Indigenous trees | New England

Tilia americana is a specie of Tilia native to eastern North America. Tilia americana is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree reaching a height of 18 to 37 m (60 to 120 ft) exceptionally 39 m (129 ft) with a trunk diameter of 1-1.5 m (3–4 ft) at maturity. The crown is domed, the branches spreading, often pendulous. The bark is gray to light brown, with narrow, well defined fissures. The specie is recommended as an ornamental tree when the mass of foliage or a deep shade is desired; no native tree surpasses it in this respect. The foliage and flowers are both edible, though many prefer only to eat the tender young leaves. It is a beneficial specie for attracting pollinators as well. Bees produce excellent honey with a mildly spicy flavor from its blossoms. Linden tea has a pleasing taste, due to the aromatic volatile oil found in the flowers.

Fagus grandifolia (American beech or North American beech) is the species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and Canada from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario in southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United States. F. grandifolia is believed to have spanned the width of the North American continent all the way to the Pacific coast before the last ice age.

It is a deciduous tree growing to 20–35 m (66–115 ft) tall, with smooth, silver-gray bark. The leaves are dark green, simple and sparsely-toothed with small teeth that terminate each vein, 6–12 cm (2.4–4.7 in) long (rarely 15 centimetres (5.9 in)), with a short petiole. The winter twigs are distinctive among North American trees, being long and slender. Beech buds are distinctly thin and long, resembling cigars; this characteristic makes beech trees relatively easy to identify. The fruit is a small, sharply-angled nut, borne in pairs in a soft-spined, four-lobed husk. It has two ways of reproducing: one is through the usual dispersal of seedlings, and the other is through root sprouts. This is where the tree will have smaller trees growing out of its roots in different locations.

The American beech is a shade-tolerant species, favoring shade more than other trees, commonly found in forests in the final stage of succession. Ecological succession is essentially the process of forests changing their composition through time; it is a pattern of events often observed on disturbed sites. Although sometimes found in pure stands, it is more often associated with sugar maple (forming the beech-maple climax community), yellow birch, and Eastern hemlock, typically on moist well drained slopes and rich bottomlands. Near its southern limit, it often shares canopy dominance with Southern Magnolia. Although it has a reputation for slow growth (sometimes only 13 feet in 20 years), rich soil and ample moisture will greatly speed the process up. Much like sugar maple, American beech is picky about growing conditions, favoring a well-watered, but also well-drained spot and is intolerant of urban pollution, salt, and soil compaction. It also casts dense shade and has an extensive network of shallow, fibrous surface roots that make gardening underneath it almost impossible. Because American beech needs plenty of moisture and rich soil to thrive, it naturally occurs in bottomland forests. Early settlers often looked for beeches as a sign of a good potential place to clear the forest for farming.

Disease

Beech bark disease has become a major killer of beech trees in the Northeastern United States. This disease occurs when the beech scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga, attacks the bark, creating a wound that is then infected by one of two different species of fungi in the genus Nectria. This causes a canker to develop and the tree is eventually killed.

Beech blight aphids colonize branches of the tree, but without serious harm to otherwise healthy trees. Below these colonies, deposits of sooty mold develop caused by the fungus Scorias spongiosa growing saprophytically on the honeydew the insects exude. This is also harmless to the trees.

American beech is an important tree in forestry. The wood is heavy, hard, tough and strong, and until the advent of power tools in the 20th century, lumbering beech trees were often left uncut to grow. As a result, many areas today still have extensive groves of old beeches that would not otherwise occur. Today, the wood is harvested for uses such as flooring, containers, furniture, handles and woodenware.

Like European beech bark, the American beech bark is smooth and uniform, making it an attraction for vandals to carve names, dates, gang symbols, and other material into its surface. It is sometimes planted as an ornamental tree, but even within its native area, it is planted much less often than the European beech. Although American beech can handle hotter climates, its European variant is faster-growing and more pollution-tolerant, in addition to being easier to propagate. American beech can take up to 40 years to begin producing seeds. Large crops are produced by 60 years and the tree's total lifespan may be up to 300 years. The fruit is a triangle-shaped shell containing 2-3 nuts inside, but many of them do not fill in, especially on solitary trees. Beech nuts are edible to humans, although too small to be commercially valuable.

The mast (crop of nuts) from American beech provides food for numerous species of animals. Among vertebrates alone, these include ruffed grouse, wild turkeys, raccoons, red/gray foxes, white-tailed deer, rabbits, squirrels, opossums, pheasants, black bears, porcupines, and humans. For lepidopteran caterpillars feeding on American beech, see list of Lepidoptera that feed on beeches. Beech nuts were one of the primary foods of the now-extinct passenger pigeon; the clearing of beech and oak forests are pointed to as one of the major factors that may have contributed to the bird's extinction.

source: Wikipedia

Viburnum trilobum (American cranberrybush viburnum), American cranberrybush is a specie of Viburnum native to northern North America, from Newfoundland west to British Columbia, south to Washington state and east to northern Virginia. It is very closely related to the European and Asian Viburnum opulus, and is often treated as a variety of it. This shrud is hardy to zone 2b.

It is a deciduous shrub growing to 4 m tall. The bark is gray and rough and has a scaly texture. The stems arch and are very dense, and the twigs are a reddish-brown color. The leaves are opposite, three-lobed, 6-12 cm long and 5-10 cm broad, with a rounded base and serrated margins; they are superficially similar to many maple leaves, most easily distinguished by their somewhat wrinkled surface with impressed leaf venation. The leaf buds are green. The bud scales are valvate. The flowers are white, produced in corymbs up to 13 cm diameter at the top of the stems; each corymb comprises a ring of outer sterile flowers 2-2.5 cm diameter with conspicuous petals, surrounding a center of small (5 mm), fertile flowers; the flowers are pollinated by insects. The fruit is an oblong red drupe 15 mm long and 12 mm broad, containing a single flat, white seed. Plants begin to produce fruits at approximately five years of age; when animals, including birds, eat the fruits, they deposit the seeds in another location in their droppings.

Although often called "highbush cranberry", it is not a cranberry. The name comes from the red fruits which look superficially like cranberries, and have a similar flavor and ripen at the same time of year. The fruits, sour and rich in vitamin C, can be eaten raw or cooked into a sauce to serve with meat or game. This is a commonly used berry in Western Canadian cultures. People of various origins both Native and European have used the berries for many years. The Canadian French name for the berries is pembina.

Grow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerant of light shade. Prefers rich, moist loams. Adapts to both wet and dry sites. Generally tolerant of urban conditions. Development of varieties that are resistant to Dutch elm disease is ongoing.

Noteworthy Characteristics

American elm is a medium to large deciduous tree, typically growing to 60-80’ (less frequently to 130’) tall with a vase-shaped, broad-rounded crown. It is native to eastern and central North America. In Missouri, it typically occurs in low moist ground and along streams throughout the state (Steyermark). Although once widely planted as a street and lawn tree, American elm populations have been so decimated by Dutch elm disease that this tree is no longer considered to be a viable selection for landscape uses. Insignificant small green flowers appear in spring before the foliage emerges. Flowers give way to single-seeded wafer-like samaras (each tiny seed is surrounded by a flattened oval-rounded papery wing). Seeds mature in April-May as the leaves reach full size. Rough-textured, ovate-elliptic, dark green leaves (to 6” long) have toothed margins and asymetrical bases. Leaves typically turn an undistinguished yellow in fall.

Problems

Dutch elm disease, a fatal fungal disease spread by airborne bark beetles, attacks the water-conducting tissue of the tree, resulting in wilting, defoliation and death. Phloem necrosis is a disease caused by a phytoplasma that attacks the food-conducting tissue of the tree, usually resulting in a loosening of the bark, wilting, defoliation and death. Wetwood is a bacterial disease that results in wilting and dieback. Various wilts, rots, cankers and leaf spots may also occur. Insect visitors include borers, leaf miner, beetles, mealy bugs, caterpillars and scale.

