trees week 4, urban 1 Flashcards
Catalpa speciosa
northern catalpa
Leaves: simple, whorled to opposite. palmate venation, medium green. large cordate, ovate-oblong, accuminate tip. entire margins. persistent leaves, can be sticky
Buds & stems: bumpy hemispherical
Fruit: long stringy seed structures, 8-20”, not seed pods
Flowers: white, bell-shaped, striking flowers
Bark: pronounced ridged & furrowed
Habit: narrow, open, irregular crown, sympodial branching
Notes:
Acer platanoides
Norway Maple
Leaves: opposite, simple. 5 lobes, 4-7” sharp accuminate lobes. palmate venation. wider than saccharum
Buds & stems: plump green buds
Fruit: moustache samara
Flowers: yellow, early spring
Bark: linear bark with tight ridges
Habit: sturdy & tall
Notes: highly invasive, high shade dries out grass underneath
Platanus x acerfolia
London planetree
Leaves: alternate, simple, 8-10” wide. acute sinuses. pinnate venation. medium to dark green
Buds & stems: similar to occidentalis
Fruit: syncarp of achemes (spiky ball)
Flowers:
Bark: camo bark, green, grey, tan & light brown
Habit:
Notes: vs occidentalis: smaller canopy, 2 fruits vs 1, larger, more acute lobes on leaveswith deeper sinuses, exfoliating bark extends to bottom of tree
Tilia Cordata
littleleaf or European linden
Leaves:alternate, simple. cordate with accumniate point. sharply serrate, dark shiny green, long petiole
Buds & stems: similar to americana. dark stems
Fruit: single winged bract with hanging nutlets
Flowers: fragrant yellow june flowers
Bark: gray-brown, ridged & furrowed
Habit: pyramidal in youth, gumdrop shape
Notes: much smaller leaves than americana, more common on streets
Carpinus betulus
European hornbeam
Leaves: alternate simple
Buds & stems: appressed buds, brownish-reddish, shorter than birches, conical
Fruit:
Flowers: dioecious; 1-2” male catkins, female 3-lobed bract structures
Bark: beech like slate grey bark
Habit: multi stemmed, curved “biceps” in branches a good id
Notes: the tree with birch like leaves but beech like bark
Elaeagnus angustifolia
Russian olive
Leaves: alternate, simple. lanceolate, acute to obtuse, margins entire, broad cuneate at base. silver to grey-green.
Buds & stems: small, brown, & conical
Fruit: green “olive” drupe-like achene
Flowers: 4 petal, vase shaped yellowish
Bark: gnarled bark in strips
Habit: fast-growing multi-stemmed shrub to small tree.
Notes: hardy to zone 2, grows in almost any condition
Gymnocladus dioicus
Kentucky coffeetree
Leaves: evenly pinnate compound leaflets, opposite on rachis. 3-7 pairs doubly compound, elliptic ovate. acute tip, cuneate base
Buds & stems: naked buds. stout grey-brown stems with large leaf scars
Fruit: unique coffee bean shaped large brown pods
Flowers:
Bark: rough plates & scales in ridges
Habit: irregular, vertical ascending branches
Notes:
Cercidiphyllum japonicum
katsura tree
Leaves: simple, sub-opposite. cordate leaf. ovate leaf similar to eastern redbud (cercis). dentate margins. purple emergent to green
Buds & stems: slender appressed buds
Fruit: dioecious, “banana” fruits on females
Flowers:
Bark: shaggy on older specimens
Habit: medium size, multi-stem
Notes:
Gingko biloba
gingko tree
Leaves: simple, alternate. multiple leaves per whorled spur. dichotomous venation. light green to yellow in fall. unique 2 lobed fan shape
Buds & stems: buds appear at 90 degrees. imbricate and rounded. light brown to grey stems
Fruit: foul smelling round fruit on females, not usually seen in cultivation
Flowers:
Bark: grey-brown, ridges w/ dark furrows, smoother on young trees
Habit: horizontal pyramidal branching
Notes: monotypic
Acer saccharinum
silver maple
Leaves: opposite, simple. 5 doubly toothed deep lobed sinuses. bright green with silver-grey undersides
Buds & stems: imbricate flattened buds
Fruit: broad winged samaras come close together
Flowers: early blooming greenish yellow flower, blooms early.
Bark: grows shaggy with age
Habit: upright spreading branches, drops limbs easily in old age
Notes:
Platanus occidentalis
American sycamore
Leaves: alternate, simple, 4-9” broad triangular lobes. medium dark green, 3-5” petiole
Buds & stems: dark reddish brown, conical, blunt & smooth, terminal absent
Fruit: single button ball
Flowers:
Bark: exfoliating bark on upper tree, whitish. gray blocky bark on lower trunk
Habit: tall & striking, wide spreading crown
Notes:
12 Acer ginnala (tataricum)
Amur maple
Leaves: simple, opposite, 3 lobes with long central lobe. red petiole, red fall color
Buds & stems: small, imbricate, red-brown
Fruit: samaras cross eachother, red-brown, persistent
Flowers: yellowish small flowers in pannicles
Bark: smooth, grayish brown & striped
Habit: small tree or multistem large bush
Notes:
Acer negundo
boxelder
Leaves: opposite, pinnately compound, irregular trilobe leaf. ovate-lance oblong coarsely serrate. long petiole. 3-9 leaflets
Buds & stems: small greenish bud, stems green to red-brown. almost blue on new growth
Fruit: yellowish green persistent samaras, 60 degree angle
Flowers: yellow
Bark: grey-brown, slightly ridged & furrowed
Habit: small maple, rounded irregular crown, can be multi-stemmed
Notes: “alleycat”
Ailanthus altissima
tree of heaven
Leaves: alternate, pinnately compound, 18-24”. margin entire with notch at base, “gland” visible on underside
Buds & stems: small buds on big scales
Fruit: massive number of samaras
Flowers:
Bark: rough grey “cantaloupe”
Habit: irregular, will take root almost anywhere
Notes:
Acer campestre
hedge maple
Leaves: opposite, simple. rounded margins, “melted” maple. entire margins, 3 lobes, green to yellow in fall, late to change color
Buds & stems: small, imbricate, grey buds
Fruit: samaras form straight line
Flowers:
Bark: grey ridged & furrowed, similar to platnoides
Habit: smaller maple, can be hedged
Notes: milky sap comes from torn petiole
