Ohio Trees and Shrubs Flashcards
(40 cards)
European Black Alder Alnus glutinosa
Arborvitae Thuja occidentalis
Arborvitae has many alternative common names, including Eastern Arborvitae, American Arborvitae, White Cedar, and Northern White Cedar. Cedar Swamp in Champaign County, Ohio is named after this tree with White Cedar being the common name referred to in this case.
Blue Ash Fraxinus quadrangulata
A deciduous tree from the Olive Family (Oleaceae)
Square twigs
Blackhaw is perhaps the most widely distributed Viburnum in Ohio, as it is found throughout the state, ranging from shady mesic woodlands to open, dry fields. It encompasses most of the Eastern United States in its broader distribution. Blackhaw has plump floral buds on arching branches in winter, white flowers in mid-spring, glossy foliage in summer, and combination of colorful foliage and fruits in autumn make it a native shrub with four-season appeal. Its common name comes from the final color (black) of its elliptical fruits in late autumn, coupled with the densely twiggy nature of its canopy resembling that of Hawthorns. Blackhaw slowly reaches 15 feet tall by 10 feet wide when found in the open, and if limbed up into tree form, may reach 20 feet tall by 15 feet wide. As a member of the Honeysuckle Family, it is related to the Honeysuckles, Elderberries, Weigelas, and the multitude of other Viburnums.
Ohio Buckeye, the state tree of Ohio, is found primarily as an understory tree in the western half of Ohio, where the soils are more alkaline in pH. However, it is scattered throughout the eastern half of the state, except in extreme northeastern and extreme southeastern Ohio. Its lightweight wood is used in the production of artificial limbs, and the holding of a “buckeye nut” in one’s pocket is considered good luck. A native of the Midwestern and Great Plains states, trees found in the open may reach 60 feet tall by 30 feet wide, but as a native understory it is often half that size. As a member of the Horsechestnut Family, it is related to other Horsechestnuts and Buckeyes, including man-made hybrids between the species.
Common Buckthorn, also known as European Buckthorn, is an invasive shrub found throughout Ohio, the greater Midwest, and a large portion of the eastern United States. Its ability to colonize fence rows, fields, and neglected areas – coupled with its tough constitution and rapid growth rate – allows it to quickly produce copious amounts of black fruits on relatively young female shrubs. It is spread via bird consumption and subsequent dispersal to surrounding areas, much like Amur Honeysuckle. These two foreign shrubs often occupy the same niche, displacing native shrubs and trees. The most positive aspect of this large shrub or small tree is its glossy, dark green foliage, which is usually not bothered by pests. The leaves usually hang on late into autumn. Its heartwood is bright orange, and its wood strongly resists rotting.
Butternut, also known as White Walnut, this relative of Black Walnut is slower growing and much less frequently encountered than its well-known cousin. Butternut prefers moist bottomlands and ravines like Black Walnut, but its lightweight wood is beige-pink in color and is not nearly as sought-out for making veneer and furniture. Its kernel within the fruit gives it the common name of Butternut, as it is sweet and very oily. The Native Americans reportedly boiled the kernels to extract the oil, which was then used like butter. The kernels were also pickled in vinegar by the early settlers.
Buttonbush, native to widely diverse regions of the world, is found in Ohio primarily in wetland areas, around pond margins, or in soils that are permanently moist. It occurs in the eastern half of the United States, the Great Plains, the southwestern United States, Mexico, Cuba, and eastern Asia. It is easily recognized in summer by its globular, pure white flowers that have projecting styles. Its glossy foliage, which emerges late as compared to other woody plants (mid-spring), is a second ornamental feature. This sprawling shrub, when found in the open in Ohio, reaches about 7 feet tall and 15 feet wide. As a member of the Madder Family, it is related to Coffee, Sweet Woodruff, Gardenia, and Partridge Berry, among others.
Northern Catalpa, native to a relatively small area of the central Mississippi Valley basin, has been extensively cultivated in Ohio for over 200 years, and is now naturalized in urban and rural areas, primarily used today as a large ornamental shade tree. Farmers introduced Northern Catalpa to Ohio in order to produce large amounts of relatively lightweight timber for fenceposts, since the wood is very resistant to rotting. Its rapid growth rate assisted in this need (along with other trees, like Black Locust and Osage-Orange) until metal fenceposts were developed and largely replaced wooden fenceposts. Also known as Hardy Catalpa, Western Catalpa, Cigar Tree, and Catawba-Tree, it may reach heights of 70 feet tall and 40 feet wide. As a member of the Bignonia Family, it is related to Trumpet Vine, Royal Paulownia, and other species of Catalpa, all of which are known for their showy flowers.