Garden Uses

May be used as a lawn, shade or street tree. Not currently recommended for most landscape plantings due to Dutch elm disease. Disease resistant varieties such as Ulmus americana ‘Valley Forge’ are promising but not totally immune.

the American hophornbeam, is a species of Ostrya native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba and eastern Wyoming, southeast to northern Florida and southwest to eastern Texas. Populations from Mexico and Central America are also regarded as the same species, although some authors prefer to separate them as a distinct species, Ostrya guatemalensis.

American hophornbeam is a small deciduous understory tree growing to 18 m (59 ft) tall and 20–50 centimetres (8–20 in) trunk diameter. The bark is brown to gray-brown, with narrow shaggy plates flaking off, while younger twigs and branches are smoother and gray, with small lenticels. The life span of ostrya is around 100 years.

The leaves are ovoid-acute, 5–13 cm (2–5 in) long and 4–6 cm (1 1⁄2–2 1⁄4 in) broad, pinnately veined, with an doubly serrated margin. The upper surface is mostly hairless, while the lower surface is sparsely to moderately fuzzy (rarely densely hairy).The flowers are catkins (spikes) produced in early spring at the same time as the new leaves appear. The staminate (male) catkins are 20–50 mm (3⁄4–2 in) long, and arranged in groups of 1–4.The pistillate (female) catkins are 8–15 mm (5⁄16–19⁄32 in) long, containing 10–30 flowers each.

Pollinated female flowers develop into small nutlets 3–5 mm (1⁄8–3⁄16 in) long fully enclosed in a papery sac-shaped involucre 10–18 mm (3⁄8–11⁄16 in) long and 8–10 mm (5⁄16–3⁄8 in) wide.The involucre changes from greenish-white to dull brown as the fruit matures.

American hophornbeam is similar to its close relative American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), which can be distinguished by its smooth bark and nutlets enclosed in open, three-lobed bracts.

The buds and catkins are important source of winter food for some birds, notably ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). It is grown as an ornamental plant and is sometimes used as a street tree. Its wood is very resilient and is valued for making tool handles and fence posts. Being a diffuse porous hardwood and having extremely high density and resistance to compression, it is an excellent material for the construction of wooden longbows. Easily hardy to zone 3b.

Carpinus caroliniana (American hornbeam) is a small hardwood tree in the genus Carpinus. It is a small tree reaching heights of 10–15 m, rarely 20 m, and often has a fluted and crooked trunk. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, becoming shallowly fissured in all old trees. The leaves are alternate, 3–12 cm long, with prominent veins giving a distinctive corrugated texture, and a serrated margin. The fruit is a small 7–8 mm long nut, partially surrounded by a three- to seven-pointed leafy involucre 2–3 cm long; it matures in autumn. It is a shade-loving tree, which prefers moderate soil fertility and moisture. It has a shallow, wide-spreading root system. The seeds often do not germinate till the spring of the second year after maturating. Wood: light brown, sapwood nearly white; heavy, hard, close-grained, very strong. Used for levers, handles of tools. Excellent tree for backyards and narrow space where there is low sunshine.

The tree specie Sorbus americana is commonly known as the American Mountain-ash. It is a deciduous perennial tree, native to eastern North America. Sorbus americana is a relatively small tree, reaching 40 feet (12 m) in height. Fruit: berry-like pome, globular, one-quarter of an inch across, bright red, borne in cymous clusters. Ripens in October and remains on the tree all winter. Flesh thin and sour, charged with malic acid; seeds light brown, oblong, compressed; cotyledons fleshy. Sorbus americana is cultivated as an ornamental tree, for use in gardens and parks. It prefers a rich moist soil and the borders of swamps, but will flourish on rocky hillsides. This is an excellent ornamental tree for small space in landscaping. Suitable for zone 2b.

The arrowwood viburnum is native from New Brunswick to Minnesota, south to Georgia. The name arrowwood comes from Native Americans using the strong shoots which developed from the roots for the shafts of their arrows. The arrowwood viburnum can be expected to grow in Hardiness Zones 3–8. This is a flowering shrub, typically planted for its profusion of flowers. The arrowwood viburnum grows to a height of 6–15', with an equal spread, at maturity. This shrub grows at a medium rate, with height increases of 13–24" per year.

The full sun and partial shade are best for this shrub, meaning it prefers a minimum of 4 hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day. The arrowwood viburnum grows in acidic, alkaline, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, silty loam, well-drained and clay soils. This shrub produces creamy white flowers in flat-topped clusters that are 2–4" in diameter and bloom from May to early June.

Yields ½" blue-black drupes that appear after the flowers and ripen in the early fall. Features lustrous dark green leaves with coarsely toothed margins that provide lovely fall color, turning yellow, glossy red or reddish-purple.
Grows in an irregular, rounded shape. It forms dense thickets and provides excellent cover and nesting sites. Birds consume the abundant fruits. It attracts Red Admiral, Eastern Comma and Question Mark butterflies and is larval plant food for the spring azure butterfly and hummingbird moth. This shrub adds plenty of seasonal interest to any landscape. Creamy white flowers appear in late spring, bundled into lovely flat-topped clusters. Blue-black berry-like drupes follow the flowers in the summertime, ripening completely in early fall. And as fall marches on, the lustrous dark green leaves take on lovely fall shades of yellow, glossy red or reddish-purple.

Carya cordiformis, the Bitternut Hickory,  is a large pecan hickory. It is the shortest lived of the hickories, living to about 200 years. It is a large deciduous tree, growing up to 35 meters tall (exceptionally to 47 m), with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. The leaves are 15-30 cm long, pinnate, with 7-11 leaflets, each leaflet lanceolate, 7-13 cm long, with the apical leaflets the largest but only slightly so. It is closely related to the Pecan, sharing similar leaf shape and being classified in the same section of the genus Carya sect. Apocarya, but unlike the Pecan, it does not have edible nuts. It is most readily distinguished from the Pecan by the smaller number of leaflets, with many leaves having only 7 leaflets (rarely fewer than 9, and often 11-13, in the Pecan). Bitternut hickory grows in moist mountain valleys along streambanks and in swamps. Although it is usually found on wet bottom lands, it grows on dry sites and also grows well on poor soils low in nutrients.

Bitternut is used for lumber and pulpwood. This is also a good tree for increasing the value of your woodlot like the oaks do. Because bitternut hickory wood is hard and durable, it is used for furniture, paneling, dowels, tool handles and ladders. Like other hickories, the wood is used for smoking meat, and by Native Americans for making bows. Bitternut hickory seeds and its bark are eaten by wildlife.

Medium sized tree which (on good sites) develops a long, straight, clear bole and can reach heights approaching 100 feet (30 m). This cherry is native to eastern North America. A mature black cherry can easily be identified in a forest by its very broken, dark grey to black bark, which has the appearance of very thick, burnt cornflakes. However, for about the first decade or so of its life, the bark is thin, smooth, and striped, resembling that of a birch. Black cherry is closely related to the chokecherry (Prunus virginiana); chokecherry, however, is classified as a shrub or small tree and has smaller, less glossy leaves.

It is a moderately long-lived tree, with ages of up to 250 years known, though it is prone to storm damage, with branches breaking easily; any decay resulting, however, only progresses slowly. P. serotina was widely introduced into Western and Central Europe as an ornamental tree in the mid 20th century, where it has become locally naturalized. It has acted as an invasive specie there, negatively affecting forest community biodiversity and regeneration.

The fruit of Prunus serotina is suitable for making jam and cherry pies, and has some use in flavoring liquors; they are also a popular flavoring for sodas and ice creams. The black cherry is commonly used instead of sweet cherries (Prunus avium) to achieve a sharper taste. It is also used in cakes which include dark chocolate, such as a Black Forest cake and as garnish for cocktails.

The wood of P. serotina is also used for cooking and smoking foods, where it imparts a unique flavor.

P. serotina timber is valuable; perhaps the premier cabinetry timber of the U.S-Canada., traded as "cherry". It is known for its strong red color and high price. Its density when dried is around 580 kg/m3 (980 lb/cu yd). P. serotina trees are sometimes planted ornamentally.

