Forestry Flashcards
Family: Ginkgoaceae
Scientific name: Ginkgo Biloba
Common Name: Ginkgo
May cure Alzheimer’s disease and increase circulation
Tastes like almonds & smells like rancid butter
Originated from Asia (Japan/China)
It can grow up to 30 meters tall and can live for a millenium.
It is also well-known for its unique seeds, which have long been used as a food source in Asia.
Its odor is due to the malodorous chemical compound butyric acid, whcih is found in the integument of the seed; it is the same compound that gives rancid butter its “distinctive” smell.
It is a highly adaptable plant that can grow in almost any temperate/Mediterranean climate.
It is also resistant to pollution and pests.
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific name: Abies balsamea
Common Name:Balsam Fir
Native to eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States
Medium-size evergreen tree typically 14–20 metres (46–66 ft) tall with a narrow conic crown
Habitat: Terrestrial wetlands
The leaves are flat needle-like, 15 to 30 mm (½–1 in) long, dark green above often with a small patch of stomata near the tip, two white stomatal bands below, and a slightly notched tip. They are arranged spirally on the shoot, but with the leaf bases twisted to appear in two more-or-less horizontal rows.
Very popular as Christmas trees
The resin is used to produce Canada balsam, and was traditionally used as a cold remedy and as a glue for glasses, optical instrument components, and for preparing permanent mounts of microscope specimens.
Balsam fir oil is an EPA approved nontoxic rodent repellent.
The balsam fir is also used as an air freshener and as incense
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific Name: Larix decidua
Common Name: European Larch
Larix decidua is a deciduous coniferous tree reaching 25–45 m tall, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter.
The crown is conic when young, becoming broad with age; the main branches are level to upswept, with the side branches often pendulous.
The shoots are dimorphic, with growth divided into long shoots (typically 10–50 cm long) and bearing several buds, and short shoots only 1–2 mm long with only a single bud.
The leaves are needle-like, light green, 2–4 cm long which turn bright yellow before they fall in the autumn, leaving the pale yellow-buff shoots bare until the next spring.
The cones are erect, ovoid-conic, 2–6 cm long, with 30-70 erect or slightly incurved (not reflexed) seed scales; they are green variably flushed red when immature, turning brown and opening to release the seeds when mature, 4–6 months after pollination. The old cones commonly remain on the tree for many years, turning dull grey-black.
It is very cold tolerant, able to survive temperatures down to -50°C, and is in the Alps, reaching 2400 m altitude, though most abundant from 1000–2000 m.
It only grows on well-drained soils, avoiding waterlogged ground.
The wood is tough and durable, but also flexible in thin strips, and is particularly valued for yacht building; wood used for this must be free of knots, and can only be obtained from old trees that were pruned when young to remove side branches.
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific Name: Larix laricina
Common Name: Tamarack (Eastern Larch)
The name Tamarack is the Algonquian name for the species and means “wood used for snowshoes”.
It is a deciduous coniferous tree reaching 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 60 cm (24 in) diameter.
The tamarack is not an evergreen. 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, 4–6 months after pollination.
The needles are normally borne on a short shoot in groups of 10–20 needles.
The Larch is deciduous and the needles turn yellow in autumn.
The seed cones are small, less than 2 cm (0.8 in) long, with lustrous brown scales.
Larch are commonly found in swamps, bogs, and other low-land areas.
The aboriginal peoples of Canada’s northwest regions used the inner bark as a poultice to treat cuts, infected wounds, frostbite, boils and hemorrhoids. The outer bark and roots are also said to have been used with another plant as a treatment for arthritis, cold and general aches and pains.
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific Name: Picea abies
Common Name: Norway Spruce
It is a large, fast-growing evergreen coniferous tree growing to 35-55 m (115–180 ft) tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 1-1.5 m.
The shoots are orange-brown and hairless.
The leaves are needle-like, 12–24 mm long, quadrangular in cross-section (not flattened), and dark green on all four sides with inconspicuous stomatal lines.
The cones are 9–17 cm long (the longest of any spruce), and have bluntly to sharply triangular-pointed scale tips. They are green or reddish, maturing brown 5–7 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 4–5 mm long, with a pale brown 15 mm wing.
It can grow fast when young, up to 1 m per year for the first 25 years under good conditions, but becomes slower once over around 20 m tall.
The Norway Spruce tolerates acidic soils well, but does not do well on dry or deficient soils.
The Norway Spruce can be used to make spruce beer, which was once used to prevent and even cure scurvy.
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific Name: Picea glauca
Common Name: White Spruce
Large coniferous evergreen tree which grows normally to 15- 30 m (49- 98 ft) tall, but can grow up to 40 m (130 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of up to 1 m(3.3 ft). The bark is thin and scaly, flaking off in small circular plates 5 to 10 cm (2.0 to 3.9 in) across. The crown is narrow - conic in young trees, becoming cylindric in older trees. The shoots are pale buff-brown, hairless in the east of the range, but often pubescent in the west, and with prominent pulvini. The leaves are needle-like, 12 to 20 mm (0.47 to 0.79 in) long, rhombic in cross-section, glaucous blue-green above with several thin lines of stomata, and blue-white below with two broad bands of stomata.