Black Chokeberry is scattered throughout Ohio, where it is found as thickets in both wet soils and dry sites. The fibrous root system holds soil well, and the suckering habit and self-sowing nature of this shrub allows for the formation of a large colony within a few years. Abundant black fruits in autumn and winter serve as a source of food for desperate wildlife, when no other tasty food is left, as the name “chokeberry” implies about their astringent tasting quality.
Black Chokeberry may reach 8 feet tall by 8 feet wide as an individual specimen of great age, and is strongly multistemmed. In natural settings, its strong tendency to sucker, self-sowing nature, and arching branches give it a colony growth habit of indeterminate width (like Sumacs). As a member of the Rose Family, it is related to the Serviceberries, Hawthorns, Crabapples, Plums, Cherries, Pears, and Roses, as well as other Chokeberry species and hybrids.
Kentucky Coffeetree – easily recognized in summer by its huge compound leaves and in winter by its bold outline – is present throughout much of Ohio, but is primarily found in the western half of the state, where the soils are more alkaline. Thick fruit pods containing large seeds (or beans) are found only on female trees, and often hang on during winter. Pioneers in Kentucky and elsewhere used the beans as a coffee substitute (hence the common name), and Native Americans roasted the beans for food.
A native of the Midwestern United States, the slow-growing Kentucky Coffeetree reaches 80 feet tall and 50 feet wide when found in the open, with an upright, irregular, and thin appearance in youth, becoming dense and symmetrical with age. As a member of the Bean Family, it is related to many other representative species, including Redbud, Honeylocust, Black Locust, and Wisteria, among others. The specific epithet of “dioicus” is sometimes alternatively spelled as “dioica”; in either case, it refers to the male and female nature of this species, termed “dioecious.”
Eastern Cottonwood, a type of Poplar that is present throughout all of Ohio, is a tree native to portions of the Eastern United States, but makes its greatest impact in the Midwest, Great Plains, and south central United States. It is almost as massive as Sycamore in terms of its girth and broad-spreading canopy. It frequents floodplains and river bottoms, but can also be planted in the driest of soils and survive to produce adequate shade. Its mature trunk has extremely thick bark, so thick that it can survive forest fires with only some outer bark loss. Its triangular leaves flutter in the slightest breeze, as do those of most Poplars. It commonly reaches 80 feet tall by 60 feet wide, but can be much larger. As a member of the Willow Family, it is related to the Willows and other species of Poplar.
American Crabapple, also known as Wild Crabapple or Sweet Crabapple, is present throughout all of Ohio, and predominates as a spreading tree native to the upper two-thirds of the Eastern United States, especially the Midwestern States. It is known for its very fragrant, white to white-pink blossoms that are the last among the Crabapples to bloom. Its fruits are very bitter (Sweet Crabapple refers to the scent of both the flowers and fruits, not the taste of the fruits) and greenish-yellow when mature, but make excellent jelly or jam due to their high pectin and high acid content (enough added sugar makes anything taste good). It is also used as a rootstock on which to graft some cultivated forms of apple, giving the grafted tree cold hardiness and adaptability to local soils. American Crabapple reaches 25 feet tall by 35 feet wide as an individual specimen under optimum conditions, but forms colonies of indeterminate width with time. As a member of the Rose Family, it is related to the Serviceberries, Chokeberries, Hawthorns, Plums, Cherries, Pears, and Roses, as well as other Crabapple and Apple species and hybrids.
American Cranberrybush is found throughout the northern tier of states in the United States and ranges throughout all of southern Canada. In these locations it is a common resident of open, wet woodlands and beside streams and other bodies of water. In Ohio, it is only native to the most northeastern counties near Lake Erie, but it is planted throughout the entire state. It is one of two Viburnums native to Ohio that have an outer row of showy, sterile flowers (the other being Hobblebush, with both resembling Hydrangeas). Likewise, it is one of only two Viburnums native to Ohio that have lobed leaves (the other being Maple-Leaf Viburnum). Also known as Highbush Cranberry (in reference to its tasty red fruits), this shrub has stout stems and thick branches, and may reach 12 feet tall by 12 feet wide when found in the open, with an arching growth habit at maturity that leaves the center of the plant devoid of branches. Modern landscape cultivars of this species have a much more compact and dense growth habit. As a member of the Honeysuckle Family, it is related to the Honeysuckles, Elderberries, Weigelas, and the many other Viburnums.
