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Landscape Plant
Identification
A presentation by Mrs. Isaacson
Special thanks to Dr Mark Brand and the University of Connecticut,
College of Agriculture. His work is helping students worldwide to
identify plant species. Go to http://www.hort.uconn.edu/Plants/
„
Plants included in this
presentation:
„ Juniperus
horizontalis/Creeping Juniper
„ Liquidambar styraciflua/Sweet Gum
„ Liriodendron tulipifera/Tulip Tree
„ Lonicera japonica ‘Halliana’/Hall’s
Japanese Honeysuckle
„ Magnolia grandiflora cv./Southern
Magnolia
Plants included in this
presentation:
„ Magnolia
x soulangiana/Chinese
(Saucer) Magnolia
„ Malus spp. and cv./Flowering Crabapple
„ Myrica pensylvatica/Bayberry
„ Nyssa sylvatica /Sour (Black) Gum
„ Pachysandra terminalis/Japanese
Spurge
Juniperus horizontalis
Creeping Juniper
FAMILY
„ Cupressaceae
Juniperus horizontalis
Creeping Juniper
LEAVES
„ Summer Foliage is
glaucous with two kinds
of needles: awl-shaped
and scale-like
„ scales are closely pressed
to stem and found in a
four rank pattern
„ awls are found in opposite
pairs
„ needle tip sharply pointed
„ green to blue-green
Juniperus horizontalis
Creeping Juniper
SIZE
„ 1 to 2 feet high by 4 to
8 feet spread, variable
but low-growing type
shrub.
HABIT
„ Low growing,
procumbent shrub with
long, trailing branches
forming mats.
Juniperus horizontalis
Creeping Juniper
ID FEATURES
„ two types of leaves
present
„ purple winter color
„ needles pointed
„ loose and floppy branches
„ blue-green summer color
„ spreading growth habit
Liquidambar styraciflua
Sweet Gum
(Varigated variety)
FAMILY
„ Hamamelidaceae
Liquidambar styraciflua
Sweet Gum
LEAVES
„ alternate "maple-like" star
shaped leaves
„ leaves are 5- to 7- lobed, 4
to 8" long and wide
„ margins serrate
„ dark to medium glossy
green
„ camphor odor when
crushed
Liquidambar styraciflua
Sweet Gum
FOLIAGE in FALL
„ typically quite showy
on most individuals
„ best trees are orange,
red, burgundy, and
purplish
„ some trees drop leaves
yellow and green
Liquidambar styraciflua
Sweet Gum
FLOWERS
„ monoecious
„ yellowish-green in
May
„ not showy
Liquidambar styraciflua
Sweet Gum
FRUIT
„ 1 to 1.5" spiny
balls; change from
green to brown
„ look like a mace
weapon
„ become noticeable
in the late summer
and fall
„ persist in winter
Liquidambar styraciflua
Sweet Gum
ID FEATURES
„ distinguish from maples because
leaves are alternate
„ aromatic foliage
„ distinct shiny fruit balls
„ star shaped pith
„ relatively large terminal and
flower buds
„ corky ridges on stems (often
absent)
„ for young trees habit is distinctly
pyramidal
Liriodendron tulipifera
Tulip Tree
FAMILY
„ Magnoliaceae
Liriodendron tulipifera
Tulip Tree
LEAVES
„ Tulip Tree is
probably the most
common tree that has
prominent stipules at
the base of its new
leaves, with the
stipules gradually
falling away as the
season progesses.
Liriodendron tulipifera
Tulip Tree
LEAVES
„ The four-lobed leaf from
a Tulip Tree is nearly
unique, having both a
base and an apex that is
truncate (flattened),
although the apex also
has a shallow notch in
the middle. The wide leaf
blade, combined with the
long petiole, allows for
the leaves to flutter in the
slightest breeze
Liriodendron tulipifera
Tulip Tree
FLOWERS
„ The showy yellow
flowers of Tulip Tree,
which also have shades
of orange, cream, and
green in their interiors,
occur in late Spring and
often at heights not
convenient for viewing,
and usually on trees that
are more than twenty
years old.
Liriodendron tulipifera
Tulip Tree
FRUIT/SEEDS
„ Tulip Trees feature their
samaras (winged seeds)
arranged in tightly
clustered and pyramidal
aggregate fruits, which
remain on the trees
throughout much of the
Winter until they slowly
shatter or are eaten by
wildlife.
