Deciduous Conifers and Broadleaf Trees: Taxodium, Metasequoia, Platanus, Ulmus, Celtis, Ginkgo, Fraxinus, Koelreuteria, Pistacia, Firmiana

Taxodium

A genus of 3 species, all of which are deciduous.

Baldcypress

Common names for Taxodium distichum, also known as Swamp Cypress.

Deciduous

Referring to trees/shrubs that shed their leaves annually.

Taxodium distichum

A species of Taxodium, commonly known as Baldcypress or Swamp Cypress.

Trunks

Often buttressed, and in wet situations, surrounded by aerial, conical roots (pneumatophores).

Bark

Light brown, furrowed and scaly.

Branchlets

Of two kinds; those near the end of shoots with axillary buds are persistent, while those lower on the shoots without axillary buds are deciduous.

Leaves

Needle-like, radially arranged, flat, thin, with stomatal lines below.

Hardiness Zones

4 to 11.

Size

Height: 50-70(100)ft; Width: 20-30ft.

Habit

Deciduous conifer, usually columnar to pyramidal without great variation, but can develop broad-spreading canopies.

Growth Rate

Medium.

Native Range

From Delaware to Florida, west to Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

distichum

Means 'two-ranked', referring to the leaves being in two rows.

Culture

Grows well on deep, fine, sandy loam, acid soil; adaptable to wet, dry and well-drained soil.

Diseases and insects

Includes twig blight, cankers, wood decay, cypress moth, fruit tree leafroller.

Landscape value

A stately tree, a decided accent of texture and form; good for wet areas; possible highway plant or street tree.

Fruits

Cones globular or obovoid, composed of peltate scales forming a woody sphere.

Flowers

Monoecious; males in drooping, long panicles; females are subglobose.

Buds

Alternate, near tip of stem rounded, with overlapping, sharp-pointed scales.

Stem

Bark is reddish brown or gray, fibrous; trunk becomes strongly buttressed in wet areas.

Cypress knees

Develops large flares at the base of the trunk in swamps or moist soils.

Metasequoia

A genus with only 1 species: Metasequoia glyptostroboides, known as Dawn Redwood.

Metasequoia glyptostroboides

Commonly known as Dawn Redwood, referred to as 'the 100 million year old tree'.

Hardiness Zones (Metasequoia)

(4)5-8.

Size (Metasequoia)

Height: 70-100ft; Width: 25ft.

Habit (Metasequoia)

Deciduous conifer, excurrent, pyramidal, conical, with a single straight trunk in youth.

Size of Dawn Redwood

Height: 70-100ft; Width: 25ft

Habit of Dawn Redwood

Deciduous conifer, excurrent, pyramidal, conical, with a single straight trunk in youth; supposedly developing a broad-rounded crown with age.

Growth Rate of Dawn Redwood

Fast

Native Range of Dawn Redwood

Native to Sichuan, China. Only introduced in 1948.

Leaves of Dawn Redwood

Deciduous needles, ½'' long, opposite, linear, flattened, straight or slightly curved, pectinately arranged.

Leaf Color of Dawn Redwood

Bright green above with a narrowly grooved mid-vein, light green below. Change to brown in fall, can be an excellent orange-brown to red-brown.

Flowers of Dawn Redwood

Monoecious, male flowers in racemes or panicles up to 12'' long; female solitary.

Fruits of Dawn Redwood

Cones pendulous, solitary, ¾ to 1 ¼'' long, 3/5 to ¾'' wide; mature cones globose to ovid, dark brown.

Bark of Dawn Redwood

Reddish brown when young, darker, fissured, and exfoliating in strips when mature.

Buds of Dawn Redwood

Non-resinous, usually in pairs at the base of deciduous branchlets but sometimes solitary between the branchlets; ovoid or ellipsoid.

Platanus

Family: Platanaceae; Sycamore, Plane, Plane Tree.

Species of Platanus

Some 6-7 species of deciduous trees with thin, plate-like, exfoliating bark.

Native Range of Platanus

Native to North America and southeast Europe and southwest Asia.

Platanus etymology

Platanus: Greek 'platanos' (broad or flat), a reference to the wide leaves of this tree.

Platanus occidentalis

American Planetree, Sycamore, Buttonwood, Buttonball-tree.

Buds of Platanus

Buds enclosed by the base of the petiole in summer.

Leaves of Platanus

Alternate, simple, mostly 5-7 palmately-lobed, pubescent at first, then glabrous and glossy.

Flowers of Platanus

Flowers in dense, globose clusters on a long, pendulous stalk; individual male and female flowers are inconspicuous.

Fruit of Platanus

A 2 mm achene, packed in a 2-3 cm globose fruit-ball.

Hardiness Zones for Platanus

4-9

Size of Platanus

Height: 75-100ft; Width: 75-100ft

Habit of Platanus

Broadleaf deciduous tree, with a large, massive trunk and a wide-spreading open crown of massive, crooked branches.

Culture of Platanus

Sun or light shade. Prefers deep, rich, moist, well-drained soil, but will grow in about anything.

Moon Sycamore

Platanus occidentalis

Fruit

Syncarp (multiple fruit) of elongated, obovoid achenes, 4/5 to 1 1/3'' diameter, on a 3-6'' long penduncle, single, remain on the tree through winter.

