Dendrology-Part 2

Significant Trees in Four Mile Run Watershed-Virginia

Alternate-leaf Dogwood Cornaceae - Cornus alternifolia

Leaf: Alternate, simple, oval to ovate, 2 1/2 to 5 inches long, arcuate venation, leaves tend to cluster near branch tips so they may appear whorled or opposite, margins may be somewhat wavy, green above and paler below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; small, white, in flat-topped clusters, 2 to 4 inches across, appearing in late spring.
Fruit: Bluish-black drupe in clusters, (3/8 inch in diameter); fruit stalks turn reddish, ripen in late summer.
Twig: Slender, red to dark purple, pith white; terminal buds small (1/4 inch long), ovoid with two or three scales showing, leaf scars small and narrow; dead twigs turn a yellow-orange.
Bark: Smooth, dark green, streaky; eventually turns light brown and develops shallow fissures.
Form: Large shrub, may occasionally reach 30 feet tall; slender branches often horizontal with the ground; developing a flat-topped crown.
Habitat: Mesic and dry-mesic upland forests, boulder field forests, seepage swamp hummocks, clearings and borders; east of the mountains, it is more restricted to base-rich soils. Frequent in the mountains; infrequent in the inner Piedmont; rare in the outer Piedmont and Coastal Plain.
Native Status: Native

 

Blackgum Cornaceae - Nyssa sylvatica Marshall

Leaf: Alternate, simple, pinnately veined, oblong to obovate in shape with an entire margin, 3 to 5 inches long, occasionally shallow lobes (or coarse teeth) near tip, dark green above and slightly paler below.
Flower: Species is usually dioecious; not showy, light green in color, in clusters hanging from slender stalks, appearing with the leaves.
Fruit: A dark, purplish blue drupe, 1/2 inch long, with a fleshy coating surrounding a ribbed pit, ripen in late summer and fall.
Twig: Moderately stout, red-brown to gray, diaphragmed pith; 1 to 2 inch curved spur shoots are often present; buds ovate, pointed, green and light brown, but darkening to brown in the winter.
Bark: Gray-brown and shallowly, irregularly furrowed, on old stems it can become quite blocky, resembling alligator hide.
Form: A medium sized tree reaching up to 80 feet tall on moist sites, generally much shorter in the mountains. On younger trees the branches often stand at right angles to the trunk with numerous short, curled spur shoots present.
Habitat: In a wide range of mesic to dry upland forests, rocky woodlands, seepage swamps, floodplain forests and swamps, wet flatwoods, and depression
ponds. Common throughout.
Native Status: Native

Mockernut Hickory Juglandaceae - Carya tomentosa

Leaf: Alternate, pinnately compound, 9 to 14 inches long, with 7 to 9 serrate, lanceolate to obovate-lanceolate leaflets, rachis is stout and very pubescent, green above and paler below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; male flowers are yellow-green drooping catkins, with 3 hanging from one stalk, 3 to 4 inches long; female flowers are very small in clusters of 2 to 5 near the tip of the twig, both appear in spring.
Fruit: Obovoid to ellipsoidal in shape, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, husk is thick (although less thick than C. ovata) and splits cleanly open, strongly 4-ribbed nut, with sweet and edible meat, matures in early fall.
Twig: Stout and pubescent, the 3-lobed leaf scars are best described as a "monkey face"; terminal bud is very large, broadly ovate (Hersey kiss-shaped), darker outer scales are deciduous in the fall, revealing a silky, nearly white bud.
Bark: Initially gray and smooth, later developing interlaced round-topped, light gray ridges and shallow, darker, furrows, never shaggy or exfoliating.
Form: A medium sized to large tree capable of reaching over 100 feet tall with a straight stem and a rounded crown.
Habitat: Mesic to dry upland forests and woodlands; tolerant of a range of soil chemistries, occurring widely on base-rich to extremely infertile substrates; ascends to about 1070 m (3500 ft) elevation in the mountains.
Common throughout.
Native Status: Native

 

Red Maple - Aceraceae Acer rubrum

Leaf: Opposite, simple, 3 to 5 palmate lobes with serrated margin, sinuses relatively shallow (but highly variable), 2 to 4 inches long; green above, whitened and sometimes glaucous or hairy beneath.
Flower: Attractive but small, occur in hanging clusters, usually bright red but occasionally yellow, appear in early spring, usually before leaves.
Fruit: Clusters of 1/2 to 3/4 inch long samaras with slighly divergent wings, on long slender stems. Light brown and often reddish, ripen in late spring and early summer.
Twig: Reddish and lustrous with small lenticels, buds usually blunt, green or reddish (fall and winter) with several loose scales usually present, leaf scars V-shaped, 3 bundle scars, lateral buds slightly stalked, may be collateral buds present.
Bark: On young trees, smooth and light gray, with age becomes darker and breaks up into long, fine scaly plates.
Form: Medium sized tree up to 90 feet. In forest, trunk usually clear for some distance, in the open the trunk is shorter and the crown rounded.
Habitat: Ubiquitous in an extraordinary range of wet to xeric forest and woodland habitats, ranging from sea-level to the highest elevations; often dominant in swamps, floodplains, depression wetlands, and successional forests. This species has also become dominant in the understory of various upland oak and oak-hickory forests due to the widespread cessation of fires and other disturbances that regenerate oaks. Common throughout.
Native Status: Native

 

