Natural History Questions (excluding fruit) Flashcards
1
Q
red maple
A
White-tail deer browse foliage.
2
Q
painted buckeye
A
Wood is soft, used for carving. Pollinated by hummingbirds. Seeds formerly used in taxidermy. All parts poisonous to humans, including honey.
3
Q
devil’s walking stick
A
Young leaves formerly boiled and eaten like spinach.
4
Q
dwarf pawpaw
A
Fruits are not common.
5
Q
persimmon
A
One of our hardest woods, formerly used for golf club heads.
6
Q
lespedeza
A
Planted for fruit for quail food. White-tail deer browse foliage. Native to Japan, invasive. Favored by burning.
7
Q
sourwood
A
A bee tree, producing nectar to make honey.
8
Q
pitch pine
A
Formerly used in New England as a source of tar.
9
Q
loblolly pine
A
Wood used for pulp (paper products), lumber and plywood. Sold as yellow pine.
10
Q
Virginia pine
A
Sometimes used for pulpwood and lumber, but not preferred. Some used for Christmas trees.
11
Q
black cherry
A
Wood extremely valuable for furniture and cabinets. Highest quality wood comes from Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia. Wilted foliage poisonous to livestock.
12
Q
white oak
A
Most important food plant. White-tail deer browse foliage. Sold as flooring, furniture, cabinetry, molding, tight cooperage (barrels used for liquids), shingles, fence posts, charcoal and firewood.
13
Q
southern red oak
A
Barrels only suitable for solids.
14
Q
post oak
A
Wood value lower than white oak. Used for fence posts.
15
Q
poison-ivy
A
Most people develop skin rashes after contact with an oil in the plant.
16
Q
lodgepole pine
A
Major pioneer species in American west, especially after fire. Lumber sold as yellow pine. Related to Virginia pine.
17
Q
serviceberry
A
One of our best tasting fleshy fruits.
18
Q
pignut hickory
A
Wood is dense, used for striking tool handles, railroad ties, charcoal. Excellent for firewood. Lightly stained wood used for furniture, sold as pecan.
19
Q
red hickory
A
Closely related to pignut.
20
Q
mockernut hickory
A
Humans eat the nuts. Wood is dense, used for striking tool handles, railroad ties, charcoal. Excellent for firewood. Lightly stained wood used for furniture, sold as pecan.
21
Q
fringetree
A
Both common names describe the clusters of flowers with long thin white petals. (fringetree and old man’s beard)
22
Q
dogwood
A
Wood is dense, formerly used in making shuttles for weaving. Rabbits eat the inner bark. Many trees dying from fungal disease, dogwood anthracnose.
23
Q
huckleberry
A
Commonly confused with blueberry.
24
Q
blackgum
A
Very important for wildlife. Most large trees are hollow, providing cavities for mammals, birds and insects. Bee tree, flowers provide nectar for honey. Wood low value, sometimes used for plywood.
25
shortleaf pine
Produces denser lumber than loblolly, sold as yellow pine.
26
scarlet oak
Young shoots and acorns poisonous to livestock. Raw acorns should not be eaten by humans. Commercial value of wood low, because of dead branches.
27
black oak
Inner bark produces a yellow dye. Uses similar to other red oaks.
28
multiflora rose
Formerly planted as living fence, but escaped and invasive. Provides nesting and escape for wildlife. Hips eaten in winter by white-tail deer, game birds and rabbits, and used in brewing tea.
29
sweetleaf
Leaves, fruits, and inner bark contain yellow dye.
30
sparkeberry
The fruit is pulpy and tasteless. Least valuable for wildlife.
31
smooth alder
Roots fix nitrogen. Planted in wetland restoration by pushing small branches into the ground.
32
musclewood
Wood is extremely dense. Formerly used for splitting wedges and tool handles. Occasionally used in landscaping.
33
redbud
Commonly used in landscaping. Flowers edible.
34
silky dogwood
Used in wetland reclamation (nitrogen fixing).
35
hazelnut
Fruits sold as filberts. Ruffed grouse eat the catkins in winter.
36
white ash
Wood valuable commercially. Used for furniture, paneling, cabinetry, sports equipment, long-handed tools, flooring, and pulpwood. Beavers eat the inner bark. Trees being killed by emerald ash borer, an exotic beetle. Sometimes used in landscaping.
