MORTON PARK Tree Walk

MORTON PARK Tree Walk 1 White Ash 19 20 2 River Birch 21 3 River Birch 4 English Elm 22 5 Turkish Oak 18 6 Turkish Oak 23 7 River Birch 8 Tulip Tree 24 MORTON PARK 9 Turkish Oak 17 25 10 Willow Oak 15 11 Kwanzan Cherries 12 Dawn Redwood 26 14 13 European Larch 16 13 14 Blue Atlas Cedar 4 12 15 European Larch 27 Meikle Avenue 16 Japanese Umbrella Pine 11 10 Coggeshall Avenue Coggeshall 34 5 17 American Sweetgum 33 6 28 3 18 London Planetree 2 9 7 8 19 London Planetree 29 32 1 20 Black Gum 30 31 21 Horsechestnut 22 Little-leaf Linden 23 Crimean Linden Morton Avenue 24 American Hornbeam 25 Black Walnut 26 Winged Elm Morton Park was originally graded and planted by Allen Smith Izard in preparation to 27 Goldenrain Tree build a grand Newport villa, but the Civil War intervened, ending his plans. 28 Sugar Maple The land was purchased by Levi P. Morton and given to the City in 1886 to be used 29 European Beech solely as a public space. Morton was the 22nd Vice President of the United States and 30 Tulip Tree 31st Governor of New York. Later, as Minister to France, he drove the very first rivet 31 Weeping European Beech into the Statue of Liberty (in her big toe). 32 Turkish Oak 33 Washington American Elm Early on, the park’s high bluff was a popular location to view events at the former polo grounds to the west. The lower meadow was once Newport’s primary baseball 34 Macho Amur Corktree field, used by high school and semi-pro teams alike since as early as 1876. SPONSORED BY: In 1893, the Newport Park Commission hired Frederick Law Olmsted to redesign the park. Olmsted—co-designer of Central Park in New York—added a bandstand, restrooms and paths. Large trees and shrubs were planted in an irregular pattern around the border of the open field to create an idealized, pastoral affect. In 2007, Morton Park was permanently protected through a partnership between the Aquidneck Land Trust and the City of Newport. 1 White Ash 8 Tulip Tree 14 Blue Atlas Cedar Fraxinus americana Liriodendron tulipifera Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’ This tree is beloved by children who crawl The tulip tree’s distinctive leaves mimic the A popular ornamental tree valued for its into the hole at the base of the trunk. bloom of the tulip and turn a rich butter- silvery blue-green needles and symmetry. yellow in fall. Its distinctive flowers are Its name comes from the tree’s native All ash trees are threatened by the Emerald yellow-green and banded with orange at home in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Ash Borer, an invasive green beetle that is the petals’ base. Africa. decimating all species of the ash family. 36 states including Rhode Island have 9 Turkish Oak 15 European Larch confirmed infestations. Its impact is expected to be catastrophic, comparable Quercus cerris Larix decidua to that of the Chestnut Blight and Dutch Elm Disease. 10 Willow Oak 16 Japanese Umbrella Pine Quercus phellos Sciadopitys verticillata 2 River Birch The willow oak prefers warmer Not a true pine and the only member of Betula nigra temperatures and is only marginally hearty its family, the Japanese umbrella pine is An ornamental tree valued for its in Newport. Seasonal winter twig dieback a sought after specimen evergreen. Its exfoliating bark. The color and texture and spring re-budding has resulted in the large, green needles are arranged in a change with age and is most appreciated in dense “witches’ broom” effect form that is circle creating an upside down umbrella winter. Note the contrast in bark between not seen in its native range. Its thin, narrow shape. Touch the needles, as they have a this mature birch and the younger one leaves are similar to that of the willow tree. distinctive texture. (3) beside the playground. This is the one birch species resistant to the deadly bronze 11 Semicircle of Kwanzan Cherry Trees 17 American Sweetgum birch borer. River birch was a favorite of Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’ Liquidambar styraciflua Olmsted and it is likely that this mature specimen was planted under his direction. These cherries were planted by Robert In 1894, Charles Eliot wrote to Olmsted Burrows, head gardener for the Harold that “Several fine specimens of the native Brown Villa on Bellevue Avenue. The liquidambar are found at the base of the 3 River Birch compact grouping of these trees is a rocks.” Today, some very old sweetgums Betula nigra beautiful sight when the double pink can still be found at this location, with a flowers fall to the ground, creating a bed of new generation growing nearby. 