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Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known as the black locust, is a tree of the genus Robinia of the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, but has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe, Southern Africa and Asia and is considered an invasive specie in some areas. With a trunk up to 0.8 m diameter (exceptionally up to 52 m tall and 1.6 m diameter in very old trees), with thick, deeply furrowed blackish bark. The leaves are 10–25 cm long, pinnate with 9–19 oval leaflets, 2–5 cm long and 1.5–3 cm broad. Each leaf usually has a pair of short spines at the base, 1–2 mm long or absent on adult crown shoots, up to 2 cm long on vigorous young plants. The intensely fragrant (reminiscent of orange blossoms) flowers are white to lavender or purple, borne in pendulous racemes 8–20 cm long, and are edible. Wood: pale yellowish brown; heavy, hard, strong, close-grained and very durable in contact with the ground. The wood has a specific gravity 0.7333, and a weight of approximately 45.7 pounds per cubic foot.

Black locust is a major honey plant in the eastern US, and, having been taken and planted in France, Italy and other European nations. Black locust has nitrogen-fixing bacteria on its root system; for this reason it can grow on poor soils and is an early colonizer of disturbed areas. This is an excellent tree to add in a permaculture system as well as shelterbed and for ornamental in parks and streets. Suitable for zone 4b.

A small, slow-growing tree, up to 20 metres tall and 25 centimetres in diameter. It often has a characteristic cluster of branches at the top forming a club or crow's nest. Needles are blue-green, short, stiff, and four-sided. The needles are arranged in all directions along the twig or mostly pointing upwards. Seed cones are small and purplish. The old cones hang on the tree for several years. Pollen cones are dark red. It grows throughout the northern part of the province. Black spruce tolerates poor growing conditions. It often occurs in pure groups of trees or with lodgepole pine and white spruce. It is frequently found in cold, poorly drained areas, such as swamps and bogs, along with sphagnum mosses and horsetails. Lingonberry and Labrador tea are also plentiful.

Black spruce forests are rich in wildlife. Moose, muskrat, and mink are numerous and many birds eat the abundant insects in these wet, boggy areas. The Carrier people used black spruce wood to make fish traps. Other aboriginal people made snowshoe frames and drying racks. They also used powdered resin on wounds to speed healing. [Caution]

The long fibres in black spruce make this a preferred pulp species for paper products. The name mariana means "of Maryland." Phillip Miller, who named the species, felt that Maryland epitomized North America - but the species does not actually grow there!

Euonymus atropurpureus (eastern wahoo, burning bush, bitter-ash) is a species of Euonymus native primarily to the Midwestern United States, but its range extends from southern Ontario south to northern Florida and Texas. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 8 m tall, with stems up to 10 cm diameter. The bark is gray, smooth, and lightly fissured. The twigs are dark purplish-brown, slender, sometimes four-angled or slightly winged. The leaves are opposite, elliptical, 8.5–11.3 cm long and 3.2–5.5 cm broad, abruptly long pointed at the tip, and with a finely serrated margin; they are green above, paler and often with fine hairs beneath, and turn bright red in the fall. The flowers are bisexual, 10–12 mm diameter, with four greenish sepals, four brown-purple petals and four stamens; they are produced in small axillary cymes. The fruit is a smooth reddish to pink four-lobed (sometimes one or more of the lobes abort) capsule, up to 17 mm diameter, each lobe containing a single seed, orange with a fleshy red aril. The fruit is poisonous to humans, but is eaten by several species of birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. It grows in low meadows, open slopes, open woodland, stream banks and prairies, in moist soils, especially thickets, valleys, and forest edges.

It is used medicinally in both the United States and southeastern Canada. The powdered bark was used by American Indians and pioneers as a purgative.

Until the late 1990s, common ninebark was a medium to large, multi-stemmed, green- or yellow-foliaged shrub with arching stems that had little appeal as a landscape plant. Newer cultivars now offer unique foliage color and smaller plant size. These ornamental traits in combination with the species' cold hardiness and its adaptability across a variety of soil textures, moisture levels, and pH make it an appealing and versatile landscaping shrub for gardens and landscapes. Traditionally ninebarks were used in mass, border, or screen plantings but newer cultivars with their smaller size and colorful foliage allow for additional landscape use as accent or specimen plants. Spring flowers are also attractive nectar sources for butterflies and other pollinators.

Common ninebark provides interest throughout the year. Spring color of the 3-lobed maple-like leaves will vary by cultivar and may be yellow-orange, burgundy, crimson-red, gold, or green. Leaf color and intensity of color of some cultivars will change across the growing season. Planting ninebarks in full sun ensures best foliage color. 1-2" white or pink flat-topped flower clusters appear from spring through mid-summer and are followed by pink to red clusters of seed capsules that eventually turn brown in late fall. The multicolored, peeling bark provides winter interest in the landscape.

Larix laricina, commonly known as the tamarack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and also south into the northeastern United States from Minnesota to Cranesville Swamp, Maryland; there is also an isolated population in central Alaska. The word tamarack is the Algonquian name for the species and means "wood used for snowshoes." Larix laricina is a small to medium-size boreal coniferous and deciduous tree reaching 10–20 metres (33–66 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 60 centimetres (24 in) diameter. Tamaracks and Larches (Larix species) are deciduous conifers. The bark is tight and flaky, pink, but under flaking bark it can appear reddish. The leaves are needle-like, 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) short, light blue-green, turning bright yellow before they fall in the autumn, leaving the pale pinkish-brown shoots bare until the next spring. The needles are produced spirally on long shoots and in dense clusters on long woody spur shoots. The cones are the smallest of any larch, only 1–2.3 cm (0.4–0.9 in) long, with 12-25 seed scales; they are bright red, turning brown and opening to release the seeds when mature, 4 to 6 months after pollination. Tamarack larch foliage and cones in August. The lighter brown cones are from the current season; the darker brown cones are mature cones from previous seasons.

It is very cold tolerant, able to survive temperatures down to at least −65 °C (−85 °F), and commonly occurs at the arctic tree line at the edge of the tundra. Trees in these severe climatic conditions are smaller than farther south, often only 5 m (16 ft) tall. Tamarack can tolerate a wide range of soil conditions but grows most commonly in swamps in wet to moist organic soils such as sphagnum peat and woody peat. The tree is found on mineral soils that range from heavy clay to coarse sand; thus texture does not seem to be limiting. Tamarack is commonly an early invader. Tamarack is generally the first forest tree to invade filled-lake bogs. In the lake states, tamarack may appear first in the sedge mat, sphagnum moss, or not until the bog shrub stage. Farther north, it is the pioneer tree in the bog shrub stage. Tamarack is fairly well adapted to reproduce successfully on burns, so it is one of the common pioneers on sites in the boreal forest immediately after a fire.

Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. Pinus strobus is found in the Nearctic Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome of eastern North America. It prefers well-drained soil and cool, humid climates, but can also grow in boggy areas and rocky highlands. In mixed forests, this dominant tree towers over all others, including the large broadleaf hardwoods. Some white pines live over 400 years. The eastern white pine, Pinus strobus, has the distinction of being the tallest tree in eastern North America. In natural pre-colonial stands it is reported to have grown to as tall as 70 m (230 ft). There is no means of accurately documenting the height of trees from these times, but eastern white pine may have reached this height on rare occasions. Pinus strobus is cultivated by plant nurseries as an ornamental tree, for planting in gardens and parks. The specie is low-maintenance and rapid growing as a specimen tree. With regular shearing it can also be trained as a hedge. Suitable for zone 2b.

The common hackberry is a 60-100 ft. deciduous tree, varying greatly in response to habitat. The broad crown is often erratic in shape. Tree with rounded crown of spreading or slightly drooping branches, often deformed as bushy growths called witches’-brooms. Older bark is covered with conspicuous, corky projections. The plant foliage is dull-green and rough. Its fall color is not impressive. Orange-brown to dark-purple berries are arranged in clusters. The common hackberry is native to North America from southern Ontario and Quebec, through parts of New England, south to North Carolina-(Appalachia), west to northern Oklahoma, and north to South Dakota.

