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Alison Boutin Dendrology Homework Due October 9, 2002 Aesculus flava, Hippocastanaceae Aesculus octandra Marsh. (Synonym) Distinguishing Characteristics: Leaves have 5 pinnately compound elliptical leaflets that are yellow to green. The fruit is a smooth light brown capsule, unlike the spiky capsule of Aesculus glabra. smell Yellow Buckeye The native range is down the Ohio River Valley. This is the largest of the buckeyes. The wood is the softest of all American hardwoods and makes poor lumber; but it is used for pulpwood and woodenware. The young shoots and seeds contain poison that is harmful to animals, but the shape and foliage make this an attractive shade tree. The abundant, large nuts of yellow buckeye contain much starch but are apparently not suitable for food because they contain a poisonous glucoside, aesculin. The American Indian ate yellow buckeye nuts but first they roasted the nuts among hot stones and then peeled and mashed them and leached them with water for several days. This treatment apparently removed the aesculin. All data from: Sylvics of North America (www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual) Information provided by Alison Boutin, October 9, 2002 Betula nigra, Betulaceae Black Birch Distinguishing Characteristics: The bark is papery with a white outer color and a red to salmon inner color. Twigs are brown, pubescent, the pith is homogenous and the buds imbricate. Leaves like most birch are simple, alternate, pinnately veined, and double serrated with a lustrous and glabrous topside. The primary range of river birch is the southeastern quarter of the United States. Scattered populations are found along rivers and streams as far north as southern Minnesota, central Wisconsin, and the middle New England States. The tree's beauty makes it an important ornamental, especially at the northern and western extremes of its natural range. Because of its tolerance to acid soils, river birch has been used successfully in strip mine reclamation. It has also been used in erosion control. Its graceful form, attractive bark, and high resistance to the bronze birch borer make it desirable for ornamental planting. River birch is used mainly for local enterprises such as the manufacture of inexpensive furniture, basket hoops, and turned articles. Experiments in North Carolina did not indicate that it is desirable for commercial pulpwood production, but naturally occurring merchantable-sized trees are often harvested for pulpwood when mixed with other bottomland hardwoods. Strength of the wood makes it suitable for the manufacture of artificial limbs and children's toys. “The most beautiful of American trees” is what Prince Maximilian thought of river birch when he toured North America before he became the short-lived Emperor of Mexico. All data from: Sylvics of North America (www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual) Information provided by Alison Boutin, October 9, 2002 Fagus grandifolia, Fagaceae American Beech Distinguishing Characteristics: Leaves have more than 10 pairs of pinnate veins and the leaf margin is blatantly serrate. The bark is a smooth gray, the twigs are in a zigzag pattern. Buds are spindle like. This slow-growing, common, deciduous tree reaches its greatest size in the alluvial soils of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys and may attain ages of 300 to 400 years. Beech mast is palatable to a large variety of birds and mammals, including mice, squirrels, chipmunks, black bear, deer, foxes, ruffed grouse, ducks, and blue jays. Beech is the only nut producer in the northern hardwood type.???? Beech wood is excellent for turning and steam bending. It wears well, is easily treated with preservatives, and is used for flooring, furniture, veneer, and containers. It is especially favored for fuel wood because of its high density and good burning qualities. Creosote made from beech wood is used internally and externally as a medicine for various human and animal disorders. Data from Sylvics of North America (www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual) Information provided by Alison Boutin, October 9, 2002 Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Cercidiphyllaceae Cercidiphyllum japonicum Sieb. & Zucc. ex J. Hoffmann & H. Schult. Katsura tree Distinguishing Characteristics: Leaves are light green to yellow and have a cordate base and an overall heart shape leaf. Crenate margins The fruit on the female tree are banana like clusters of capsules. Bud scales on the twigs are red, and the bark is shedding. This plant is introduced to the United States from Japan and China planted in the early 1900's as part of a Japanese garden (1). Heart-shaped leaves are blue-green in the summer and turn scarlet to yellow in the fall. This tree often has more than one trunk. The leaves start out in spring as a beautiful light pink before turning to light green. (2) In summer the leaves are a bluish green before turning yellowish-apricot in the fall. Suggested uses for this plant include shade tree, specimen plant, and street tree. Named Cersidiphyllum because its foliage resembles that of the Redbud (Cercis). (3) As the leaves fall and decompose, they give off an odor of caramel or cotton candy. Data from: 1) USDA Plant database (http://plants.usda.gov/) 2) University of Pennsylvania Morris Arboretum http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/arboretum/katsura1.html 3) Virginia Cooperative Extension www.ext.vt.edu/departments/envirohort/factsheets/trees/kattr.html Information provided by Alison Boutin, October 9, 2002 Catalpa speciosa, Bignoniaceae Catalpa speciosa (Warder) Warder ex Engelm. Northern catalpa Distinguishing Characteristics: Leaves are cordate shaped in whorls of three with no terminal bus showing. Fruit is a distinctive cigar shaped terminal capsule or legume. The fruit has many winged seeds inside. Originally native to the lower Ohio River valley and central Mississippi River Valley, this tree has been widely distributed through human intervention. Farmers first brought it into Ohio, commonly using it for fence posts. By way of intentional planting and "escapes" this tree has become established in most of Ohio's counties. People also have planted the Northern Catalpa as an ornamental tree for its showy, spring flowers. The wood, mostly used for fence posts, also has been used for railroad ties, cheap furniture, and interior finish. This is the favored food-plant of the Catalpa Sphinx Moth, which sometimes strips a tree of its leaves. Data from: http://www.oplin.lib.oh.us/products/tree/fact%20pages/catalpa/catalpa.html Information provided by Alison Boutin, October 9, 2002 Acer nigrum, Aceraceae Black maple Distinguishing Characteristics: The characteristic palmately lobed Acer leaf is distinguishable from other species by its persistent leaf like stipules on the twigs, below the petiole base of full leaves. Double samara angle. Repand leaf blade. Black Maple is Native to the US. (1) The wood properties of black and sugar maple overlap in a narrow range and for all practical purposes are considered the same. (2) Black maples are tapped for sap in the process of making maple syrup. Tests on unreplicated plots of black and sugar maple showed little differences between the two taxa in the sugar content of sap (2) Black maple is cut and sold with sugar maple as hard maple lumber. In most practical forest treatments, because of its similarities in wood properties, black maple has been included with sugar maple and treated as a subspecies. Data From: 1) USDA Plant Database http://plants.usda.gov/ 2) Sylvics of North America http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/acer/nigrum.htm Information provided by Alison Boutin, October 9, 2002