4 English Elm pink petals. In the center of the semicircle Ulmus procera planting is a base that likely supported The sweetgum can be identified by its a Japanese lantern similar to the one in deeply furrowed bark, winged branches Genetic testing has shown that the English Touro Park. and star-shaped leaves. The tree’s elm did not originate there, but instead distinctive spiky, ball-shaped fruit supports was brought to the British Isles from Italy a wide range of birds and small animals. 12 Dawn Redwood or Turkey, most likely by the Romans who used the tree to train grape vines. Metasequoia glyptostroboides As part of the Newport Heritage Tree This 50 million year old species, originally Restoration Project, The Newport Tree 5 Turkish Oak identified in fossil records, was thought Conservancy is growing a new generation Quercus cerris to be extinct prior to 1941, when a small of sweetgum trees using seeds from this stand was identified in China. In 1948 very tree. Not to be confused with the American an expedition from Harvard’s Arnold turkey oak (Quercus laevis), this Eurasian Arboretum collected seed and dispersed 18 London Planetree species is relatively rare outside of an them to colleagues around the world. Platanus x acerifolia arboretum. Newport is fortunate to have a large collection of striking mature This is one of the few deciduous conifers, The London planetree is not a true specimens. The acorns are a great source of shedding its needles in winter unlike most species, but a hybrid produced from a food for wildlife. Stand back to appreciate other conifers that keep their needles all cross between the American sycamore, the tree’s mighty form and picturesque year. There is a collection of deciduous Platanus occidentalis and the Asian branching structure. conifers as you walk up the rock bluff planetree, Platanus orientalis). The exact including Larch and Baldcypress. origin of the tree remains a point of 6 Turkish Oak debate, with estimates of its first Quercus cerris 13 European Larch hybridization dating to the mid 17th Larix decidua century. Note the difference in the form and branch structure of this immature Turkish oak, Another deciduous conifer, this tree was The London planetree has been planted in propagated from locally collected acorns. introduced in colonial times and is native urban environments for hundreds of years to northern and central Europe. The fine- due to its tolerance of pollution. Its distinct textured foliage is green in the summer, exfoliating, camouflage-like bark is easily 7 River Birch spotted throughout Newport. Betula nigra turning distinctive ochre yellow in the fall. 19 London Planetree 26 Winged Elm 32 Turkish Oak Platanus x acerifolia Ulmus alata Quercus cerris Look for the corky ridges along this elm’s 20 Black Gum 33 Washington American Elm branches that lend the tree its name. Nyssa sylvatica Ulmus americana ‘Washington’ The black gum, also known as tupelo, 27 Goldenrain Tree Although many American elms have supports a range of wildlife that love its Koelreuteria paniculata been lost to Dutch Elm Disease since prominent bluish black fruit. The black the infection reached the U.S. in the mid gum’s smooth young bark furrows and Spindly yellow-orange flowers consume 1920s, the ‘Washington’ cultivar has been cracks with age, giving mature bark the the goldenrain tree in late spring. In selected for its resistance to the disease. appearance of alligator hide. Its vibrant fall autumn, the tree develops golden, papery color is awash in combinations of yellow, seedpods resembling miniature lanterns. The tree retains all of the stately stature and orange, scarlet and purple foliage. strength that once made the American elm Native to eastern China, the Korean the dominant tree in the urban landscape. peninsula, and Japan, the goldenrain tree New selections like the ‘Princeton’ variety 21 Horsechestnut was first introduced to Europe in the mid- have been developed with even greater Aesculus hippocastanum 1700s. In 1809, it made its first known resistance. Prized for its showy white flowers in appearance in the United States when Thomas early May, this tree is well represented Jefferson received a shipment of seeds from 34 Macho Amur Corktree throughout the city. Newport also has a a French aristocrat and fellow botany-lover, Phellodendron amurense ‘Macho’ reddish-pink flowering variety:Aesculus x with whom he often traded plants. carnea. Native to Eastern Asia, the amur cork 28 Sugar Maple tree has a light, porous bark, lending to its common name. Female amur corktrees are 22 Little-leaf Linden Acer saccharum considered invasive, but the ‘Macho’ variety Tilia cordata This is the quintessential New England is a fruitless male that will not reproduce. The little-leaf linden produces delicate shade tree drawing leaf peepers from white to light yellow fragrant flowers in around the world to enjoy its fall color and True cork that you might find in your wine the late summer that attract honeybees.

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