The small berries, hackberries, are eaten by a number of birds and mammals. Most seeds are dispersed by animals, but some seeds are also dispersed by water. Hackberry is only occasionally used as a street or landscape tree, although its tolerance for urban conditions makes it well suited for this role. The tree's pea-sized berries are edible, ripening in early September. Unlike most fruits, the berries are remarkably high in calories from fat, carbohydrate and protein, and these calories are easily digestible without any cooking or preparation.

Viburnum lentago (nannyberry, sheepberry, or sweet viburnum) is a species of Viburnum native to the northeastern and midwestern United States, and in southern Canada from New Brunswick west to southeastern Saskatchewan. Isolated populations are found in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Colorado, and the Appalachian Mountains as far south as Kentucky and Virginia.

It is a large shrub or small tree growing upwards to 30 ft (9 m) tall with a trunk up to ~10 inches (25 cm) diameter and a short trunk, round-topped head, pendulous, flexible branches. The bark is reddish- to grayish-brown, and broken into small scales. The twigs are pale green and covered with rusty down at first, later becoming dark reddish brown, sometimes glaucous, smooth, tough, flexible, and produce an offensive odor when crushed or bruised. The winter buds are light red, covered with pale scurfy down, protected by a pair of opposing scales. Flower-bearing buds are ~3/4 in (2 cm) long, obovate, long pointed; other terminal buds are acute, ~1/3 to 1/2 in (10–15 mm) long, while lateral buds are much smaller. The bud scales enlarge with the growing shoot and often become leaf-like.

Like all viburnums, the leaves are arranged in opposite pairs on the twigs; they are oval, ~2 - 4 in (5–10 cm) long and ~3/4 in - 2 in (2–5 cm) broad. They open from the bud involute, bronze green and shining, hairy and downy; when full grown are bright green and shining above, pale green and marked with tiny black dots beneath. In autumn they turn a deep red, or red and orange.

The flowers are small, 5–6 mm diameter, with five whitish petals, arranged in large round terminal cymes 5–12 cm diameter; flowering is in late spring. The calyx is tubular, equally five-toothed, persistent; the corolla is equally five-lobed, imbricate in the bud, cream-white, one-quarter of an inch across; lobes acute, and slightly erose. There are five stamens, inserted on the base of the corolla, alternate with its lobes, exserted; filaments slender; anthers bright yellow, oblong, introrse, versatile, two-celled; cells opening longitudinally. The pistil has a one-celled inferior ovary, the style thick, short, light green, and the stigma broad; there is one ovule in each cell. The fruit is a small round blue-black drupe, 8–16 mm long on a reddish stem; it is thick skinned, sweet and rather juicy, and edible. The stone is oblong oval, flattened.

The roots are fibrous, wood is ill-smelling. It grows in wet soil along the borders of the forest, often found in fence corners and along roadsides. The sheepberry is one of the largest of the viburnums. It is admired for its compact habit, its lustrous foliage which insects rarely disfigure, its beautiful and abundant flowers, its handsome edible fruit and its brilliant autumnal color. It readily adapts itself to cultivation, and is one of the best of the small trees of eastern America for the decoration of parks and gardens in all regions of extreme winter cold. It is easily raised from seeds which, like those of the other American species, do not germinate until the second year after they are planted.

As suggested by the alternative name sweet viburnum, the fruit is (unlike that of many viburnums) edible. The bark and leaves were also used by Native Americans in the preparation of herbal medicines.

Cornus alternifolia is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to southern Manitoba and Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Mississippi. It is rare in the southern United States. It is commonly known as green osier, alternate-leaved dogwood, and pagoda dogwood.

It is a small deciduous tree growing to 25 feet (8 m) (rarely 30 feet (9 m)) tall, with a trunk up to 6 inches (152 mm) in diameter. The branches develop characteristic horizontal layers separated by gaps, with a flat-topped crown. Its leaves are elliptic to ovate and grow to 2–5 inches (51–127 mm) long and 1–2 inches (25–51 mm) broad, arranged alternately on the stems, not in opposite pairs typical of the majority of Cornus species. The leaves are most often arranged in crowded clusters around the ends of the twigs and appear almost whorled. The upper sides of the leaves are smooth and green, while the undersides are hairy and a bluish color. The bark is colored gray to brown, becoming ridged as it ages. Small cream colored flowers are produced, with four small petals. The flowers are grouped into cymes, with the inflorescences 2–5 inches (51–127 mm)2-5 across. It bears berries with a blackish blue color. Leaves: Alternate, rarely opposite, often clustered at the ends of the branch, simple, three to five inches long, two to three wide, oval or ovate, wedge-shaped or rounded at base; margin is wavy toothed, slightly reflexed, apex acuminate. They come out of the bud involute, reddish green above, coated with silvery white tomentum beneath, when full grown are bright green above, pale, downy, almost white beneath. Feather-veined, midrib broad, yellowish, prominent beneath, with about six pairs of primary veins. In autumn they turn yellow, or yellow and scarlet. Petioles slender, grooved, hairy, with clasping bases.
Flowers: April, May. Perfect, cream color, borne in many-flowered, broad, open cymes, at the end of short lateral branches.
Fruit: Drupe, globular, blue-black, 0.3 in (8 mm) across, tipped with remnant of style which rises from a slight depression; nut obovoid, many-grooved. October.

C. alternifolia is found under open deciduous trees, as well as along the margins of forests and swamps. These trees prefer moist, well drained soil. Seedlings are shade-tolerant and it is often found as an understory tree in mature forests. The tree is regarded as attractive because of its wide-spreading shelving branches and flat-topped head, and is often used in ornamental plantings. The flower clusters have no great white involucre as have those of the flowering dogwood, and the fruit is dark purple instead of red.

Zanthoxylum americanum, the common prickly-ash, common pricklyash, common prickly ash or northern prickly-ash (also sometimes called toothache tree, yellow wood, or suterberry), is an aromatic shrub or small tree native to central and eastern portions of the United States and Canada. It is the northernmost New World species in the citrus (Rutaceae) family, and is part of the same genus as sichuan pepper. It can grow to 10 meters (33 ft) tall with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 15 cm (5.9 in). It produces membranous leaflets and axillary flower clusters.The wood is not commercially valuable, but oil extracts from the bark have been used in traditional and alternative medicine, and have been studied for antifungal and cytotoxic properties. The genus name is sometimes spelled Xanthoxylum. Hardy to zone 4b

The plant has pinnately compound leaves with 5–11 membranous leaflets. It has axillary flower and fruit clusters. The buds are hairy. The dark green leaves are bitter-aromatic, with crenate margins.The stalked follicles are green and then turn red through deep blue through black. Flowers are dioecious, with yellow-green petals.

Culture

Grow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Has good shade tolerance. Prune immediately after fruiting. Suitable for zone 3a.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Rubus odoratus is a native of Eastern North America. It is a deciduous, coarse, suckering shrub with cane-like stems which typically grows 3-6' tall and spreads 6-12' wide. One of the best of the ornamental raspberries because of its rose-like, fragrant, 2" wide, rose-purple flowers which appear over a long summer bloom period and its palmate, 5-lobed, maple-like, medium green leaves (4-10" wide). This shrub has hairy stems but virtually no prickles. Flowers give way to 3/4" diameter, cup-shaped red fruits (raspberries) which are edible but somewhat dry, crumbly and unappetizing.

Acer rubrum (Red Maple, also known as Swamp, Water or Soft Maple), is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest service recognizes it as the most common species of tree in America. The red maple ranges from southeastern Manitoba around the Lake of the Woods on the border with Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to Florida, and southwest to eastern Texas. Many of its features, especially its leaves, are quite variable in form. At maturity it often attains a height of around 15 m (49 ft). It is aptly named as its flowers, petioles, twigs and seeds are all red to varying degrees. Among these features, however, it is best known for its brilliant deep scarlet foliage in autumn.