Liriodendron tulipifera
Tulip Tree
TRUNKS
„ The straight trunks of
Tulip Tree possess a
diamondback type of
bark, in which the
ridges interlace and
the furrows are fairly
deep, with both
features becoming
more pronounced
with maturity
Lonicera japonica ‘Halliana’
Hall’s Japanese Honeysuckle
FLOWERS
„ Members of the genus
Lonicera that have
white flowers often
have them senesce to
golden-yellow before
they abscise.
Lonicera japonica ‘Halliana’
Hall’s Japanese Honeysuckle
HABIT
„ Honeysuckle is often a
component of neglected areas as
a vine or entangled
groundcover, where it
naturalizes on and near fence
rows, low-branched trees, and
sides of old buildings. When
Honeysuckle behaves as a vine,
it climbs by twining and may
cascade when it has no
supportive structure to attach to
(as shown here).
Lonicera japonica ‘Halliana’
Hall’s Japanese Honeysuckle
ID FEATURES
„ a twining vine or
groundcover
„ stems pubescent
„ evergreen or semievergreen tendencies
„ flowers white, fading to
yellow
„ flowers fragrant
Magnolia grandiflora cv.
Southern Magnolia
„
Southern Magnolia, a majestic
broadleaf evergreen tree from
zones 6b southward, is subject to
dieback in many zone 5 winters,
and may be sold in multistemmed form at its northernmost
range, due to its natural
compactness under these
conditions and to provide some
degree of insulation in case only
the outermost twigs die in a given
winter.
Magnolia grandiflora cv.
Southern Magnolia
LEAVES
„ The new foliage of
Southern Magnolia has an
extremely shiny upper
surface, unfurling from
the apex of the stem to
reveal its rust-pubescent
lower surface.
Magnolia grandiflora cv.
Southern Magnolia
ID FEATURES
„ wooly, brown pubescence on
terminal buds
„ terminal buds are 0.75" to 1.25"
long
„ valvate, appressed and small
lateral buds
„ ash-gray, smooth bark
„ emits citrus odor when branch
bruised
„ red seeds
„ large, white flowers
Magnolia x soulangiana
Chinese (Saucer) Magnolia
HABIT
„ Saucer Magnolia, with a
multi-trunked, rounded
outline, has the potential for
a very showy, early Spring
flowering display, but is
this may be cut short in this
effort by frosts and freezes
that severely damage the
emerging pink-white
flowers.
Magnolia x soulangiana
Chinese (Saucer) Magnolia
FLOWERS
„
A large, opened flower of Saucer
Magnolia has a rosy-pink interior,
white tepals that are exposed, and a
faint pink-purple on the reflexed and
mostly hidden underside of the
corolla.
Magnolia x soulangiana
Chinese (Saucer) Magnolia
BUDS
„ The large, fuzzy, silvery, floral and
vegetative buds of Saucer Magnolia provide
ornamental appeal in the Winter landscape.
„ On Saucer Magnolia, once the floral bud
scales abscise and the corolla elongates but is
not yet open, the floral structure is termed a
candle and has a purplish-pink and white
bicoloration
Magnolia x soulangiana
Chinese (Saucer) Magnolia
TRUNK
„ The trunks of Saucer
Magnolia (even on mature
specimens) are smooth and
light gray.
Magnolia x soulangiana
Chinese (Saucer) Magnolia
ID FEATURES
„ flower buds and vegetative
buds very distinct
„ hairs on flower buds are dense
and short
„ silver-gray smooth bark
„ pink-tinged, white, saucershaped flowers in spring
„ multi-trunked or with main
branches low on the trunk
Malus spp. and cv.
Flowering Crabapple
BARK
„ shiny, gray-brown color
„ scaley
„ not of particular ornamental
importance
Malus spp. and cv.
Flowering Crabapple
„
„
Fall color is not very
showy
Turns a mix of yellow
and green
Malus spp. and cv.
Flowering Crabapple
FLOWERS
„ A Crabapple inflorescence
has several showy
individual flowers, each
with five wide-spreading
petals that expose the
central, yellow anthers
Malus spp. and cv.
Flowering Crabapple
FRUIT
„ fruits held in clusters
„ green-yellow with a red
blush on one side
„ 0.4" diameter crabapples
(pome fruit)
Malus spp. and cv.