37
dog-hobble
Sometimes used in landscaping.
38
tulip-poplar
Seed viability low, about 10%. Bee tree, nectar used to make a dark honey. Wood sold as yellow poplar. Used in hardwood plywood for furniture and the interior plys of pine plywood. Sometimes used in landscaping.
39
red mulberry
Valuable wildlife food plant.
40
northern red oak
Extremely valuable lumber species, especially in western NC. Used for molding, furniture, paneling, flooring, cabinets, and pulp.
41
rhododendron
Foliage and bark poisonous when eaten. Smoke from burning wood toxic for humans.
42
eastern hemlock
Wood has little to no commercial value today, but used in landscaping. Bark formerly used as a source of tannic acid, used in tanning leather. Severe defoliation by hemlock wooly adelgid, an exotic insect, causes conservation concerns in the Appalachians.
43
Carolina hemlock
Grows almost exclusively in western NC. Also attacked by wooley adelgid.
44
western hemlock
Fasted growing conifer found in the Pacific Northwest and Inland Empire. Wood commercially valuable, grown in plantations, used in dimension lumber and pulpwood. Not harmed by adelgid.
45
hard maple
Used in furniture, cabinets, flooring, baseball bats, bowling alleys, and bowling pins. Commonly used in landscaping. Wildlife eat flower buds.
46
boxelder
Produces low-value lumber usually used for pallets.
47
river cane
Our only native bamboo. Formerly used for arrow shafts, blow guns, baskets and musical instruments. Stems woven into waterproof mats from roofing and siding. Provides forage for livestock and escape cover for wildlife. Flowers infrequently.
48
pawpaw
The skin of fruits causes a rash on some people.
49
bitternut hickory
Wood uses same as other hickories.
50
shagbark hickory
True hickory section. Wildlife use same as other hickories, but also occasionally eaten by humans.
51
hawthorn
An unstable genus. Fruits sometimes made into jelly.
52
beech
Raw nuts toxic to humans. Porcupines eat the inner bark. Wood has limited merchantability. Used for bowls, spoons, cutting boards, clothes pins, and brewing beer. Beech bark disease is killing many beech trees in PA and NY.
53
winterberry
All Ilex fruits irritate human stomachs and should not be eaten.
54
American holly
Wood very dense, nearly white, used in inlay work.
55
overcup oak
Low commercial value. Wood difficult to dry and many standing trees develop ring shake (where the growth rings separate). Acorns germinate in the spring.
56
Shumard oak
Uses similar to other red oaks.
57
black willow
Wood light-weight. Formerly used for wooden limbs. Prized for making charcoal used in black powder.
58
American elm
Wood used for steam-bent furniture parts and wheel hubs. Populations reduced by Dutch elm disease.
59
soft maple
Formerly used in ornamental plantings, but no longer favored owing to the shallow roots and brittle branches.
60
tree-of-heaven
Native to China, invasive. Some people develop skin rashes from contact with leaves. Wood similar to ash but no commercial value.
61
sweet-shrub
Flowers formerly made into necklaces.
62
pecan
Wood used for furniture. Nuts prized in baking. Planted for the fruits.
63
Chinese chestnut
Native to China and Korea. Resistant to chestnut blight.
64
Oriental bittersweet
Native to eastern Asia. A serious weed in western NC. Fruits used in dried floral arrangements and wreaths.
65
sugarberry
Wood use same as elm.
66
ginkgo
Cultivated, probably extinct in nature. Some people develop skin rashes from contact with seeds. Dried leaves used in treating dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Used in landscaping.
67
Osage-orange
Wood very dense. Used for bows, fence posts, wagon axels, and source of brown-yellow dye. Formerly planted as a living fence to contain livestock. Some people develop skin rashes from the milky sap.
68
Chinaberry
Native from India to China. Fruit deadly poisonous to livestock, poultry, and humans if eaten. Formerly planted around farm houses because framers believed the tree repelled insects.
69
dawn-redwood
Native to China. Used in landscaping.
70
white mulberry
Native to China. Introduced during Colonial times as a food source for silk worms. Fruits eaten by humans and many wildlife species.