Over most of its range, red maple is adaptable to a very wide range of site conditions, perhaps more so than any other tree in eastern North America. It can be found growing in swamps, on poor dry soils, and most anywhere in between. It grows well from sea level to about 900 m (3,000 ft). Due to its attractive fall foliage and pleasing form, it is often used as a shade tree for landscapes. It is used commercially on a small scale for maple syrup production as well as for its medium to high quality lumber.

Though A. rubrum is usually easy to identify, it is highly changeable in morphological characteristics. It is a medium to large sized tree, reaching heights of 18 to 27 metres (59 to 89 ft) and exceptionally over 35 metres (115 feet). The leaves are usually 9 to 11 centimetres (3.5 to 4.3 in) long on a full grown tree. The trunk diameter can range from 46 to 76 cm (18 to 30 in), depending on the growing conditions.[7] Its spread is about 12 m (39 ft). A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 6 m (20 ft) tall. In forests, the bark will remain free of branches until some distance up the tree. Individuals grown in the open are shorter and thicker with a more rounded crown.[8] Generally speaking, however, the crown is irregularly ovoid with ascending whip-like curved shoots. The bark is a pale grey and smooth when the individual is young. As the tree grows the bark becomes darker and cracks into slightly raised long plates.[9] The largest known living red maple is located near Armada, Michigan, at a height of 38.1 m (125 ft) and a bole circumference, at breast height, of 4.95 m (16.2 ft).

Red maple seldom lives longer than 150 years, making it short to medium lived. It reaches maturity in 70 to 80 years. Its ability to thrive in a large number of habitats is largely due to its ability to produce roots to suit its site from a young age. In wet locations, red maple seedlings produce short taproots with long and developed lateral roots, while on dry sites, they develop long taproots with significantly shorter laterals. The roots are primarily horizontal, however, forming in the upper 25 cm (9.8 in) of the ground. Mature trees have woody roots up to 25 m (82 ft) long. They are very tolerant of flooding, with one study showing that 60 days of flooding caused no leaf damage. At the same time, they are tolerant of drought due to their ability to stop growing under dry conditions by then producing a second growth flush when conditions later improve, even if growth has stopped for 2 weeks.

Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth in a variety of habitats. It usually ranges from 20–35 m (66–115 ft) in height and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in trunk diameter. The crown is conical, becoming a narrow rounded dome with age. The bark is thick and gray-brown at the base of the tree, but thin, flaky and bright orange-red in the upper crown; the tree's name derives from this distinctive character. Some red color may be seen in the fissures of the bark. Red pine is self pruning; there tend not to be dead branches on the trees, and older trees may have very long lengths of branchless trunk below the canopy. The species is notable for its very constant morphology and low genetic variation throughout its range, suggesting it has been through a near extinction in its recent evolutionary history.

This species is intolerant of shade, but does well in windy sites; it grows best in well-drained soil. It is a long-lived tree, reaching a maximum age of about 500 years.The wood is commercially valuable in forestry for timber and paper pulp, and the tree is also used for landscaping. suitable for zone 2b

Picea rubens, commonly known as red spruce, is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and from New England south in the Adirondack Mountains and Appalachians to western North Carolina.This species is also known as yellow spruce, West Virginia spruce, eastern spruce, and he-balsam.

Red spruce is a perennial, shade-tolerant, late successional coniferous tree which under optimal conditions grows to 18–40 m (59–131 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of about 60 cm (24 in), though exceptional specimens can reach 46 m (151 ft) tall and 100 cm (39 inches) in diameter. It has a narrow conical crown. The leaves are needle-like, yellow-green, 12–15 mm long, four-sided, curved, with a sharp point, and extend from all sides of the twig. The bark is gray-brown on the surface and red-brown on the inside, thin, and scaly. The wood is light, soft, has narrow rings, and has a slight red tinge.The cones are cylindrical, 3–5 cm (1 1⁄4–2 in) long, with a glossy red-brown color and stiff scales. The cones hang down from branches.

Red spruce grows at a slow to moderate rate, lives for 250 to 450+ years, and is very shade-tolerant when young.[12] It is often found in pure stands or forests mixed with eastern white pine, balsam fir, or black spruce. Along with Fraser fir, red spruce is one of two primary tree types in the southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest, a distinct ecosystem found only in the highest elevations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.[13] Its habitat is moist but well-drained sandy loam, often at high altitudes. Red spruce can be easily damaged by windthrow and acid rain.

Related species

It is closely related to black spruce, and hybrids between the two are frequent where their ranges meet.

Red spruce is used for Christmas trees and is an important wood used in making paper pulp. It is also an excellent tonewood, and is used in many higher-end acoustic guitars and violins, as well as musical soundboard. The sap can be used to make spruce gum. Leafy red spruce twigs are boiled as a part of making spruce beer. Also it can be made into spruce pudding. It can also be used as construction lumber and is good for millwork and for crates.

Red spruce is the provincial tree of Nova Scotia.

Damaging factors

Like most trees, red spruce is subject to insect parasitism. Their insect enemy is the spruce budworm, although it is a bigger problem for white spruce and balsam fir. Other issues that have been damaging red spruce has been the increase in acid rain and current climate change.

Ulmus thomasii, the Rock Elm or cork elm, is a deciduous tree native primarily to the Midwestern United States. The tree ranges from southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada.

The tree was named in 1902 for David Thomas, an American civil engineer who had first named and described the tree in 1831 as Ulmus racemosa. Ulmus thomasii grows as a tree from 15–30 m (50–100 feet) tall, and may live for up to 300 years. Where forest-grown, the crown is cylindrical and upright with short branches, and is narrower than most other elms. Rock elm is also unusual among North American elms in that it is often monopodial. The bark is grey-brown and deeply furrowed into scaly, flattened ridges. Many older branches have 3–4 irregular thick corky wings. It is for this reason the rock elm is sometimes called the cork elm.

The leaves are 5 – 10 cm long and 2 – 5 cm wide, oval to obovate with a round, symmetrical base and acuminate apex. The leaf surface is shiny dark green, turning bright yellow in autumn; the underside is pubescent. The perfect apetalous, wind pollinated flowers are red-green and appear in racemes < 40 mm long two weeks before the leaves from March to May, depending on the tree's location. The fruit is a broad ovate samara 13 – 25 mm long covered with fine hair, notched at the tip, and maturing during May or June to form drooping clusters at the leaf bases.

Ulmus thomasii is moderately shade-tolerant. Its preferred habitat is moist but well-drained sandy loam, loam, or silt loam soil, mixed with other hardwoods. However, it also grows on dry uplands, especially on rocky ridges and limestone bluffs. Like most North American elms (Ulmus), U. thomasii is very susceptible to Dutch elm disease.

The wood of the rock elm is the hardest and heaviest of all elms, and where forest-grown remains comparatively free of knots and other defects. It is also very strong and takes a high polish, and consequently was once in great demand in America and Europe for a wide range of uses, notably shipbuilding, furniture, agricultural tools, and musical instruments.

Acer saccharinum, commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple,soft maple, water maple,swamp maple, or white maple is a species of maple native to eastern and central North America in the eastern United States and Canada. It is one of the most common trees in the United States. The silver maple tree is a relatively fast-growing deciduous tree, commonly reaching a height of 15–25 m (49–82 ft), exceptionally 35 m (115 ft). Its spread will generally be 11–15 m (36–49 ft) wide. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 8 m (26 ft) tall. It is often found along waterways and in wetlands, leading to the colloquial name "water maple". It is a highly adaptable tree, although it has higher sunlight requirements than other maple trees.

The leaves are simple and palmately veined, 8–16 cm long and 6–12 cm broad, with deep angular notches between the five lobes. The 5–12 cm long, slender stalks of the leaves mean that even a light breeze can produce a striking effect as the downy silver undersides of the leaves are exposed. The autumn color is less pronounced than in many maples, generally ending up a pale yellow, although some specimens can produce a more brilliant yellow and even orange and red colorations. The tree has a tendency to color and drop its leaves slightly earlier in fall.