The cones are pendulous, slender, cylindrical, 3 to 7 centimetres (1.2 to 2.8 in) long and 1.5 cm (0.59 in) wide when closed, opening to 2.5 cm (0.98 in) broad. They have thin, flexible scales 15 mm (0.59 in) long, with a smoothly rounded margin. They are green or reddish, maturing to pale brown 4 to 8 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 2 to 3 mm (0.079 to 0.12 in) long, with a slender, 5 to 8 mm(0.20 to 0.31 in) long pale brown wing.
It grows between sea level and an elevation of 1,520 m(4,990 ft). White spruce generally is found in regions where the growing season exceeds 60 days annually.
White spruce generally occurs on well-drained soils in alluvial and riparian zones, although it also occurs in soils of glacial and lacustrine origin. The understory is dominated by feather mosses and occasionally peat moss. In the far north, the total depth of the moss and underlying humus is normally between 25 to 46 cm (9.8 to 18 in), although it tends to be shallower when hardwoods are present in the stand.
White spruce grows in soils with pH values of 4.7—7.0, although they have been found in soils as acidic as 4.0 in subalpine fir forests in the Northwest Territories. A presence of calcium in the soil is common to white spruce found in New York. White spruce most commonly grows in the soil orders of Alfisols and Inceptisols.
White spruce is harvested for paper-making. It is also used to a small extent as a Christmas tree. The wood is also exported to Japan where, known as “shin-kaya”, it is used to make go boards as a substitute for the rare kaya wood.
White spruce is the provincial tree of Manitoba and the state tree of South Dakota. used as general construction planks
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific Name: Picea mariana
Common Name: Black Spruce
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific Name: Picea pungens
Common Name: Blue Spruce
It grows at high altitudes from 1,750–3,000 m (5,740–9,800 ft) altitude. Unlike Picea engelmannii (Engelmann Spruce) in the same region, it does not reach the alpine tree-line. It is most commonly found growing along stream sides in mountain valleys, where moisture levels in the soil are greater than the low rainfall in the area would often suggest.
Medium-sized coniferous evergreen tree growing to 25–30 m (82–98 ft) tall, exceptionally to 46 m (151 ft) tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). The bark is thin and gray, with narrow vertical furrows. The crown is conic in young trees, becoming cylindric in older trees. The shoots are stout, orange-brown, usually glabrous, and with prominent pulvini.
The leaves are 1.5 to 2 inches long, dagger shaped, sharply mucronate, lanceolate, sessile, acuminate, deflexed, rigid, coriaceous, somewhat serrulate, very numerus, bright green above and slightly glacous below. The leaves are needle-like, 15–30 millimetres (0.59–1.2 in) long, stout, rhombic in cross-section, dull gray-green to bright glaucous blue (very variable from tree to tree in wild populations), with several lines of stomata; the tip is viciously sharp.
The cones are pendulous, slender cylindrical, 6–11 cm (2.4–4.3 in) long and 2 cm (0.79 in) broad when closed, opening to 4 cm (1.6 in) broad. They have thin, flexible scales 20–24 mm (0.79–0.94 in) long, with a wavy margin. They are reddish to violet, maturing pale brown 5–7 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long, with a slender, 10–13 mm (0.39–0.51 in) long pale brown wingT
he Navajo and Keres Native Americans used this as a traditional medicinal plant and ceremonial item. It is also grown to be used as a traditional Christmas tree.
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific Name: Picea rubens
Common Name: Red Spruce
Red Spruce is a coniferous tree which under optimal conditions grows to 18–40 metres (59–130 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of about 60 centimetres (24 in), though exceptional specimens can reach 46 m (151 ft) tall and 30 cm (12 in) diameter. It has a narrow conical crown. The leaves are needle-like, yellow-green, 12–15 millimetres (0.47–0.59 in) 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 cones are cylindrical, 3–5 centimetres (1.2–2.0 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. 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. Its habitat is moist but well-drained sandy loam, often at high altitudes. Red Spruce can be easily damaged by windthrow and acid rain.
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. The sap can be used to make spruce gum. Leafy red spruce twigs are boiled as a part of making spruce beer.
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific Name: Pinus banksiana
Common Name: Jack Pine
Pinus banksiana ranges from 9–22 m (30–72 ft) in height. Some jack pines are shrub-sized, due to poor growing conditions. They do not usually grow perfectly straight, resulting in an irregular shape similar to pitch pine (Pinus rigida). This pine often forms pure stands on sandy or rocky soil. It is fire-adapted to stand-replacing fires, with the cones remaining closed for many years, until a forest fire kills the mature trees and opens the cones, reseeding the burnt ground.
The leaves are in fascicles of two, needle-like, twisted, slightly yellowish-green, and 2–4 centimetres (0.79–1.6 in) long.
Jack pine cones are usually 5 centimetres (2.0 in) and curved at the tip.[2] The cones are 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) long, the scales with a small, fragile prickle that usually wears off before maturity, leaving the cones smooth.
Unusually for a pine, the cones normally point forward along the branch, sometimes curling around it. That is an easy way to tell it apart from the similar lodgepole pine in more western areas of North America. The cones on mature trees are serotinous. They open when exposed to intense heat, greater than or equal to 50 °C (122 °F). The typical case is in a fire, however cones on the lower branches can open when temperatures reach 27 °C (81 °F) due to the heat being reflected off the ground. Additionally, when temperatures reach −46 °C (−51 °F), the cones will open, due to the nature of the resin.
Like other species of pine, Pinus banksiana has use as timber, although its wood tends to be knotty and not highly resistant to decay. Products include pulpwood, fuel, decking, and utility poles.
Family: Pinaceae
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