American Elm, once a stately and magnificent tree that lined America’s city streets, has partly followed in the footsteps of the American Chestnut, with many large American Elms succumbing to Dutch Elm disease. This pathogen (transmitted by the elm bark beetle) plugs the vascular system of the tree, preventing the flow of water and nutrients and slowly killing it. However, young trees are immune to the disease, and many reach reproductive age before falling victim to this foreign fungus.
Also known as White Elm (probably in reference to the creamy white wood), this large, vase-shaped tree is native to the entire eastern and central portions of the United States, extending into southern Canada. It is found throughout all of Ohio, primarily in moist sites such as bottomlands and ravines, but commonly seen in open fields, fencerows, and open woodlots, where the ground is dry in summer. Its arching canopy is majestic at maturity, but most trees now die by the time they reach 40 feet tall. Individual specimens, isolated from other Elms, may reach 80 feet tall by 60 feet wide. As a member of the Elm Family, it is related to Hackberry, Zelkova, and the numerous other Elms.
Balsam Fir is not native to Ohio, but is found as an escape into the wild in small areas of northeastern Ohio and Appalachia, where the winters are coldest and the soil is more acidic. It is rarely planted as an ornamental evergreen in urban areas, where its growth rate is slow. The soft wood of this tree is used in Canada as pulp for paper production. It is also prized as a Christmas tree that holds its needles especially well after cutting.
Balsam Fir is native to much of Canada, New England, and the northernmost states of the central United States and Great Lakes region. Mature specimens found in the open may grow to 70 feet tall by 20 feet wide, with a columnar growth habit and layered branching. As a member of the Pine Family, it is related to other Firs, as well as to the Larches, Spruces, Pines, and Hemlocks.
Hackberry, also known as Common Hackberry, Northern Hackberry, or American Hackberry, is present throughout the upper half of the eastern United States, the Great Plains, and southern Canada, including almost all of Ohio. It is a tree that frequents fencerows, fields, and wastelands, and grows naturally near bodies of water, including floodplains and drainage ditches. It is easily recognizable from a distance by its light gray, warty bark on massive trunks, coupled with its rapid growth rate and large size.
It easily grows to 80 feet tall by 60 feet wide when found growing in the open, often with a single trunk that quickly branches into several spreading huge branches that form an ascending or spreading canopy. As a member of the Elm Family, it is related to the Elms and other Hackberries.
Hawthorns comprise the single largest group of trees and large shrubs that inhabit the woods and fields of Ohio, based upon the number of native and naturalized species (more than 60), even outnumbering the Oaks (over 20). They are known primarily for their white spring flowers, late summer and autumn fruits (yellow, orange, or red in color), and their twiggy, thorny canopies. Growth is usually slow, and their preference is for sunny sites under a variety of soil conditions, tolerating summer drought very well. In general, they have an upright to rounded growth habit in youth, becoming spreading as they mature.
Hawthorns tend to colonize pastures, where their thorns prevent cattle and other domestic animals from grazing on them while they are young or mature. Heights range from 10 to 25 feet, and widths about 15 to 30 feet. As members of the Rose Family, they are related to the Serviceberries, Chokeberries, Crabapples, Plums, Cherries, Pears, and Roses, as well as many other genera of ornamental and economic importance.
Hazelnut, one of several related large shrubs known for their tasty nuts that provide food for humans or wildlife, is found throughout Ohio along roadsides, in fields, at the edges of forest, and in fencerows, in dry or moist sites. Also known as American Filbert or Hazel, it develops a broad, rounded, strongly suckering growth habit with age. Hybrids have been developed with European Filbert that combine its superior nut quality and yield with the cold hardiness of Hazelnut.
Hazelnut will reach dimensions of 15 feet tall and 15 feet wide, becoming arching and spreading with age, but new vertical suckers keep its middle interior canopy dense. As a member of the Birch Family, it is related to the Alders, Birches, Hornbeams, and Hophornbeams, in addition to other Hazelnuts and Filberts.