The flowers are in dense clusters, produced before the leaves in early spring,[4] with the seeds maturing in early summer. The fruit are samaras, each containing a single seed, and winged, in pairs, small (5–10 mm diameter), the wing about 3–5 cm long. The fruit are the largest of any native maple. Although the wings provide for some transport by air, the fruit are heavy and are also transported by water. Silver Maple and its close cousin Red Maple are the only Acer species which produce their fruit crop in spring instead of fall. The seeds of both trees have no epigeal dormancy and will germinate immediately. On mature trunks, the bark is gray and shaggy. On branches and young trunks, the bark is smooth and silvery gray. Typical yellow autumn leaf color. Atypical reddish autumn color; this sort of coloration is sporadic and uncommon

Wildlife uses the silver maple in various ways. In many parts of the eastern Canada., the large rounded buds are one of the primary food sources for squirrels during the spring, after many acorns and nuts have sprouted and the squirrels' food is scarce. The seeds are also a food source for squirrels, chipmunks and birds. The bark can be eaten by beaver and deer. The trunks tend to produce cavities, which can shelter squirrels, raccoons, opossums, owls and woodpeckers.

Today the wood can be used as pulp for making paper. Lumber from the tree is used in furniture, cabinets, flooring, musical instruments, crates and tool handles, because it is light and easily worked. Because of the silver maple's fast growth, it is being researched as a potential source of biofuels. Silver maple produces a sweet sap, but it is generally not used by commercial sugarmakers because its sugar content is lower than in other maple species.

The silver maple is often planted as an ornamental tree because of its rapid growth and ease of propagation and transplanting. It is highly tolerant of urban situations, and is frequently planted next to streets. However, its quick growth produces brittle wood, and is commonly damaged in storms. The silver maple's root system is shallow and fibrous, and easily invades septic fields and old drain pipes; it can also crack sidewalks and foundations. It is a vigorous resprouter, and if not pruned, will often grow with multiple trunks. Although it naturally is found near water, it can grow on drier ground if planted there. In ideal natural conditions, A. saccharinum may live up 130 years, but in urban environments often 80 or less.

Following WW II, silver maples were commonly used as a landscaping and street tree in suburban housing developments and cities due to their rapid growth, especially as a replacement for the blighted American Elm. However, they fell out of favor for this purpose because of brittle wood, unattractive form when not pruned or trained, and tendency to produce large numbers of volunteer seedlings, and nowadays it is much less popular for this purpose to the point where some towns and cities banned its use as a street tree.

It is also commonly cultivated outside its native range, showing tolerance of a wide range of climates, growing successfully as far north as central Norway and south to Orlando, Florida. It can thrive in a Mediterranean climate, as at Jerusalem and Los Angeles, if summer water is provided. It is also grown in temperate parts of the Southern Hemisphere: Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, the southern states of Brazil (as well as in a few low-temperature locations within the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais).

The silver maple is closely related to the red maple (Acer rubrum), and can hybridise with it. The hybrid variation is known as the Freeman maple (Acer x freemanii). The Freeman maple is a popular ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, combining the fast growth of silver maple with the less brittle wood, less invasive roots, and the beautiful bright red fall foliage of the red maple.

information source: wikipedia

Grow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerant of light shade. Prefers rich, moist loams. Adapts to both wet and dry sites. Generally tolerant of urban conditions. Less susceptible to Dutch elm disease. hardy to zone 3b

Noteworthy Characteristics

Slippery elm is a medium sized, coarse-textured, somewhat weedy, deciduous tree that typically grows to 40-60’ (less frequently to 100’) tall with a vase-shaped to broad-rounded crown. It is distinguished by its downy twigs, red-hairy buds (particularly noticable in winter) and slimy red inner bark (rubra meaning red). It is native to southern Ontario and to the eastern and central U. S. It generally reaches its greatest size in moist bottomland or floodplain soils. Insignificant small reddish-green flowers appear in spring before the foliage emerges. Flowers give way to single-seeded wafer-like samaras (each tiny seed is surrounded by a flattened circular papery wing). Seeds mature in April-May as the leaves reach full size. Broad oblong to obovate, dark green leaves (to 4-8” long) are sandpapery above and hairy beneath with serrate margins and asymetrical bases. Leaves often emerge with a red tinge. Leaves typically turn an undistinguished dull yellow in fall. Common name is in reference to the slippery-sweet, fibrous, red inner bark that Native Americans peeled from twigs and branches in spring for medicinal use to treat fevers, inflammations, wounds and sore throat. Strips of the moist bark were also chewed to quench thirst. Native Americans also used the bark for canoes, particularly when birches were unavailable. Synonymous with Ulmus fulva.

Problems

Dutch elm disease, a fatal fungal disease spread by airborne bark beetles, attacks the water-conducting tissue of the tree, resulting in wilting, defoliation and death. Phloem necrosis is a disease caused by a phytoplasma that attacks the food-conducting tissue of the tree, usually resulting in a loosening of the bark, wilting, defoliation and death. Wetwood is a bacterial disease that results in wilting and dieback. Various wilts, rots, cankers and leaf spots may also occur. Insect visitors include borers, leaf miner, beetles, mealy bugs, caterpillars and scale.

Garden Uses

This native elm is generally not used as a landscape tree because of its coarse texture and susceptibility to elm diseases. Though common in many parts of its native range, it is rarely available in commerce.

Information source: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org

Available

Viburnum opulus is a deciduous Shrub growing to 5 m (16ft) by 5 m (16ft) at a medium rate.
It is hardy to zone (UK) 3 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from Jun to July, and the seeds ripen from Sep to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects, self.The plant is self-fertile.

Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils.
It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist or wet soil.

Acer saccharum (sugar maple or rock maple) is a specie of maple native to the hardwood forests of southeastern Canada and northeastern USA . Sugar maple is best known for its bright fall foliage and for being the primary source of maple syrup. It is a deciduous tree normally reaching heights of 25–35 m (82–115 ft) tall, and exceptionally up to 45 m (148 ft). A 10-year-old tree is typically about 5 m (16 ft) tall. When healthy the Sugar Maple can live for over 400 years. The sugar maple is an extremely important specie to the ecology of many forests in America and Canada. Pure stands are common, and it is a major component of the northern and central U.S. hardwood forests.

Sugar maple tends to favor cooler climates. It attains its greatest size and growth potential in southern Canada and the New England states where the growing season is 4–5 months and summers are mild. In this region, the tree is abundant and found in large stands with beech and birches. The sugar maple is among the most shade tolerant of large deciduous trees. Its shade tolerance is exceeded only by the striped maple, a smaller tree. Like other maples, its shade tolerance is manifested in its ability to germinate and persist under a closed canopy as an understory plant, and respond with rapid growth to the increased light formed by a gap in the canopy. The sugar maple can grow comfortably in any type of soil except sand.

The sugar maple was a favorite street and park tree during the 19th century because it was easy to propagate and transplant, is fairly fast-growing, and has beautiful fall color. As noted above however, it proved too delicate to continue in that role after the rise of automobile-induced pollution and was replaced by Acer platanoides and other hardier species. The shade and the shallow, fibrous roots may interfere with grass growing under the trees. Deep, well-drained loam is the best rooting medium, although sugar maples can grow well on sandy soil which has a good buildup of humus. Light (or loose) clay soils are also well known to support sugar maple growth. Poorly drained areas are unsuitable, and the species is especially short-lived on flood-prone clay flats. Its salt tolerance is low. Suitable for zone 3b

Sweet briar, sweetbriar rose, sweet brier or eglantine is a species of rose native to Europe and western Asia.

It is a dense deciduous shrub 2–3 m high and across, with the stems bearing numerous hooked prickles. The foliage has a strong apple-like fragrance. The leaves are pinnate, 5–9 cm long, with 5–9 rounded to oval leaflets with a serrated margin, and numerous glandular hairs. The flowers are 1.8–3 cm diameter, the five petals being pink with a white base, and the numerous stamens yellow; the flowers are produced in clusters of 2–7 together, from late spring to mid summer. The fruit is a globose to oblong red hip 1–2 cm diameter.

Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay soil.

Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils.
It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Fruit - cooked. It is used in making jellies etc. The taste is best after a frost. The fruit is up to 25mm in diameter, but there is only a thin layer of flesh surrounding the many seeds. Some care has to be taken when eating this fruit, see the notes above on known hazards. A pleasant tasting fruity-flavoured tea is made from the fruit, it is rich in vitamin C.

Petals - raw or cooked. Remove the bitter white base. Used in confectionery.

Young shoots - raw. Used as they come through the ground in spring. The seed is a good source of vitamin E, it can be ground into a powder and mixed with flour or added to other foods as a supplement. Be sure to remove the seed hairs.


 

Fraxinus americana (white ash or American ash) is a species of ash tree native to eastern and central North America. It is found in mesophytic hardwood forests from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to northern Florida, and southwest to eastern Texas. Isolated populations have also been found in western Texas, Wyoming and Colorado, and the species is reportedly naturalized in Hawaii ! The name White Ash derives from the glaucous undersides of the leaves. It is similar in appearance to the Green Ash, making identification difficult. The lower sides of the leaves of White Ash are lighter in color than their upper sides, and the outer surface of the twigs of White Ash may be flaky or peeling. Green Ash leaves are similar in color on upper and lower sides, and twigs are smoother. Despite some overlap, the two species tend to grow in different locations as well; White Ash is a forest tree that commonly occurs alongside Sugar Maple while Green Ash is a pioneer species that inhabits riparian zones and disturbed areas.

White ash is one of the most used trees for everyday purposes and, to keep up with high demand, is cultivated almost everywhere it can be. The wood is white and quite dense (within 20% of 670 kg/m3), strong, and straight-grained. It is the timber of choice for production of baseball bats and tool handles. The wood is also favorable for furniture and flooring. Woodworkers use the timber mainly for internal uses due to high perishability in contact with ground soil. It is also used to make lobster traps. Since the 1950's, it has also become a popular choice for solid electric guitar bodies. It makes a very servicable longbow if properly worked. The wood was used in ceiling fan blades from the 1970s through the mid-1980s, though cane was sometimes simulated with plastic then. It is no longer used for ceiling fan blades in most countries. The tree has a mast crop every 11 years and is very easy to plant and cultivate with a survival rate of 30%.

White Ash is not seen in cultivation as often as Green Ash due to its preference for undisturbed forest sites away from urban pollution and soil compaction, but sometimes has been planted for its consistently reliably autumn colors, which typically are bright orange and red hues as opposed to other species of ash that produce a uniform yellow color.

The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), also commonly known by the acronym EAB, is a green beetle native to Asia. In North America the emerald ash borer is an invasive species, highly destructive to ash trees in its introduced range. The damage of this insect rivals that of Chestnut blight and Dutch Elm Disease. To put its damage in perspective, the number of chestnuts killed by the Chestnut blight was around 3.5 billion chestnut trees while there are 3.5 billion ash trees in Ohio alone. Dutch Elm Disease killed only 200 million elm trees while EAB threatens 7.5 billion ash trees in the United States. The insect threatens the entire North American genus Fraxinus, while past invasive tree pests have only threatened a single species within a genus. Since its accidental introduction into the United States and Canada in the 1990s, and its subsequent detection in 2002, it has spread to eleven states and adjacent parts of Canada. It has killed at least 50 million ash trees so far and threatens to kill most of the ash trees throughout North America. The green ash and the black ash trees are affected. White ash is also killed rapidly, but usually only after green and black ash trees are eliminated. Blue ash displays some resistance to the emerald ash borer by forming callous tissue around EAB galleries; however, they are usually killed. White ash has been less affected by emerald ash borer due to its small population (unlike its cousin, F. americana is not commonly seen in cultivation) compared to green ash, which was planted in huge numbers as an ornamental.

The White Birch is a small to medium sized deciduous tree which grows to 70 or 80 feet in height. As far as trees go it doesn't live very long, only about 140 years. Small hear-shaped leaves are found at the ends of drooping twigs and branches. The paper birch has both male and female flowers called catkins. These turn into little winged nutkins, which ripen in early August to mid September. The wings help the seeds to fly away from the parent tree so there won't be competition for food and water.

You can identify this tree by its white bark which peels easily and is marked by narrow horizontal stripes. White birch trees can either have one slender stem or several stems. Moose like to browse on the young trees and will eat off the tops. This forces the tree to send up more stems.

The paper birch doesn't like shade and is the first tree to grow back in places that have had a fire or where trees have been cut.

Although moose and white-tailed deer will eat the leaves and tender shoots of the paper birch, it isn't their favorite food. Porcupines like to eat the bark and rabbits will eat the seedlings and young saplings. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers will peck little holes in the bark and feed on the sap. Hummingbirds and squirrels also drink the sap from the sap wells the sapsuckers made.

The bark is often used as a fire starter because it burns even when its wet. Native Americans also used the bark to cover their canoes. They also used it to make baskets, baby carriers, mats, torches and moose calls. Because the wood was strong and flexible it was made into spears, bows and arrows, snowshoes and sleds. The wood is now used for building lumber to make veneer, pulpwood and plywood. Syrup, wine, beer, and medicinal tonics are made from the sap.

The white birch is found in Newfoundland, Labrador, Canada, and from New England to North Carolina in the United States. It prefers colder climates, however. best in zone 2 to 6

Best grown in moist, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates some light shade. Best performance is in cold winter climates with cool summers. Site in areas with good air circulation to help rid the dense foliage of moisture. Somewhat intolerant of urban stresses such as air pollutants and salt spray. Plants will struggle in the high heat and humidity south of USDA Zone 6.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Picea glauca, commonly called white spruce, is an extremely hardy evergreen conifer that is native to upland areas and lake/stream margins stretching from Alaska across the boreal forest of Canada to Newfoundland, dipping south to Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and New York. This tree typically grows 60-80' tall (less frequently to 140' tall) with a cone-shaped crown. It diminishes in size to low, shrubby forms near tree line in northern Canada. Blue-green needles (to 3/4") on small woody pegs have sharp tips. Needles are pungently aromatic when crushed. Needles have a glaucous (white waxy coating) bloom, hence the specific epithet and common name. Branchlets do not droop. Cylindrical pale brown cones (to 2.5" long) have flexible scales.

Genus name is reportedly derived from the Latin word pix meaning pitch in reference to the sticky resin typically found in spruce bark.

Specific epithet both are in reference to the fact that mature needles of this tree become glaucous (acquire a waxy white bloom) with age.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems. Susceptible to needle and stem rust, canker, trunk and root rot. Yellow-headed spruce sawfly, spruce budworm and eastern spruce beetle are problems in some areas. Spider mites are common.

Ilex verticillata, the winterberry, is a specie of holly native to eastern North America in the United States and southeast Canada, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Minnesota, and south to Alabama.

Other names that have been used include Black Alder Winterberry, Brook Alder, Canada holly, Coralberry, Deciduous Holly, Deciduous Winterberry, False alder, Fever bush, Inkberry, Michigan Holly, Possumhaw, Swamp Holly, Virginian Winterberry, or Winterberry Holly. The specie occurs particularly in wetland habitats, but also on dry sand dunes and grassland. The berries are an important food resource for numerous species of birds.[4]

Ilex verticillata is a shrub growing to 1–5 metres (3.3–16.4 ft) tall. It is one of a number of hollies which are deciduous, losing their leaves in the fall. In wet sites, it will spread to form a dense thicket, while in dry soil it remains a tight shrub. The leaves are glossy green, 3.5–9 cm long, 1.5–3.5 cm broad, with a serrated margin and an acute apex. The flowers are small, 5 mm diameter, with five to eight white petals. The fruit is a globose red drupe 6–8 mm diameter, which often persists on the branches long into the winter, giving the plant its English name. Like most hollies, it is dioecious, with separate male and female plants; the proximity of at least one male plant is required to pollenize the females in order to bear fruit.
 

