Cornaceae – dogwood family
Cornus florida
flowering dogwood
Sight ID characteristics
Vegetative Features:
• Leaf: 2 1/2-5" long, simple, opposite, deciduous, elliptical to ovate with arcuate venation and an entire margin.
• Bark: broken into small brown-black plates on mature trees. • Form: usually as several wide-spreading branches with a low dense crown – opposite branching gives candelabra form.
• Reproductive Features:
• Few, small, perfect, 4-parted flowers with inferior ovaries arranged in heads subtended by 4 notched, showy, white-pink bracts.
• Fruits are oval shaped drupes in heads of 5-6, red at maturity, with oval grooved stone.
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NOTES AND SKETCHES
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Cornaceae – dogwood family
Cornus nuttallii
Pacific dogwood
Sight ID characteristics
Vegetative Features:
• Leaf: 2 1/2-4 1/2" long, simple, opposite, deciduous, ovateelliptical with arcuate venation, margin may be sparsely toothed or entire.
• Bark: dark and broken into small plates at maturity. • Form: straight trunk and narrow crown in forested conditions, many-trunked and bushy in open.
• Reproductive Features:
• Many yellowish-green, small, perfect, 4-parted flowers with inferior ovaries arranged in dense in heads, subtended by 4-7 showy whitepink, petal-like bracts - not notched at the apex.
• Fruits are drupes in heads of 30-40, red at maturity and they have smooth stones.
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NOTES AND SKETCHES
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Cornaceae – dogwood family
Cornus sericea
red-osier dogwood
Sight ID characteristics
Vegetative Features:
• Leaf: 2-4" long, simple, opposite, deciduous and somewhat narrow ovate-lanceolate with entire margin.
• Twig: bright red, sometimes green splotched with red, white pith. • Bark: red to green with numerous lenticels; later developing larger cracks and splits and turning light brown.
• Form: small to medium sized shrub with numerous stems forming thickets up to 15! tall.
• Reproductive Features:
• Flowers small, perfect, 4-parted, inferior ovary, dull-white inflorescences about 2 inches across.
• Fruit a dull white to blueish drupe, 1/4 to 1/3 inch in diameter in rounded clusters.
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NOTES AND SKETCHES
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Hydrangeaceae – Hydrangea family
Philadelphus lewisii
mockorange (Syringa)
Sight ID characteristics
Vegetative Features:
• Leaf: opposite, simple, deciduous, ovate, 1-3” long, green above and paler below, margins nearly entire with a few glandular teeth on each side - (passes the Cornus test so beware!)
• Twig: slender, opposite, tan, and widely dichotomous. • Bark: light brown and shreddy. • Form: small to medium sized shrub with numerous stems forming thickets up to 15! tall.
• Reproductive Features:
• Flowers perfect, 4-petals and numerous stamens, inferior ovary, showy, white, solitary or clustered, about 1 inch in diameter, fragrant.
• Fruit small, brown, hard, 4-celled capsule, "” in diameter.
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NOTES AND SKETCHES
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Oleaceae – the olive family
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
green ash
Sight ID characteristics
Vegetative Features:
• Leaf: pinnately compound, opposite, 6-10" long, with 7-9 lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate or elliptical leaflets. Leaves are glabrous to pubescent (lots of variation).
• Twig: slender, opposite, tan, and widely dichotomous. • Bark: grayish brown and tightly furrowed. • Form: medium sized tree, 30-50' tall and 1-2' diameter at maturity.
• Reproductive Features:
• Dioecious, apetalous, male flowers in tight clusters, female flowers in panicles.
• Fruits are narrow, oblanceolate samaras ca. 1 1/4-2 1/4" long borne in loose panicles. Persistent on tree throughout winter.
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NOTES AND SKETCHES
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Oleaceae – the olive family
Syringa vulgaris
lilac
Sight ID characteristics
Vegetative Features:
• Leaf: simple, opposite, deciduous, 2–6” long, ovate to cordate, with pinnate venation, a acute to acuminate apex and an entire margin.
• Twig: slender, opposite, tan, and widely dichotomous. • Bark: gray to gray-brown, smooth on young stems, furrowed and flaking on older stems.
• Form: medium to large shrub or multi-stemmed small tree to 30!
• Reproductive Features:
• Flowers tubular, ca. 1” long, 4 petal lobes, usually lilac to mauve, occasionally white, arranged in a dense, terminal panicle.
• Fruit a capsule, 1–2 cm long, splitting in two to release the two winged seeds.
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NOTES AND SKETCHES
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