuous Fruit: nut yellow fall color surrounded by a very thin oblong seamed husk, edible
Bark: grey, narrow, lumpy, interlacing (diamond pattern), ridge & 60-80 ft; largest range of any ash: Nova furrow Leaf: opposite, odd-pinnately compound, (7)-9 glossy, Scotia to Alberta south to FL and TX; elliptic leaflets w/pointed tip, entire (smooth) to mid point & SW of week limbs (brittle), good yellow fall color; sparsely serrated (toothy margins) from mid point to tip; rachis is Demonstration Fraxinus pennsylvanica attracts birds; currently under scrutiny for 12 Green Ash zig-zagged; axillary bud is on top of the leaf scar (can be seen), Vegetable Garden; J10 (Oleaceae) signs of attack by the Emerald ash borer leaf scar strait-across; deciduous Flower: dioecious, NE of back (1/8 in "D" shaped holes in trunk, sudden inconspicuous, purplish, early spring Fruit: single winged, narrowly bathrooms crown die-back, bark splits, and obovate samara (flat baseball bat shape), hangs in clusters up to 3 epicormic sprouting). in long
Bark: thick, black/dark ridge & furrow Twigs: pubescent (fuzzy), light colored chambered pith Leaf: odd- and even-pinnately 60-90 ft; allelopathic: secretes juglandin, compound, 15-19 (up to 23) subopposite, lanceolate, serrated a substance that supresses the growth of Juglans nigra 13 Black Walnut leaflets, 3-lobed leaf scar; deciduous Buds: valvate, fuzzy W of Trading Post K9 other species; good yellow fall color; (Juglandaceae) Flower: monoecious, inconspicuous, up to 3" green male catkin wood very expensive, often used as a Fruit: nut in round, very hard un-seamed husk, held 2-3 per veneer cluster
Young Bark: smooth, grey & shiny w/prominent lenticels (horizontal stripes) Older Bark: very dark grey-black flaky-scaly, S of trunk often buttressed Leaf: alternate, simple, narrowly elliptic with Demonstration 30-100 ft; leaves are poisonous (cyanic Prunus serotina 14 Black Cherry pointed tip & base, serrated, red hairs along midvein, glands on Vegetable Garden; K10 acid); wood used to make fine furniture; (Rosaceae) petiole; deciduous Flower: monoecious, 1/2" showy white N of yellow fall color cylindrical clusters on ends of twigs after leaf-out Fruit: drupe Fort/sandcastle (cluster of hard berries) purple
Young Bark: smooth & warty Older Bark: "layered" ridge & furow; S of often ridge & furrow to first branches, then smooth/warty above 40-50 ft; short, strait trunk, some Demonstration Celtis occidentalis Leaf: alternate, simple, ovate, singly serrated, inequilateral base, branches appear twisted, bark looks like 15 Common Hackberry Vegetable Garden; K10 (Ulmaceae) light green, 3 prominent veins; deciduous Flower: monoecious, 'canyon' often gets insect galls, high pH W of Garden of green, held in clusters after leaf-out, inconspicuous Fruit: 1/4" red- indicator species Hope orange drupe Huntsville Botanical Native Tree Identification Class Instructor: Tracy Cook Garden
Order Common Name Scientific Name Characteristics Location Grid Notes
Bark: very small shallow "boxy" platelets Twig: green or reddish, white pith Leaf: opposite, simple, entire, broadly elliptic w/pointed S of tip, parallel veins curve toward leaf tip; deciduous Flower Buds: Demonstration 15-40 ft; native to E USA, often has Cornus florida 16 Dogwood very round, scaly, held on up-turned twigs Flowers: monoecious, Vegetable Garden; L10 spreading/layered crown - less (Cornaceae) tiny yellow/green tightly-packed cluster inside 4 large, notched, W of Garden of symmetrical in forest than in cultivation (white) or pink bracts (modified leaves); spring Fruit: 1/4" shiny Hope red oblong drupe, held in clusters on stalks; fall
Bark: redish-brown, shallow ridge & furrow to peeling/fibrous 50-70 ft; native to seasonally and Leaf: alternate; needles are flattened, .3-.8" long; deciduous Between Fern permanently flooded soils in SE USA; Taxodium distichum Flower: monoecious (both male pollen cones and female seed Glade & pyramidal form when young, fluted trunk, 17 Baldcypress K10 (Cupressaceae) cones on same plant), pendulus 4-5" clusters in spring Fruit: Demonstration produces "knees" in wet sites, taproot, closed round cone, .5-1" diameter, held in clusters, mature from Vegetable Garden rust colored fall color, longest living tree green to brown in the fall of eastern North America (~1620 years)
Bark: smooth & warty all the way to the base of the tree Leaf: 60-80 ft; short, strait trunk,often gets alternate, simple, ovate, entire to singly serrated, inequilateral Celtis laevigata insect galls, native to SE USA forested 18 Sugar Hackberry base, light green, 3 prominent veins; deciduous Flower: Fern Glade L9 (Ulmaceae) stream banks and rocky slopes, high pH monoecious, green, held in clusters after leaf-out, inconspicuous indicator species Fruit: 1/4" orange, red, or purple drupe (depending on ripeness)
Bark: grey, narrow, lumpy, interlacing (diamond pattern), ridge & furrow Leaf: opposite, odd-pinnately compound, (7)-9 glossy, 70-100 ft; E USA; week limbs (brittle), elliptic leaflets w/pointed tip, entire (smooth) to mid point & good yellow fall color; attracts birds; wood mid-Nature trail, sparsely serrated (toothy margins) from mid point to tip; rachis is favored to make baseball bats; currently Fraxinus americana acroos from Inga 19 White Ash zig-zagged; axillary bud is covered by petiole (can't be seen M8 under scrutiny for signs of attack by the (Oleaceae) Paul garden (in without removing leaf), leaf scar horseshoe shaped; deciduous Emerald ash borer (1/8 in "D" shaped trail) Flower: dioecious, inconspicuous, purplish, early spring Fruit: holes in trunk, sudden crown die-back, single winged, narrowly obovate samara (flat baseball bat shape, bark splits, and epicormic sprouting). but wider than Green Ash ), hangs in clusters up to 3 in long
Bark: grey-brown, shallow ridge & furrow irregular corky layers 40-60 ft; most common elm, prefers (smoother than U. rubra ) Leaf: alternate, simple, doubly serrated, S end upper low/moist sits but will adapt to high/dry; Ulmus alata inequilateral base; deciduous Twigs: grey-brown, hairless, often 20 Winged Elm dogwood trail, E N6 susceptible to Dutch elm disease (Ulmaceae) have corky wings Buds: pointy, redish, before leaf-out Flower: side of trail (vascular fungal disease, bark beetle monoecious, perfect, apetalous, inconspicuous Fruit: single round vector) papery samara, held in clusters each on a short stalk