Genus and Species Descriptions Flashcards
Acer saccharum
orange fall color, surface feeding, has poor heat tolerance, high oxygen demanding so requires well-drained sols. It is a climax species. Almost most common tree in NY.
Affected by Asian Longhorn Beetle, verticillium wilt and decline.
Acer platanoides
yellow fall color, surface roots, low branching, grass killing, wide open samaras and ridge and furrow bark. Invasive species.
Affected by Tar Spot disease and verticillium wilt
Crimson King cultivar-seedlings of cultivar are called Acer platanoides rubrum
Acer rubrum
Red/yellow fall color, named for red flowers, has a slight breakage problem (grows fast), yellows with high pH and dry soils, provenance issues, true pioneer
Acer sacharinum
Yellow fall color, invasive high roots, prefers wet sites, shallow poor soils, weakwooded, true pioneer
Affected by many different pests and verticillium wilt
Acer negundo
(aka Manitoba/Ashleaf Maple) adaptive, good hot dry areas and cold winter, dioecious, true pioneer
Castanea dentata
(American Chestnut), 1906 blight killed most throughout US within a decade, one of best building timbers ever known.
Fagus grandifolia
poorest transplant success
Fagus sylvatica
preferred landscape plant
varieties: atropunicea/atropurpurea (purple leaved), pendula (weeping/drooping), fastigiata (grows straight up)
Robinia pseudoacacia
Leguminaceae/Fabaceae, weedy, likes extremely dry soils, can be invasive, wood doesnt rot
Affected by leaf miner and mimosa webworm, true pioneer
Sophora japonica
Leguminaceae/Fabaceae, weak branching, last tree to flower *(Styphnolobium)
Salix
Salicaceae, weak wood, invasive, wt site tolerant, (babylonica most commonly sold-hardy up to Maryland), pioneer
Tilia
Tiliaceae, Tolerant, native & introduced, flowers attract bees but flower is often poison to them
Affected by sooty mold and bark canker
Paulownia
(Empresstree), wood very valuable and fire-resistant, common to dry sites
Catalpa speciosa
Trumpet Creeper family (Bignoniaceae) tolerates dry, has pods but not legume
Carya
Golden fall color, Shagbark requires moist soils, all other hickories require dry sites, climax plant
Fraxinus
in the Olive family (Oleaceae), valuable lumber and landscape plant, has straight grain that is susceptible to tearing, transplants easily, dioecious
Affected by mites (cause galls), Emerald Ash Borer and Ash Yellows
Ginkgo biloba
Ginkgoceae family, yellow fall color, stinky fruits, not affected by any diseases or pests, invasive root problem
Gleditsia triacanthos
Legume family (Leguminaceae/Fabaceae/Caesalpinaceae), capture N from air and convert into nutrient source therefore can grow in bad soils, like dry sites (too much moisture will suffocate rhizobia), pioneer Affected by bark canker, mimosa webworm, and plant bugs
Juglans
Juglandaceae, yellow or nothing fall color, prefer moist soils-not wet, weed tree, tolerates dry soils, timber trees, have allelopathy, pioneer
Affected by leaf blight (especially Butternut)
Liquidambar styraciflua
Witchhazel family (Hamamelidaceae), when transplanting first take leaves off or it will die, more southern plant (NY is out of its range), bootom land plants (good street trees bcuz can handle low O2 levels), pioneer
Liriodendron tulipifera
Magnoliaceae, yellow fall color, tallest tree in NE, pioneer
Affected by scales and sooty mold
Platanus occidentalis
Platanaceae, native to streams and bottom-lands, good high pH and pollution tolerant, easy to transplant, pioneer
Affected by anthracnose, rosey canker (n gas leak), “bumpy lumpy stem” (physical hit)
Platanus x acerifolia
Platanaceae, (hybrid), less susceptible to anthracnose than Sycamore
variety: ‘Bloodgood’-fully resistant to anthracnose
Pyrus calleryana
Rosaceae, crimson fall color, tolerant, best to transplant w/o leaves, resistant to fire blight, invasive
Populus
Salicaceae, cheap lumber, usually only survive for around a decade (fast growing), pioneers, can grow on toxic sites and are used for stream remediation using waddles (plant stems about 1” thick in streambank so they shoot up and decrease erosion)
tremuloides have largest distribution in NA and very site tolerant
grandidentata (Bigtooth Aspen)
deltoides grows by streambank
Quercus
Fagaceae, half of annual hardwood lumber production in US, strong-wooded, climax plant, acid soils, require mycorrhizae, red transplant much more easily than white, have cones of juvenility
Harmed by overfertilization (kills microorganisms/mycorrhizae), cant take up nutrients without acid soils (becomes iron-deficient)
Affected by oak wilt and anthracnose
Ulmus