71
Norway spruce
Native to Europe. Wood used for pulp, dimension lumber and musical instruments. Pound-for-pound , spruce wood is stronger than steel. Commonly used in landscaping in cool areas.
72
laurel oak
Uses similar to other red oaks. Sometimes used in landscaping.
73
sassafras
Roots formerly used in making root beer and tea but now thought to be carcinogenic.
74
American Chestnut
Formerly a major species of the Appalachians, now reduced to a tall shrub by a fungal disease, chestnut blight. Wood formerly used for siding, shingles, shakes, furniture, paneling and fence posts. Bark formerly used as a source of tannin.
75
red spruce
The only spruce native to the Southern Appalachians.
76
mimosa
Native from Iran to China. Pollinated by hummingbirds.
77
river birch
Commonly used in landscaping.
78
green ash
Wood use the same as white ash. Inner bark eaten by beavers. Emerald ash borer, native to Asia and first discovered in Michigan in 2002 is killing many ash trees. Sometimes used in landscaping.
79
privet
Native to China. A noxious weed in bottomlands. Bark and twigs eaten by beaver. Thickets provide escape cover for wildlife.
80
sweetgum
Although planting has stopped, sweetgum ranks first in the number of acres of hardwood plantations. Used in hardwood plywood for furniture, and the interior layers of "pine" plywood panels. Formerly prized for paneling. Resin sometimes used in perfume. Inner bark eagerly eaten by beaver.
81
Japanese honeysuckle
Native to Japan. Very invasive, a noxious weed of moist soil. Extensive tangles provide escape cover.
82
Japanese stilt grass
Very invasive. Native to Japan.
83
paulownia
Native to China. Considered a weed by some, but a valuable hardwood by others. Logs eagerly purchased by Japanese. Used for furniture, musical instruments, carvings, and wooden bowls. Leaves used for fodder. Planted on mine spoil banks.
84
cherrybark oak
Wildlife use same as other red oaks. High-quality lumber.
85
blackberry
Thick tangles provide escape cover.
86
elderberry
Leaves and twigs contain toxins and should not be eaten.
87
muscadine
Used in making wine, most notably scuppernong with yellow-green fruits. The growth and care of grapes is called viticulture.
88
Carolina ash
Our most water-tolerant ash.
89
swamp pepperbush
Nectar used in making honey. Native Americans steamed and ate young leaves like spinach. Occasionally planted for landscaping.
90
inkberry
Fruits irritate the stomachs of humans, causing vomiting. Flowers provide nectar for honey. Occasionally used for landscaping.
91
longleaf pine
Virgin lumber sold as heart pine. Formerly extensively used for naval stores (tar, pitch, turpentine and rosin). Leaves used for mulch. Occupies 3% of its original range. Commonly planted for landscaping.
92
sand laurel oak
Wood use same as other red oaks. Commonly used in landscaping.
93
turkey oak
Low commercial value. Sometimes used for fuel wood. Unusual for an oak, leaves turn bright red in autumn.
94
swamp cyrilla
Honey bee larvae poisoned by eating honey made from this plant.
95
lamb-kill
Foliage and twigs poisonous to humans and livestock.
96
sweetbay
Lumber sold as either magnolia or yellow-poplar. Sometimes planted for landscaping.
97
swampbay
Glabrous leaves substituted for bay leaves in cooking. Trees in NC, SC, GA and FL are dying from Laurel Wilt, a recently introduced disease carried by a beetle.
98
pond pine
Obligate wetland species. Sprouts from stumps and scorched stems and branches. Produces low-quality lumber, not always merchantable.
99
pondcypress
Obligate wetland species. Found in non-alluvial swamps. Wood very valuable for siding, shingles and shakes.
100
Atlantic whitecedar
Obligate wetland species. Rapidly disappearing in stands, owing to inadequate regeneration after logging and conversion of stands to agriculture or plantations. Valuable decay resistant wood. Used for poles, pilings, siding, shingles and shakes. Favorite for boat building. Major food plant for Hessel's hairstreak, a rare butterfly.
101
loblollybay
Worthy of landscaping, but never planted.
102
gallberry
Fruits irritate the stomachs of human and cause vomiting.
103
swamp blackgum
Obligate wetland species. Valuable pulpwood and plywood species. Flowers provide nectar for honey.
104
beautyberry
A handsome native species little used in landscaping.