Flowering Crabapple
ID FEATURES
„ vase-shaped habit is unique
„ sparsely-branched, spreading, scaffold
branches
„ lots of spur wood along branches
„ shiny, dark green leaves with fine serrations
on margin
„ new growth emerges reddish
„ flower buds pink, opening to white
„ flowers and fruit held in clusters
Myrica pensylvatica
Bayberry
FAMILY
„ Myricaceae
LEAVES
„ The leaves of Northern
Bayberry are slowly deciduous
in its northern range (to zone 3),
but semi-evergreen in its
southern range (to zone 6).
However, for best display of the
ornamental fruits, complete
abscission of foliage is desired
by early Winter, so placing the
shrub in a sunny, wind-exposed
site is desirable to help achieve
this effect
Myrica pensylvatica
Bayberry
FRUIT
„ The small fruits of Northern
Bayberry, being green in Summer,
mature to silvery-gray and are
found in tight clusters on the
second-year twigs in Winter (and
may even persist on the third-year
branches, but tend to have a
blackened color by this time).
Again, foliage abscission is
essential in order to see the full
impact of the fruits on bare stems
in Winter.
Myrica pensylvatica
Bayberry
ID FEATURES
„ aromatic foliage and stems
„ colonizing habit
„ semievergreen, leathery
leaves
„ female plants with waxy
gray-green fruits
Nyssa sylvatica
Sour (Black) Gum
FAMILY
„ Cornaceae
HABIT
„ Black Tupelo is a tree that may
vary tremendously (from one
plant to the next) in its growth
habit in youth; most have a
generally upright growth habit,
but some have a cascading habit
(as shown here, reminiscent of
Sourwood).
Nyssa sylvatica
Sour (Black) Gum
LEAVES
„ The glossy leaves of Black
Tupelo (also known as
Black Gum or Sour Gum)
are spectacular in fall
color, often displaying an
initial mixture of warm
fall colors that terminate
in a brilliant display of
scarlet and crimson.
Nyssa sylvatica
Sour (Black) Gum
FLOWERS
„ The inflorescences of Black
Tupelo are polygamo-dioecious
(meaning that, although most
trees are distinctly male or
female, some male trees may
have a few fruits present in
Autumn due to the presence of
a few perfect flowers in
Spring). Irrespective of their
gender, Black Tupelo
inflorescences (while noticeable
due to their lighter color as
compared to the foliage) are
ornamentally insignificant.
Nyssa sylvatica
Sour (Black) Gum
BARK
„ The bark of Black
Tupelo is quite
variable (like its
growth habit), from
flaky to scaly to
blocky, and ranging
from brown to gray to
black.
Nyssa sylvatica
Sour (Black) Gum
ID FEATURES
„ dark blue fruit on
female trees only
„ imbricate large, buds
that or slightly downy
„ alternate leaf
arrangement
Nyssa sylvatica
Sour (Black) Gum
ID FEATURES
„ leathery, elliptical
leaves
„ slender, reddish
brown stems
„ branches at a stiff
90 degree angle
„ distinctive leaf scar
Pachysandra terminalis
Japanese Spurge
FAMILY
„ Buxaceae
HABIT
„ Pachysandra, the classic
evergreen groundcover for
shade, takes several years
to establish a solid mat of
foliage and stems, as
shown here.
Pachysandra terminalis
Japanese Spurge
LEAVES
„ The foliage of
Pachysandra, alternate
along the lower stems
but spiraled and
clustered near the
apex, is a glossy dark
green and coarsely
toothed on the upper
half of the leaf blade.
Pachysandra terminalis
Japanese Spurge
FLOWERS
„ Pachysandra (also known as Spurge
or Japanese Pachysandra) has its
creamy-white inflorescence at the
apex of the previous year's
evergreen growth (and therefore
exhibits terminal flowers, hence the
specific epithet). In contrast,
Allegheny Pachysandra, a native of
the eastern United States, has its
early Spring inflorescences
originate from the bases of its
stems.
Pachysandra terminalis
Japanese Spurge
ID FEATURES
„ low evergreen groundcover
„ rhizomatous growth
„ foliage in terminal whorls
„ diamond-shaped leaves with coarse serrations at the end of
each leaf
References
„ http://www.hort.uconn.edu/Plants/