Annie Louise Wilkerson Tree Trail Brochure

16. Sweetgum The five-pointed leaves look a bit like a maple’s, but the spiny “gumballs” full of seeds are unique to this tree. The 20. Common Persimmon Epps Forest Loop sap tastes sweet. Only female persim- mons grow round, Tree Guide 17. Eastern Red Cedar smooth, orange fruits. Named for its red- When fully ripe in late dish decay re- fall, the fruits are sticky- sistant wood, this sweet and enjoyed by tree has tiny prickly wildlife and people. evergreen needles, shredding bark, *Illustrations from “The Illustrated Book and dark berries (on female trees). of Trees” by William Carey Grimm. (Permissions by Stackpole Books.) — 18. Tulip Poplar Umbrella Magnolia from “The Trees of This cousin to the America” by D. J. Browne, New York: magnolias also has Harper Brothers, 1851—Southern Sug- large flowers and ar Maple from “The Silva of North seeds in a America” by Charles Sprague Sargent, cone-like fruit, but Boston: Houghton Miffliin, 1891. it grows so tall (to 200’) that the For more information, tree field guides flowers can be hard to see. are available in the park office – or ask our educators about upcoming pro- grams to learn more about our native 19. Flowering Dogwood trees! This tree is the offi- cial State Flower of North Carolina (the pine is the State Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Tree). Look for its Nature Preserve Park white blossoms in 5229 Awls Haven Drive the spring, just af- Raleigh, NC 27614 ter the redbud trees bloom. 1. Mockernut Hickory 5. American Beech 9. Loblolly Pine Is that one leaf, or This tree has very “Loblolly” was an old seven? It’s really just smooth, gray name for a lazy per- one. Hickories have bark. It would be son, and these pines compound leaves with easy to write on, grow in old fields. five to seven “leaflets”, But as the #1 timber and long ago, but they all grew from tree in NC, you could just one leaf bud. people did. The call loblolly our hardest-working tree. name “beech” may come from the same root as our word “book”. 2. Black Walnut 10. Shortleaf Pine This tree also has This common Pied- compound leaves— 6. Hornbeam mont pine has 4” and more leaflets than needles (shorter than Hornbeam has a hickory! Black wal- loblolly pine’s 6” smooth bark, but its nut is highly valued for needles, hence the trunk ripples, almost its delicious nuts and name). All pine like muscles under fine dark wood. seeds are food for birds, squirrels, and skin. The wood is very forest mice. strong; “musclewood” is another name for 3. Eastern Redbud 11. Sourwood We may call it “red”- Sourwood leaves bud, but look for it in 7. White Oak and twigs really do April to see the many Named for its whitish taste sour— like a small, pink flowers bark, this is the most sour apple. But that bloom on the widespread oak in the Sourwood Honey, branches before the Piedmont. They can made by bees with leaves emerge. live to be 400 years nectar gathered from old and grow to huge the white flowers, is a sizes. sweet treat. 4. American Holly This prickly evergreen 8. Northern Red Oak 12. Black Gum is famous for Red oaks, like many Also called a wintertime decorating. trees, can form a “tupelo,” this tree Female trees grow rounded growth over looks its best in the the red berries, an an injury (as seen fall, when its leaves important food source here). These “burls” (often the first to for birds in winter. can grow to very large change color) turn sizes! bright scarlet-red. .

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