White Oak - Fagaceae Quercus alba L

Leaf: Alternate, simple, oblong to ovate in shape, 4 to 7 inches long; 7 to 10 rounded, finger-like lobes, sinus depth varies from deep to shallow, apex is rounded and the base is wedge-shaped, green to blue-green above and whitish below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; male flowers are yellow-green, borne in naked, slender catkins, 2 to 4 inches long; female flowers are reddish green and appear as very small single spikes; appearing with the leaves in mid-spring.
Fruit: Ovoid to oblong acorn, cap is warty and bowl-shaped, covers 1/4 of the fruit; cap always detaches at maturity; matures in one growing season in the early fall.
Twig: Red-brown to somewhat gray, even a bit purple at times, hairless and often shiny; multiple terminal buds are red-brown, small, rounded (globose) and hairless.
Bark: Whitish or ashy gray, varying from scaly on smaller stems to irregularly platy or blocky on large stems. On older trees smooth patches are not uncommon.
Habitat: Mesic to dry upland forests and woodlands; less commonly in well-drained bottomlands, wet flatwoods, natural ponds and depression
swamps. Common throughout; probably our most common and widespread oak.
Native Status: Native

Virginia Pine - Pinaceae Pinus virginiana Mill

Leaf: Evergreen needles, 1 1/2 to 3 inches long, with 2 yellow-green, twisted, somewhat divergent needles per fascicle.
Flower: Species is monoecious; males cylindrical, yellow, near branch tip; females yellow to red, curved prickle present.
Fruit: Conical to ovoid cones are 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches long, sessile and persistent, with red-brown scales and an umbo armed with a sharp, needle-like prickle, maturing in the fall.
Twig: Slender, green changing to purple-green with a glaucous bloom; buds gray-brown, narrowly ovoid.
Bark: Orange-brown and scaly on young trees; older stems develop thin, small, scaly plates, cinnamon colored patches often on upper parts of trunk.
Form: A small to medium sized tree reaching up to 70 feet tall, eventually develops a flat top sparse crown; dead, gray (sharply angled upwards) branch stubs are almost always present along the trunk.
Habitat: Dry old fields and forests, rocky woodlands and barrens, cliffs, and outcrop pavements; except in naturally xeric habitats, this is an early-successional species that invades open habitats and is quickly replaced by hardwoods. Common in the Piedmont and at low elevations in the mountains; frequent to locally common in the Coastal Plain (where it is generally outcompeted by Pinus taeda on most sites).
Native Status: Native

American beech - Fagaceae Fagus grandifolia Ehrh

Leaf: Alternate, simple, elliptical to oblong-ovate, 2 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches long, pinnately-veined, 11-14 pairs of veins, with each vein ending in a sharp distinct tooth, shiny green above, very waxy and smooth, slightly paler below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; male flowers borne on globose heads hanging from a slender 1 inch stalk, female flowers borne on shorter spikes, appearing just after leaves in the spring.
Fruit: Nuts are irregularly triangular, shiny brown and edible, found in pairs within a woody husk covered with spines, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, maturing in the fall.
Twig: Very slender, zigzag, light brown in color; buds are long (3/4 inch), light brown, and slender, covered with overlapping scales (best described as "cigar-shaped"), widely divergent from the stems, almost looking like long thorns.
Bark: The bark is smooth, thin, and gray in color even on the largest stems. Beech bark diseases severely deforms the smooth bark.
Form: A medium to large tree up to 100 feet tall with a rounded crown. Often found in thickets produced by root suckering. Old trees may be surrounded by a ring of young beech.
Habitat: Mesic to dry-mesic upland forests, very well-drained floodplain terraces, and bluffs; most common on well-drained, acidic, nutrient-poor soils but found in a variety of soils. In eastern Virginia it is most often a canopy tree in deep soils of ravines and lower slopes, but, following decades of fire exclusion, it is now abundantly established in the understory of dry-mesic and even dry oak forests; in the mountains, it is most common in northern hardwood forests. Common in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont; infrequent at lower elevations of the mountains, where absent from large areas of apparently unsuitable soils on shale, limestone, dolomite, and metabasalt; common at high elevations of the Balsam Mountains (Southern Blue Ridge), Allegheny Mountain in Highland County (Appalachian Plateaus), Beartown on Clinch Mountain, Tazewell Co. (Ridge and Valley), and occasionally in other high-elevation sites.
Native Status: Native

Trumpet Honeysuckle - Caprifoliaceae Lonicera sempervirens L

Leaf: Evergreen, but deciduous in the northern parts of its range, opposite, simple, broadly lanceolate to oval, 2 inches long, green to blue-green above with whitish bloom below, margins are entire; terminal pairs near the inflorescence fused into a single nearly round disk .
Flower: Showy and Scarlet red, narrowly trumpet-shaped with 5 small lobes at the opening, 2 inches long; borne in 1-4 whorls above the terminal leaf disk; appearing in summer.
Fruit: Orange-red translucent 1/4 inch berries with several seeds; occur in small bunches above the terminal leaf disk.
Twig: Thin and vine-like; commonly twist around one another; hollow; pale purple-brown; covered with fine pubescence.
Bark: Thin, reddish-brown, and often shreddy.
Form: A twining vine up to 20 feet long.
Habitat: Mesic to dry upland forests and woodlands, floodplain forests, wet flatwoods; maritime forests, woodlands, and dune scrub; also in clearings, fencerows, and other disturbed habitats. Frequent in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont; infrequent in the mountains.
Native Status: Native

Sources:

Virginia Tech Dendrology, http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/factsheets.cfm

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/

Individual Tree Species Parameter Maps, United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/applied-sciences/mapping-reporting/indiv-tree-parameter-maps.shtml