Ulmus

About 45 species of deciduous, rarely semi-evergreen, trees, occasionally shrubs.

Ulmus americana

American Elm

Dutch elm disease

Caused by the fungus Ophiostoma novo-ulmi through its transmission by the elm bark beetle.

Dutch Elm Disease Resistant cultivars

New Harmony, Valley Forge, Delaware, Brandon

Ulmus parvifolia

Chinese Elm, Lacebark Elm; Native to northern and central China, Japan, and Korea.

Size of Ulmus parvifolia

Height: 40-50ft; Width: 40-50ft

Habit of Ulmus parvifolia

Broadleaf deciduous tree; dense habit, round-headed often with pendulous branchlets.

Growth Rate of Ulmus parvifolia

Medium to fast.

Leaves of Ulmus parvifolia

Simple, alternate, ¾ to 2 ½'' long, 1/3 to 1 1/3'' wide, elliptic to ovate or obovate.

Fall color of Ulmus parvifolia leaves

Varies from green, yellow (usual), to red.

Culture of Ulmus parvifolia

Sun; adaptable to soil and acidity, best in moist, well-drained, fertile soil.

Diseases and insects affecting Ulmus parvifolia

Resistant to Dutch elm disease and also the elm leaf and Japanese beetles.

Landscape value of Ulmus parvifolia

Excellent, tough, durable tree for about any situation.

Celtis

Family: Ulmaceae; Hackberry; About 70, mostly evergreen species in the tropics.

Celtis laevigata

Sugar Hackberry, Sugarberry, Southern Hackberry or Mississippi Hackberry; Leaves alternate, 3-veined at the base.

Size of Celtis laevigata

Height: 60-80ft; Width: 60-80ft

Growth Rate of Celtis laevigata

Medium to fast.

Hackberry nipplegall makers

Pachypsylla celtidismamma, Psyllidae; Adult insects lay their eggs on new hackberry leaves in the spring.

Culture of Celtis laevigata

Sun, easily transplanted, prefer rich, moist soils, but grows in dry, heavy or sandy, rocky soils.

Diseases and insects affecting Celtis laevigata

Leaf spots, powdery mildew, aphid, scales, good resistant to hackberry galls and witches' brooms.

Landscape value of Celtis laevigata

Good for park and large area use, has the innate ability to grow in dry soils and under windy conditions.

Fruit of Celtis laevigata

Fruits berry-like drupes, orange-red to blue-black, very sweet and juicy, and relished by birds.

Leaves of Celtis laevigata

Alternate, simple, oblong-lanceolate, sometimes ovate, 2-4'' long, 1 ¼'' wide.

Bark of Celtis laevigata

Smooth between raised, corky warts.

Ginkgoaceae

The Maidenhair Tree family.

Ginkgo biloba

A single species, a deciduous tree that has existed almost unchanged for over 200 million years.

Ginkgo

Derived from the Chinese yin-kuo, meaning silver apricot, from the Japanese pronunciation, ginko.

biloba

Refers to the two lobed leaves, which may be incised or divided.

Size of Ginkgo biloba

Height: 50-80 (100) ft; Width: 30-40 ft or more.

Habit of Ginkgo biloba

Broadleaf deciduous tree, usually pyramidal when young, becoming wide-spreading with age.

Growth Rate of Ginkgo biloba

Slow to medium.

Leaves of Ginkgo biloba

Alternate, simple, fan-shaped, 2-3'' long, bright green in summer and yellow to gold in fall.

Flowers of Ginkgo biloba

Dioecious - male and female trees; male flowers are green, catkin-like, while female flowers are long stalked.

Fruit of Ginkgo biloba

Not a true fruit but a naked seed with a fleshy covering, foul smelling when ripe.

Fraxinus

A genus of some 65 species of shrubs and trees, mostly deciduous, belonging to the Olive Family.

Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Commonly known as Green Ash.

Leaves of Fraxinus

Opposite and compound (pinnate).

Flowers of Fraxinus

Small, bisexual or unisexual, not ornamental, and appear before the leaves.

Fruit of Fraxinus

A 1-seeded samara ('key') with a flattened, thin wing.

Hardiness Zones for Fraxinus

(2)3-9.

Size of Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Height: 50-60 ft; Width: 25-40 ft.

Habit of Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Broadleaf deciduous tree, pyramidal in youth, developing a spreading habit at maturity.

Landscape Use

One of the most widely planted ornamental trees, used in streets, lawns, commercial areas, parks, and golf courses.

Emerald Ash Borer

An exotic beetle (Agrilus planipennis) that threatens Fraxinus species native to North America.

Emerald Ash Borer Discovery

First discovered in the U.S. in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002.

Emerald Ash Borer Damage

Adult beetles nibble on ash foliage but cause little damage; larvae feed on the inner bark, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients.

Emerald Ash Borer Arrival

Probably arrived in the U.S. on solid wood packing material carried in cargo ships or airplanes originating in its native Asia.

Emerald Ash Borer Range

Established in a large portion of North America, bordered by Ontario and Quebec on the north, Tennessee and North Carolina on the south, and from the Atlantic Coast west to Minnesota and Kansas.