Ulmaceae, vase-shaped, tolerant, fairly rot-resistant, have bark inclusion at times so break
Affected by Dutch Elm disease-symptom of ‘flagging’ (dead branch at top of tree where disease enters), chinese and siberian elm resistant, phloem necrosis (kills and has wintergreen odor)
Jefferson and Princeton are best resistant cultivars
Zelkova serrata
(Japanese Zelkova), Ulmaceae, good replacement for elm, easily transplants, massive root system that can cause problem for sidewalks, site tolerant, ozone indicator, valuable lumber in Japan
Acer palmatum
Aceraceae, well-drained, likes moderation
Acer ginnala
Aceraceae, cold hardy, moist open fields, tolerant
Acer griseum
Aceraceae, part shade to full sun, true shade and cold site plant
Amelanchier
Rosaceae, understory but likes full sun
Sassakatoon (blueberry-like)
Affected by heat (attracts lacebugs) and lacebugs (sap-sucking)
Betula populifolia
Betulaceae, poor thin aerated soils, like warmer
Betula papyrifera
Betulaceae, farther N species, loamy soils, more moisture than Gray
Betula nigra
Betulaceae, wet sites, good city tree, cant tolerate sand
Betula lenta
Betulaceae, hardy down South, wintergreen
Betula alleghaniensis
(Yellow/Swamp Birch), Betulaceae, grows in colder spots, most wintergreen
Carpinus caroliniana
Betulaceae, native understory, shade and damp stream sites
Ostrya virginiana
Betulaceae, native understory, tough pioneer
Hamamelis
Hamamelidaceae, last plant to bloom in October
Rhus
Anacardiaceae (Cashew family), pioneer invasive, white fruit are poisonous, common to disturbed sites, tend to clump together
Larix Decidua
easy to transplant, needs well-drained soil and full sun not tolerant of shade, likes disturbed sites
Taxodium distichum
Cupressaceae, southern swamps, flood tolerant, most rot-resistant wood
Metasequoia glyptostroboides
easy to transplant, no disease, fossils
tsuga
native to northern cool slopes, wooley adelgid, not planted very much anymore
Juniperus
Cupressaceae, fleshy cones, pioneer, best in full sun, acid or limey soils, not good in wet or shade sites
affected by phomopsis tip blight and cedar apple rust
Juniperus virginiana
dry site plant
Thuja occidentalis
moist site plant
Atlantic White-Chamaecyparis thyoides
wet site plant (swamps)
Taxus
landscape plant, require fertile well-drained soils (wet sites kill), seeds of aril are poisonous
affected by Black Vine Weevil
Forsythia
full sun, yellow flowers in the spring susceptible to frost damage
Lonicera tatartica
Tatarian Honeysuckle, red or orange fruits, site tolerant plant
Hydrangea
flowers-blue=acid, pink=basic, indicators of drought (shrivel up when they need water but come back to life when they get it)
Viburnum
pioneer, can thrive in heavy clay to sandy soils, not dry, need crosspollination for good fruit
affected by Viburnum Leaf Beetle
Syringa
Oleaceae, thrive in full sun and wind, rejuvenate pruning (remove old stems)
affected by powdery mildew
Ilex
Aquifoliaceae, mostly evergreens but most cold hardy are deciduous, need high oxygen acidic soils, dioecious
Ilex opaca
American Holly, native to New England through Florida within 100 miles of coast, acid soils
Ilex meserveae
hybrid of Canadian and English hollies, cold hardy broadleaf evergreen
Ilex glabra
seashore tolerant, wet site and cold hardy
Ilex verticillata
deciduous, native to cold swampy wet areas
Prunus serotina
natives are long-lived (most cherries only live 25 yrs)
affected by Black knot disease
Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’
used in Washington Cherry Festival
Rhododendron
Ericaeceae (Heath family), largest genus of woody plants, all require acid soils, moderate shade, and moist but not wet sites, deadhead pruning all azaleas (5 stamens and funnel/trumpet flowers) are rhododendrons (10 stamens and bell flowers) evergreen azaleas=Delaware Valley White+Hino Crimson--affected by canker, powdery mildew, and Black Vine Weevil
Rhododendron maximum
requires shade
Rhododendron catawbiense
most common landscape, native to Blue Ridge Mountains
Roseum elegans-most hardy catawba cultivar and most common
Kalmia
Ericaceae, poor tolerance of pollution and urban situations
Pieris
Ericaceae
affected by lacebug (black under leaf)
Hedera helix
attach by root-like hairs, sun or shade very poor with SW exposure, invasive
Pachysandra
groundcover, avoid full sun-causes yellowing
Vinca minor
better full sun than shade, avoid SW exposure, blue flowers
Euonymus fortune
tolerant, invasive
Coronillia varia
Crown Vetch, Leguminaceae, common along highways, blooms pink in summer
Pueraria lobata
Kudzu Vine, fastest growing vine in the U.S. (60 ft a yr), mostly impacts southern forest by covering things
