Englewood Annual Tree Sale

Home , Corylus colurna, Fagus grandifolia, Fagus sylvatica

Briotti Red Horse chestnut (Aesculus xcarnea “Briotti” Height: 25 to 35 feet Spread: 25 to 35 feet

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist, fertile soils. Foliage tends to scorch and generally depreciate in dry conditions. Once established, it can be difficult to transplant because of its taproot. Plants produce viable seed. Although this is a hybrid form, new plants will generally come true from seed. Aesculus × carnea, commonly called red horse chestnut, is the result of a cross between A. hippocastanum and A. pavia that was discovered in Eu- rope in 1812. It is a small, oval to rounded, deciduous tree that grows 30-40’ tall, and is perhaps best noted for its attractive red flowers. It features dark green palmate compound leaves with 5 (less frequently 7) spreading ovate- oblong leaflets (6-10” long). Leaflets have doubly-toothed margins. Fall col- or is somewhat undistinguished. Very showy red flowers appear in upright terminal panicles (to 6-8” long) in mid-spring (May in St. Louis). Flowers are followed by slightly prickly husky capsules (1.5” diameter), each typically containing two or three nuts. Nuts are poisonous. Englewood Annual Tree Sale

Turkish Filbert (Corylus colurna) Height: 40 to 80 feet Spread: 30 to 50 feet Grow in acidic, organically rich, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in full sun. Tolerates average soils, but not unamended heavy clays. Newly planted trees need consistent moisture. Once established in the landscape, trees tolerate drought. Suckering may occur. Generally tolerant of urban conditions. Corylus colurna, commonly called Turkish hazel or Turkish filbert, is native from south- eastern Europe to western Asia. It is a pyramidal deciduous tree that grows to 40- 50’ (less frequently to 80’) tall. The trunk is short with dense, horizontal, low branching. Double-toothed, broad ovate to obovate, semi-glossy, bright green leaves (to 5” long) have hair on the veins beneath. Leaves turn variable but usually unexceptional shades of yellow in fall. Corky, mottled, tan to gray bark on mature trunks may flake to reveal an orange-brown inner bark. Monoecious flowers appear in catkins in spring. The male catkins (to 3” long) are not individually showy, but cumulatively can provide much interest in a March landscape. Tiny female catkins are largely hidden. Edible nuts appear in clusters of 3-6 with spiny and hairy involucre husks covering and extending beyond each nut. Nuts may be roasted and eaten, but are commonly left for the squirrels. This tree may be difficult to find in commerce. Other common names include Constantinople hazel and tree hazel. The filbert nuts produced in commerce come from hybrid plants Englewood Annual Tree Sale

Hardy Rubber Tree (Eucommia ulmoides) Height: 40 to 60 feet Spread: 30 to 50 feet Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to light shade. Best in full sun. Tolerates wide range of soil conditions except wet ones. Eucommia ulmoides, commonly called hardy rubber tree, is typically grown as an orna- mental shade tree because of its attractive glossy green foliage and its excellent re- sistance to insect and disease problems. It is native to China, but is possibly now extinct in the wild. It is a low-branching tree that typically grows 40-60’ tall with broad ascending branches and a rounded spreading crown. Dioecious with insignificant apetalous greenish brown male flowers (in clusters) and female flowers (solitary) on separate trees. Flowers bloom in April. Female flowers give way to flattened ash-like winged seeds (wings to 1.5” long). Serrate, elliptic to ovate, pointed, elm-like, glossy dark green leaves (3-6” long) remain attractive throughout the growing season. No fall color. As the common name suggests, rubber can in fact be made from the tree sap, but the extraction process is complicated and too costly for commercial application. Tear a leaf, break a twig or peel off some bark and a stringy latex-like sap appears. Englewood Annual Tree Sale

Green European Beech (Fagus sylvvatica) Height: 50 to 60 feet Spread: 35 to 50 feet Best grown in deep, rich, moist but well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Intolerant of wet, poorly drained soils. Difficult to transplant and does not always grow well in urban settings. Reportedly tolerates a wider range of soils than American beech. Fagus sylvatica, commonly called European beech, is a large deciduous tree typically growing to 50-60’ (less frequently to 100’) tall with a dense, upright-oval to rounded- spreading crown. It is native to woodlands in central and southern Europe. European colonists brought this tree to America in the mid-1700s and it has been a popular orna- mental shade tree since that time. European beech is primarily distinguished from the similar American beech (see Fagus grandifolia) by (a) smaller size, (b) darker gray bark, and (c) shorter leaves that have wavy mostly untoothed margins. It is a low-branched tree, with its trunk ranging from 2-3’ (less frequently 4’) in diameter. Trunks have distinc- tive bark that is thin, smooth and gray. Ovate to elliptic, lustrous dark green leaves (to 4” long) have wavy mostly toothless margins and prominent parallel veins. Foliage turns golden bronze in fall. Monoecious yellowish green flowers bloom in April-May, the male flowers in drooping, long-stemmed, globular clusters and the female flowers in short spikes. Female flowers give way to triangular nuts enclosed by spiny bracts. Beechnuts ripen in fall and are edible. Many cultivars are available in commerce in a variety of dif- ferent forms, leaf shapes and leaf colors. Englewood Annual Tree Sale

Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) Height: 60 to 80 feet Spread: 40 to 55 feet Best grown in moist, organically rich, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates poorer soils and drought. Avoid heavy clays however. Also adapts well to urban conditions. Suckers to form colonies in the wild. Gymnocladus dioica, commonly called Kentucky coffeetree or coffeetree, is a tall deciduous tree with rough, scaly gray-brown bark and large bipinnate compound leaves. It is native to the Midwest, primarily southern Michigan and Ohio southwest to Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. It grows 60-80’ (less frequently to100’) tall with an irregular open oval to obovate crown. In Missouri, it typically occurs in low or rich woods, bluff ba- ses and along streams (Steyermark). Large leaves to 3’ long, divided into 3-7 pairs of pinnae, with individual leaflets (1-3” long). Leaflets are blue-green in summer, turning an undistinguished yellow in fall. Larger trees typically cast light shade. As the specific epi- thet suggests, the species is dioecious (separate male and female trees). Greenish white flowers appear in late spring (May-June). Male flowers in clusters to 4” long. Fe- male flowers in panicles to 12” long. Female flowers are fragrant. Fertilized female flowers give way to flattened reddish brown pods (to 10”long) which ripen in October and persist well into winter. Native Americans and early American settlers, especially those in the Kentucky territory, roasted and ground the seeds to brew a coffee-like beverage (albeit no caffeine), hence the common name. Native Americans roasted the seeds for food. Seeds are very toxic prior to roasting, and should never be eaten fresh off the tree. Trees are late to leaf out in spring and are one of the first to drop leaves in the fall. Englewood Annual Tree Sale

Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostrobodies) Height: 70 to 100 feet Spread: 15 to 25 feet Best grown in moist, humusy, well-drained soils in full sun. Best foliage color is in full sun. Appreciates consistent moisture. Tolerates some wet soils. Metasequoia glyptostroboides, commonly called dawn redwood, is a deciduous, conifer- ous tree that grows in a conical shape to 100’ tall. It is related to and closely resembles bald cypress (Taxodium) and redwood (Sequoia). From fossil records, dawn redwood is known to have existed as many as 50,000,000 years ago. However, it was not until 1941 that it was first discovered growing in the wild near the town of Modaoqi, China by Chi- nese forester, T. Kan. Seeds collected from the original site were made available to the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1947. Seedlings grown therefrom were planted in front of the Lehmann Building at MBG in 1952 where they have now developed into large mature trees (70’+ tall). As the tree matures, the trunk broadens at the base and develops attractive and sometimes elaborate fluting. Bark on mature trees is often deeply fissured. It features linear, feathery, fern-like foliage that is soft to the touch. Foliage emerges light green in spring, matures to deep green in summer and turns red-bronze in fall. Trees are monoecious, producing oval, light brown female cones (3/4” long) and pendant globose male cones (1/2” long). The twigs, needles and cone scales are in opposite pairs. Englewood Annual Tree Sale

Amur Corktree (Phellodrendron Amurensis) Height: 30 to 45 feet Spread: 30 to 60 feet Best grown in fertile, humusy, medium moisture, well-drained loams in full sun. Prefers consistently moist soils, but established trees tolerate some drought. Tolerates many urban air pollutants. Freely reseeds in optimum growing conditions, however, female trees need a male pollinator to produce fruit/seeds. This tree has escaped cultivation in parts of the northeastern U.S. where it is somewhat aggressively spreading into some native hardwood forest areas. Phellodendron amurense, commonly called Amur cork tree, is a deciduous tree with a rounded, broad-spreading crown. It is noted for its attractive shape, bark and foliage. It is indigenous to moist soils in the valley of the Amur River which serves as the boundary between Siberia and China. It typically grows 30-45’ tall with a short trunk and low horizontal branching. Some mature specimens at the Missouri Botanical Garden have very large lower branches that gracefully dip to touch the ground many feet from the trunk. Grayish-brown bark on mature trees is ridged and corky. Compound, odd-pinnate, yellowish green to green leaves have 5-11 leaflets (each leaflet to 4 1/2” long). Foliage turns an undistinguished yellow in fall. This species is dioecious (separate male and female trees). Non-showy, yellowish green flowers appear in panicles in May-June. Polli- nated flowers on female trees give way to fleshy pea-sized fruits (1/2” diameter drupes) which mature to black in fall (October) and persist well into winter. Foliage and fruits are unpleasantly aromatic when bruised, which is somewhat characteristic of the Rue family to which this stately tree belongs. Englewood Annual Tree Sale

Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) Height: 60 to 80 feet Spread: 60 to 80 feet Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Prefers moist well- drained loams, but adapts to a wide range of soil conditions. Good drought tolerance. May take up to 35 years for this tree to bear a first crop of acorns. Quercus macrocarpa, commonly called bur oak or mossycup oak, is one of the most ma- jestic of the native North American oaks. It is a medium to large sized deciduous oak of the white oak group that typically grows 60-80’ (less frequently to 150’) tall with a broad- spreading, rounded crown. Acorn cups are covered with a mossy scale or bur near the rim, hence the common names. It is native to a variety of habitats in central and eastern North America. Best growth occurs in bottomland soils, particularly in the Ohio River valley. In Missouri, it typically occurs in low woods and stream valleys in the Ozark region, but on dry upland soils in the unglaciated parts of the state north of the Missouri River (Steyermark). Insignificant monoecious yellowish-green flowers in separate male and female catkins appear in spring as the leaves emerge. Fruits are oval acorns (to 1 1/2” long), with fringed, burry cups that extend to approximately 1/2 to 3/4 the acorn length. Acorns are an important source of food for wildlife. Leathery, dark green leaves (6-12” long) with 5-9 rounded lobes are variable in shape, but usually have a pair of deep central sinuses that extend nearly to the midrib giving the leaf a waisted appearance. Fall color is an undistinguished yellow-brown. Twigs sometimes are ridged with corky wings.