Bitternut Hickory,found throughout all of Ohio, is a common Hickory that has bitter nuts usually too ill-fit for human consumption, as its name implies. It is unlike Shagbark and Shellbark Hickories in more ways than this, in that its leaflets are more lance-shaped, its fruits have four-winged husks and are thin-shelled, its bark is sinewy when young with criss-crossing ridges at maturity, its small winter buds are yellow and valvate, and its twigs are slender and rapidly growing.
Bitternut Hickory grows to 60 feet tall by 25 feet wide when found in the open, with a crown of ascending branches and a lower canopy of pendulous branches. As a member of the Walnut Family, it is related to other Hickories and the Walnuts.
Shagbark Hickory a slow-growing but potentially massive tree located in all of Ohio, is frequently found in dry uplands or moist valleys in association with other hickories and oaks. Its cut timber is prized for making tool handles, athletic equipment, furniture, construction timbers, and firewood. Its “green” wood (or sometimes seasoned but freshly-wetted wood chips) is also sought after for the smoking of meats, especially pork meats. Its sweet and large nuts are relished by squirrels. The most distinctive feature of this tree is its shaggy bark, which peels in long, wide, thick strips from the trunk and branches, giving it the alternative common name of Scalybark Hickory. Its bold-textured, jagged branch structure and thick twigs give it a striking appearance in winter.
A native to most of the Eastern United States, Shagbark Hickory is a climax forest tree in well-drained, moist to dry woodland soils. It grows to 100 feet tall by 40 feet wide when found in the open. As a member of the Walnut Family, it is related to the Walnuts, as well as other Hickories (there are three types, namely the Pecans, the Shagbarks, and the Pignuts).
American Hophornbeam, also known as Eastern Hornbeam or Ironwood, is found throughout all of Ohio as well as throughout most of the Eastern United States and southernmost Eastern Canada. The “hop” portion of its name refers to the resemblance of its fruits to those of true hops that are used in the production of beer. Hornbeam refers to a related European tree whose wood was used to yoke oxen; therefore, its American counterpart wood was also used as a “beam” with which to yoke “horned” beasts of burden.
Ironwood refers to its strength and is confusing since this is also a common name for Blue Beech. The growth habit of the slow-growing American Hophornbeam is upright pyramidal and stately in youth, becoming gracefully rounded with slightly pendulous branch tips with age. It is found in very dry, moist, or even occasionally wet soils, in sunny fields or under the canopy of large forest trees. This tree achieves a height of 30 feet and a width of 30 feet when found in the open. As a member of the Birch Family, it is related to the Alders, Birches, Hornbeams, and Filberts.
Horsechestnut, a tree native to parts of southern Europe and southern Asia, is widely planted throughout Europe and Britian as a shade tree that flowers magnificently in spring. In Ohio, it is found in urban areas that can afford its need for ample growing space, such as the grounds of estates, large buildings, parks, cemeteries, and arboreta. Nuts of Horsechestnut are larger than those of the closely related Buckeyes, but are duller brown and not shiny. Trees found in the open may reach 60 feet tall by 60 feet wide and have a bold year-round texture. As a member of the Horsechestnut Family, it is related to other Horsechestnuts and Buckeyes, including man-made hybrids between the species.
Eastern Larch, as a native tree of Ohio, is only found in its extreme northeastern and northwestern counties, but it is common in New England, the upper Midwest, and much of Canada. It often goes by the alternative common names of Tamarack and American Larch. It is the only deciduous conifer that is native to Ohio, and strongly prefers moist to wet sites in acidic soils.
Fall color is a beautiful yellow, and after needle drop the winter form yields a strong central leader with strongly horizontal branches, with branchlets that do not droop. Specimens found in the open may grow to 70 feet tall by 20 feet wide, with a narrowly pyramidal growth habit. As a member of the Pine Family, it is related to other Larches, as well as the Firs, Spruces, Pines, and Hemlocks.
Two other Larches are planted as ornamentals for large landscapes, such as parks, arboreta, and cemeteries. Japanese Larch (Larix kaempferi) and European Larch (Larix decidua) are better suited for moist to dry soils, and are noted for their outstanding yellow to yellow-orange fall color on large trees as well as weeping forms. They can be distinguished in the United States from Eastern Larch by their longer drooping branchlets, longer needles, larger cones, platy rather than scaly or flaky bark, and their not being present in permanently wet soils.