105
autumn-olive
A noxious weed, native to China, Korea and Japan. Planted for wildlife, but escaped and very invasive. Roots fix nitrogen.
106
honeylocust
Native to eastern North America, but doubtfully native to NC. Planted by settlers for the sugary legumes, used in making beer. No nitrogen-fixing nodules found. Commonly used in landscaping.
107
witch-hazel
Inner bark and leaves boiled for salve used to treat wounds.
108
lespedeza (sericea)
Introduced from eastern Asia and now widely naturalized in the South. Planted along roadsides, skid trails and logging decks to help stabilize the soil and as a food plant for quail.
109
Engelmann spruce
Principal spruce of the Rocky Mountains. Wood very strong. Used for pulp, dimension lumber, doors and musical instruments.
110
spruce pine
Wood use same as other hard pines. Sometimes used for Christmas trees.
111
slash pine
Not native to NC. Found mostly in southeast GA and north FL, where it replaces loblolly in importance. Wood use similar to other Southern pines. Formerly used in naval stores.
112
South Florida slash pine
Occurs naturally in South Florida and the Keys. Has a grass stage and heavier wood.
113
Table-mountain pine
Found on dry, exposed sites in the Appalachians.
114
Douglas-fir
Major timber species of the Pacific Northwest. Wood extensively used for pulp, lumber and plywood. Provides nesting habitat for northern spotted owl.
115
Douglas-fir var. glauca
Bluish foliage and reflexed cone bracts occurs in the Rocky Mountains.
116
swamp chestnut oak
Favored for wildlife in bottomland restorations, owing to the large nut. Wood and wildlife use same as other white oaks.
117
black locust
Wood resistant to decay. Wood shrinks and swells very little. Used for pins in cabin construction. Used for fence posts, foundation beams, and mine timbers. Foliage poisonous to livestock. Widely planted for mine spoil bank reclamation.
118
redwood
Wood very decay-resistant, very valuable. Used for siding, outdoor furniture and hot tubs. At 370+ feet, the tallest known tree on earth.
119
baldcypress
Wood very valuable, very decay resistant. Used for siding, shingles, shakes, bird houses and mulch. Our most flood-tolerant tree. Commonly used in landscaping.
120
popcorn tree
Native to China. Becomes very weedy further south. Wax on the seed coat used in candle making.
121
Sitka spruce
Found in a narrow belt along the Pacific coast from northern California to Alaska. Wood use same as other spruces.
122
catalpa
Some people develop skin rashes from contact with the flowers. Durable wood formerly used for fence posts. Also cultivated for catalpa worms used for fish bait.
123
oakleaf hydrangea
Native along the Gulf Coast. Occasionally used in landscaping.
124
glossy privet
Native to China and Korea. Commonly cultivated in NC for screening, but invasive on moist sites along the Gulf Coast.
125
yellow bamboo
Native to Asia. Persists after cultivation. Sprouts prolifically from rhizomes. Provides roosting habitat for birds. Stems apparently not attacked by termites. Monocarpic= flowering once and dying back.
126
jasmine
Leaves, roots, and nectar are poisonous to humans.
127
eastern redcedar
Red-colored heartwood used for chests, closets, pet bedding and novelties. Smaller trees used for fence posts. Female cones used to flavor gin. Formerly used for pencils. Used in landscaping and numerous cultivars have been developed.
128
mountain laurel
Leaves and twigs are poisonous to humans and live stock. Do not use for fuel wood.
129
pear
Native to Europe and west Asia, but widey cultivated for centuries. May persist after cultivation at old home sites.
130
blackjack oak
Low commercial value. Used mostly for railroad ties and fuelwood. Only red oak to form tyloses (tight cooperage).
131
chestnut oak
High wildlife value. Low commercial wood value. Used mostly for railroad ties and fuelwood.
132
winged elm
Wood use same as other elms, but lower value because it is a smaller tree.
133
ponderosa pine
The most widely distributed pine in the West. Ranks second in total timber volume in the West. Wood use same as other southern pines.
134
giant sequoia
Cones serotinous for many years. The most massive tree on earth. Found only in scattered groves on the western side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.
135
western redcedar
Late successional species of the Pacific Northwest. Most cedar shingles and shakes are made from this species.