The berries were used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes, the origin of the name "fever bush".

Ilex verticillata - the American Winterberry - is prized as an ornamental plant in gardens for the midwinter splash of bright color from densely packed berries, whose visibility is heightened by the loss of foliage; therefore it is popular even where other, evergreen, hollies are also grown. The bare branches covered in berries are also popular for cutting and use in floral arrangements. It is a tough plant which is easy to grow, with very few diseases or pests. Although wet acidic soils are optimal, the winterberry will grow well in the average garden. Numerous cultivars are available, differing in size and shape of the plant and color of the berry. At least one male plant must be planted in proximity to one or more females for them to bear fruit. Suitable for zone 3b.

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best flowering in full sun. Prefers moist, acidic, organically rich soils. Tolerates heavy clay soils. Promptly remove suckers to prevent colonial spread. Little pruning is required. Prune in early spring if necessary. Best in hardinesse zone 3-6.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Hamamelis virginiana, known as common witch hazel, is a fall-blooming, deciduous shrub or small tree that is native to woodlands, forest margins and stream banks in eastern North America. It typically grows 15-20’ tall with a similar spread in cultivation, but can reach 30’ tall in its native habitat. Stem-hugging clusters of fragrant bright yellow flowers, each with four crinkly, ribbon-shaped petals, appear along the branches from October to December, usually after leaf drop but sometimes at the time of fall color. Fertilized flowers will form fruit over a long period extending through winter and into the following growing season. Fruits are greenish seed capsules that become woody with age and mature to light brown. Each seed capsule splits open in fall of the following year, exploding the 1-2 black seeds within for up to 30 feet. Oval to obovate, medium to dark green leaves (to 6” long) with dentate to wavy margins turn quality shades of yellow in fall. Plants of this species are usually the last native flowering plants to bloom in Missouri each year.

Genus name comes from the Greek words hama meaning at same time and melon meaning apple or fruit in reference to the occurrence of both fruit and flowers at the same time on this shrub (particularly in the case of fall flowering members of the genus). No serious insect or disease problems. Occasional insect galls (small wasps) appear on the foliage. Japanese beetles may chew on the leaves in some areas.

Easily grown in average, medium to wet, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist loams, but tolerates a wide range of soils including boggy ones. For best cross-pollination and subsequent fruit display, plant shrubs in groups rather than as single specimens. Prune as needed in late fall or early spring. Suitable for zone 3 to 6

Viburnum cassinoides is commonly called witherod viburnum. Withe (from Old English) means flexible twig and rod means slender shoot or stem. It is native primarily to northeastern North America (hence the occasional common name of northern witherod) where it is typically found in low woods, fields, swamps, marshes, pond peripheries and bogs. It is closely related to Viburnum nudum, and is sometimes designated as V. nudum var. cassenoides. V. nudum is primarily native to southeastern North America (hence the occasional common name of southern witherod). Both species are noted for having handsome fruit displays. V. cassinoides is a dense, rounded, multi-stemmed, upright-spreading, deciduous shrub that typically grows to 5- 6' (less frequently to 12') tall. Elliptic to ovate leaves (to 3 1/2" long) sometimes with crenulate margins emerge in spring with bronze tones, mature to a dull dark green in summer and finally turn attractive shades of orange-red to red-purple in fall. Creamy white flowers (3/16" across) in flat-topped clusters (cymes 2-5" wide) bloom in late spring (May-June). Flowers are followed by green fruit (5/16" long) that turns pink to red to blue to black in fall (sometimes with two or more colors simultaneously displayed in the same cluster. Berries provide sharp contrast to the foliage, and will remain on the plant after foliage drop to provide excellent winter interest. Other common names for this shrub are blue haw, swamp haw and wild raisin.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems. Occasional insect pests include aphids, borers, nematodes, scale and thrips. Occasional disease problems include anthracnose, leaf spots and powdery mildew.

Garden Uses

Ornamental shrub featuring excellent spring flowers, fall color and fall-winter fruit. Mass, groups or specimen/accent. Shrub borders, foundations, hedges or roadside plantings. Water garden peripheries. Naturalized areas.

Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch, also known as golden birch), is a large and important lumber species of birch native to North-eastern North America. The name "yellow birch" reflects the color of the tree's bark. The name Betula lutea was used expansively for this tree but has now been replaced.

Betula alleghaniensis is the provincial tree of Quebec, where it is commonly called merisier, a name which in France is used for the wild cherry. It is a medium-sized, typically single stemmed, deciduous tree reaching 60–80 feet (18–24 m) tall (exceptionally to 100 ft (30 m) with a trunk typically 2–3 ft (0.61–0.91 m) in diameter.Yellow birch is a relatively long lived birch which typically grows 150 years and may even grow up to 300 in old growth forests.

It mostly reproduces by seed. Mature trees typically start producing seeds at about 40 years but may start as young as 20.The optimum age for seed production is about 70 years. Good seed crops are not produced every year, and tend to be produced in intervals of 1–4 years with the years between good years having little seed production. The seeds germinate best on mossy logs, decaying wood or cracks in boulders since they cannot penetrate the leaf litter layer.Yellow birch saplings will not establish in full shade (under a closed canopy) so they typically need disturbances in a forest in order to establish and grow.

The bark on mature trees is a shiny yellow-bronze which flakes and peels in fine horizontal strips.[1][6] The bark often has small black marks and dark horizontal lenticels. After the tree reaches a diameter greater than 1 ft the bark typically stops shredding and reveal a platy outer bark although the thinner branches will still have the shreddy bark.The leaves are alternately placed on the stem, oval in shape with a pointed tip and often a slightly heart shaped (cordate) base. They are 2–5 in (5.1–12.7 cm) long and typically half as wide[4] with a finely serrated (doubly serrate) margin. They are dark green in color on the upper side and lighter on the bottom, the veins on the bottom are also pubescent.The leaves arise in pairs or singularly from small spur shoots.In the fall the leaves turn a bright yellow color.

The leaf has a very short petiole .25–.5 in (0.64–1.27 cm) long.
The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins which open in later spring.[3] Both male and female flowers will occur on the same tree making the plant monoecious. The male catkins are 2–4 in (5.1–10.2 cm) long, yellow purple, pendulous (hang downwards), and occur in groups of 3-6 on the previous year's growth. The female catkins are erect (point upward) and 1.5–3 cm (0.59–1.18 in) long and oval in shape, they arise from short spur branches with the leaves.The fruit, mature in fall, is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts.
The seed is a winged samara with two wings which are shorter than the width of the seed which matures and gets released in autumn.

Its native range extends from Newfoundland to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec and Ontario, and the southeast corner of Manitoba in Canada, west to Minnesota, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia. While its range extends as far south as Georgia, it is most abundant in the northern part of its range and only occurs in high elevations in the southern part of the range.It grows in USDA zones 3-7.

B. alleghaniensis prefers to grow in cooler conditions and is often found on north facing slopes, swamps, stream banks, and rich woods. It does not grow well in dry regions or regions with hot summers. It grows soil pH ranging from 4-8.

Uses

Yellow birch is considered the most important species birch for lumber and important hardwood timber tree; as such the wood of Betula alleghaniensis is extensively used for flooring, furniture, doors, veneer,cabinetry and toothpicks.Most wood sold as birch in North America is from this tree. Its wood is relatively strong, close grained, and heavy. The wood varies in color from reddish brown to creamy white and accepts stain and can be worked to a high polish.

The papery, shredded bark, is very flammable and can be peeled off and used as a fire starter even in wet conditions. Yellow birch has been used medicinally by Native Americans as a blood purifier and as other uses.Yellow birch can be tapped for syrup similarly to sugar maple although the sap has less sugar content, it flows in greater quantity than sugar maple. When the sap is boiled down the wintergreen evaporates and leaves a syrup not unlike maple syrup. The sap can also be used as is in birch syrup or may be flavored. Tea can also be made from the twigs and inner bark.

source: Wikipedia