Week 4 Trees

Acer negundo

Acer negundo

Common name: boxelder, river maple

Family: Aceraceae

Natural history: Little or no commercial value, used for boxes, crates, pallets, etc. Fruits mature in the fall, persist through winter and eaten by songbirds and small mammals.

Acer saccharinum

Common name: silver maple, soft maple

Family: Aceraceae

Notes: Fruit type = samara. Aceraceae = Maple Family. Little or no commercial value, used for boxes, crates, pallets, etc. Fruits mature in the fall, persist through winter and eaten by songbirds and small mammals.

Ampelopsis glandulosa

porcelain-berry, amur peppervine

Vitaceae

Notes: Fruit type = samara. Specific epithet = sweet or sugary. Aceraceae = Maple Family. Fruits mature in spring; eaten by grouse, songbirds, squirrels, chipmunks, and mice. Native to bottomland forests and along rivers from the Midwest to Northeast. Formerly used in ornamental plantings, but no longer favored owing to the shallow roots and brittle branches. Wood value low, only used for pulp.

Carpinus caroliniana

musclewood, bluebeech, American hornbeam

Betulaceae

Notes: Fruit type = berry (turning white to purple at maturity). Specific epithet = having glands. Vitaceae = Grape Family. Native to Asia. Cultivated, but escaped and becoming a noxious invasive - can regrow from a root stock so must be dug up or killed with an herbicide. Fruits are eaten by birds and small mammals, spreading it quickly where planted.

Celtis laevigata

sugarberry, southern hackberry

Cannabaceae

Notes: Fruit type = drupe (dull orange to brown). Specific epithet = smooth. Cannabaceae = Hemp Family. Native to low, wet areas but also planted as a street tree. Fruit eaten by many songbirds, fox, opossum, squirrels and humans. Wood sold as hackberry; typically cut for lumber but occasionally used for furniture.

Fraxinus pennsylvanica

green ash, red ash

Oleaceae

Fruit type = samara. Specific epithet = of or from Pennsylvania. Oleaceae = Olive Family. Wood sold used for boat oars, baseball bats, and other sporting equipment, as well as cabinets and flooring. Inner bark eaten by beavers, host plant for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. The invasive emerald ash borer (EAB), which is from Asia and first discovered in the US in 2002, is killing ash trees in the East. Sometimes used in landscaping, but no longer recommended due to the EAB.

Ligustrum lucidum

glossy privet

Oleaceae

Notes: Fruit type = drupe (blue). Specific epithet = shining (referring to the leaf margin). Oleaceae = Olive Family. Native to China and Korea. Commonly cultivated in NC for screening, but invasive. Fruits eaten (and the plant spread) by songbirds.

Ligustrum sinense

privet, Chinese privet

Oleaceae

Notes: Fruit type = drupe (blue). Specific epithet = of or from China. Oleaceae = Olive Family. Native to China. One of our most noxious invasives; thrives on many sites, especially bottomlands. Introduced as an ornamental plant in the 1850s and still sold at some nurseries. Fruits eaten by songbirds and raccoons in winter. Bark and twigs eaten by beaver. Thickets provide escape cover for wildlife.

Microstegium vimineum

Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium

Poaceae

Notes: Fruit type = caryopsis. Poaceae = Grass Family. Annual; seeds may persist in the seed bank for several years. Native to Asia. Introduced as a packing material, very invasive, especially in bottomlands and other moist sites.

Platanus occidentalis

sycamore, American sycamore, buttonwood

Platanaceae

Notes: Fruit type = a multiple of achenes. Specific epithet = western (referring to the Western World). Platanaceae = Plane Tree or Sycamore Family. Formerly planted for pulpwood. Wood used for furniture, boxes, pallets, and butcher blocks. Some people are allergic to the hairs on leaves, the pollen is very allergenic. Finches and chickadees eat the achenes in winter. Commonly used in landscaping, though less so now because of its susceptibility to sycamore anthracnose.

Populus deltoides ssp. deltoides

eastern cottonwood

Salicaceae

Notes: Fruit type = capsule. Specific epithet = shape of the Greek letter delta (referring to the distinctive triangular leaves). Salicaceae = Willow Family. Found in brownwater floodplain sites, though not very common. Wood is lightweight and used for boxes, crates, and caskets; had widespread use by Native Americans and early settlers, who looked for the tree as an indicator that water flowed nearby.

Quercus acutissima

sawtooth oak

Fagaceae

Notes: Fruit type = nut. Specific epithet = deeply cut. Fagaceae = Beech Family. Native to East Asia. Planted for wildlife because it grows rapidly and produces fruits early, but fruiting becomes variable as it ages and mast is less valuable to wildlife than native oaks. Used in landscaping.

Quercus bicolor

swamp white oak

Fagaceae

Notes: Fruit type = nut. Specific epithet = two-colored, referring to the upper and lower leaf surfaces. Fagaceae = Beech Family. Wood value high, but less than Q. alba due to more defects, typically used for lumber and furniture. Wildlife value similar to other white oaks.

Quercus laurifolia

swamp laurel oak, laurel oak, diamond-leaf oak

Fagaceae

Notes: Fruit type = nut. Specific epithet = leaves like laurel. Fagaceae = Beech Family. Wood and wildlife use similar to other red oaks. Sometimes used in landscaping or as a street tree; native to the Southeast and Gulf Coastal Plains, in bottomlands.

Salix nigra

black willow

Salicaceae

Notes: Fruit type = capsule. Specific epithet = black. Salicaceae = Willow Family. Used in live staking for stream restoration - wetland obligate (ditches). High wildlife value - host for several butterfly species, several Salix-specific bees, and catkins are eaten by birds. Structure and vegetative cover in wetlands. Only willow used for wood, primarily for lumber but also baskets, furniture, and wicker.

Fraxinus caroliniana

Carolina ash, pop ash

Oleaceae

Notes: Fruit type = samara. Specific epithet = of or from Carolina. Oleaceae = Olive Family. A smaller (to 40 ft), water-tolerant, wetland obligate tree common in moist to frequently flooded areas along the southeastern and Gulf coast.

Populus tremuloides

trembling aspen, quaking aspen, popple

Salicaceae

Notes: Fruit type = capsule. Specific epithet = similar to Populus tremula, European aspen. Salicaceae = Willow Family. Probably the most wide-ranging tree in North America. Regenerates from root sprouts. The largest single organism, Pando, is a stand of clonal stems that cover 108 acres in Utah.