136
Leyland cypress
Intergeneric hybrid between Cupressus macrocarpa and Chamaecyparis nootkatensis were brought together in cultivation in England. Very fast growing, but subject to wind throw and defoliation by bag worms. Tolerant of salt spray. Commonly used in landscaping, usually for screening.
137
black walnut
Heartwood chocolate-brown. Traditional farvorite fro gunstocks, furniture, electronic equipment cabinets, nick-knacks and sometimes flooring. Highest quality lumber produced in the lower Ohio River Valley.
138
waxmyrtle
Roots contain nitrogen fixing nodules. Wax surrounding drupe used in candle-making. Commonly used in landscaping.
139
ironwood
The wood is very dense. Formerly used for splitting wedges and pry bars (levers).
140
sycamore
Formerly planted for the pulp wood. Wood used for drawer sides in furniture. Some people are allergic to the hairs on leaves. Commonly used in landscaping.
141
Callery pear
Native to Korea and China. Introduced to research and develop fire-blight resistance in fruit pears. Wild parent of the commonly planted Bradford pear. Becoming invasive in old pastures.
142
water oak
Planted for pulpwood production, but has now stopped owing to cheaper imports of pulp from Brazil. Wildlife use same as other red oaks. Commonly used in landscaping.
143
willow oak
Used to be planted for pulpwood. Commonly used in landscaping.
144
smilax
A more-or-less woody monocot. Potato-like rhizomes formerly chopped into flour or made into jelly.
145
red elm
Inner bark mucilaginous, chewed to relieve sore throats. Wood uses same as American elm. Populations reduced by Dutch elm disease.
146
downy arrowwood
Twigs used for arrows.
147
nut pine
Common tree of the Woodland Zone in the Southwest. Seeds sold as "pine nuts".
148
trembling aspen
Probably the most wide-ranging tree in North America. Regenerates from root sprouts. Heavily browsed. Phloem eaten by beaver. Wood used for paper and match sticks.
149
trumpet creeper
Some people develop skin rashes from contact with the leaves or cut stems. Pollinated by hummingbirds.
150
elaeagnus
Native to Japan. Used in landscaping and occasionally escaped.
151
English ivy
Often planted for ground cover and persisting and spreading from cultivation.
152
winterberry (verticillata)
Occasionally used in landscaping.
153
yaupon
Fruits cause vomiting in humans if eaten. Leaves brewed (at low concentration) for tea on the Outer Banks. Very strong tea used by Native Americans to induce vomiting during purification ceremonies. Occasionally used in landscaping.
154
southern magnolia
Native to the lower Coastal Plain, but now naturalized throughout the lower Piedmont. Commonly used in landscaping.
155
blue spruce
Native to only the four corner states, but commonly used in landscaping in the cooler portions of North America.
156
white pine
The only white pine found naturally in the East. Formerly used by the British for ship masts. Tapped in Canada by the French for naval stores. Used for Christmas trees. Wood soft, used for shelving, molding, window sashes and window frames.
157
mistletoe
Hemiparasite on hardwoods. Traditional decoration at Christmas.
158
laurel cherry
Often used in landscaping.
159
kudzu
Introduced from Asia for erosion control in the 1920s and 30s, but now usually considered a weed. Persisting and spreading from cultivation, but apparently not forming viable seeds in our area. Foliage provides high-quality fodder for live stock and browse for deer. Provides escape cover for fawns.
160
sawtooth oak
A white oak belonging to a subsection not found naturally in North America. Native to Asia. Planted for wildlife because it grows rapidly and produces fruits early. Used in landscaping.
161
Texas red oak
Native along the Gulf coast, but planted and naturalized in North Carolina. Wood and wildlife uses similar to other red oaks.
162
pin oak
Native, but more commonly seen in landscaping.
163
live oak
The first species to be managed for timber in the US. Dense wood formerly used for the framework of sailing ships. Traditional shade tree in the southern cities.
164
sugar pine
A white pine found naturally in Oregon and California. Largest of all pines. Resin sugary and formerly chewed like gum. Wood uses like other white pines. Also used for organ pipes.
165
western white pine
A white pine found in the Northern Rockies, Cascades and Sierra Nevada. Prized for shelving , molding, window sashes and window frames. Populations decimated by white pine blister rust.
