Acer saccharum

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 1
  • Common Name: Sugar Maple, Northern Sugar Maple
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: Large tree with rounded, dense crown and striking, multicolored foliage in autumn. Sugar maple’s landscape size is 60-75 ft. but this popular hardwood can grow much taller in the wild. Bark is smooth in youth, becoming quite shaggy with age. Its straight, central trunk; wide-spreading branches; and pointed crown are all attractive landscape characteristics but are less noted than the species’ brilliant red, yellow and orange fall foliage. One of the best of the larger shade trees, sugar maple is Canada’s national tree, as represented by the “maple leaf” on its flag.

Maples, particularly Sugar Maple, are among the leading furniture woods. This species is used also for flooring, boxes and crates, and veneer. Some trees develop special grain patterns, including birdseye maple with dots suggesting the eyes of birds, and curly and fiddleback maple, with wavy annual rings. Such variations in grain are in great demand. The boiled concentrated sap is the commercial source of maple sugar and syrup, a use colonists learned from the Indians. Each tree yields between 5 and 60 gallons of sap per year; about 32 gallons of sap make 1 gallon of syrup or 4 1/2 pounds of sugar. One of the best of the larger shade trees. It is susceptible to salt.

Dimensions

  • Height: 40 - 120 ft
  • Width: 30 - 60 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACU

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (Silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist
  • pH Range: 3.7 - 7.9
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow, Orange, Red, Burgundy
  • Bloom Color: Yellow, Green, Brown
  • Bloom Period: 4 - 5
  • Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: These trees can be tapped to make maple syrup. The wood is used for flooring, furniture and other items. Native Americans and early European settlers used this tree as a main source of sweetener. Native Americans are also known to have used the sap of this tree for candies, as a beverage, in beer (fresh or fermented), and used to cook meat.
  • Landscape Value: The leaves have 5 lobes and coarsely toothed edges and turn brilliant shades of red, orange or yellow in the fall. In spring drooping racemes of yellow flowers are followed by winged samaras that are clustered on long reddish stalks in summer.

Wildlife Value

  • Members of the genus Acer support Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season and appear from April-October in the south. Adult Imperial Moths do not feed. The seeds are eaten by birds and small mammals. The cavities are utilized by cavity-nesting birds. Deer and moose browse the stems and leaves. Porcupines consume the bark and can girdle the upper stem. Butterflies and other pollinating insects enjoy the nectar from the flowers.

Acer platanoides

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 2
  • Common Name: Norway maple
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: Not native
  • Description: Norway maple is a deciduous shade tree in the Sapindaceae (soapberry) family native to northeastern Europe. This large tree can reach a height and width of 50 feet so having a large enough area to accommodate it is important.

Prefers full sun to partial shade, a wide range of soils but must be well trained and maintain a medium moisture level.

An easy growing excellent shade or street tree that tolerates heat, drought, urban conditions, and pollution. It has a symmetrical, rounded crown and has been used widely as a tree in urban areas of the United States though it is not recommended for many areas now. It freely reseeds itself, so be aware you may be pulling up seedlings.

Cultivars may offer the best choice for landscaping. It is noted that this species should be given considerable room, as it covers large areas. Some cultivars of this plant have deep purple or maroon leaves. Shallow roots make it difficult to grow plants underneath. It is easy to transplant. It is a plant you should know because it is extensively planted, but it is listed as invasive in several states, but not PA. However, I don’t recommend you ever plant it.

Dimensions

  • Height: 40 - 50 ft
  • Width: 30 - 50 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: UPL

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (Silt), Shallow rocky
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 4.8 - 7.2
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 7b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: Gold, Yellow, Green
  • Bloom Period: 4 - 5
  • Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: NA
  • Landscape Value: An easy growing excellent shade or street tree that tolerates heat, drought, urban conditions, and pollution. It has a symmetrical, rounded crown and has been used widely as a tree in urban areas of the United States though it is not recommended for many areas now. It freely reseeds itself, so be aware you may be pulling up seedlings.

Wildlife Value

  • Members of the genus Acer support Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season and appear from April-October in the south. Adult Imperial Moths do not feed.

Robinia pseudoacacia

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 3
  • Common Name: Black locust
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (I)
  • Description: The largest representative of a mostly shrubby genus, black locusts become burly, pictureque mature trees 30-50 ft. or sometimes 70 ft., in height. Branching tends to fork and become crooked and limby. Small branches and twigs with spines, especially at the base of leaves. Leaves divided into ovate to oblong leaflets up to 2 inches long and 1 inch wide, rounded at the ends and with smooth margins. Blue-green, feathery, pinnately-compound foliage contrasts well with the deciduous tree dark, furrowed bark. Fragrant, white, pea-like blossoms hang in pendulous clusters. Flowers appearing in April and May. Fruit a flat, straight to slightly curved pod up to 5 inches long.

British colonists at Jamestown discovered this species in 1607 and named it for its resemblance to the Carob or Old World Locust (Ceratonia siliqua L.). Posts of this durable timber served as cornerposts for the colonists’ first homes. Because this species is well-adapted to establishment in very poor soil, it has been widely used for land reclamation projects.

The eagerness of Robinia pseudoacacia to establish just about anywhere has a dark side; Black locust is often considered an invasive species and a garden thug because it spreads very rapidly by root sprouts and by the copious seeds it produces. Its wood, renowned for its toughness, belies its habit of shedding branches in high winds. Finally, its small thorns can surprise anyone attempting to work in or around the tree, especially young trees and new branches. This species and its various cultivars and hybrids should be rejected for most landscape uses because of the tree’s many bad habits. This plant is considered invasive in several states, but not PA

Dimensions

  • Height: 40 - 70 ft
  • Width: 20 - 35 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACU

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (Silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 6.8 - 7.2
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Spring, Summer, Fall
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Blue, Grown, Copper, Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Period: 4 - 6
  • Fruit Interest: Fall

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: The wood from this native is yellow, coarse grained, hard, strong, and naturally rot resistant and is often used to make fence posts and rails, mine timbers, and landscaping ties.
  • Landscape Value: Black Locust is widely planted for ornament and shelterbelts. It is also used for erosion control, particularly on strip-mined areas. Although it grows rapidly and spreads by sprouts like a weed, it is short-lived.

Wildlife Value

  • This is a larval host plant for several butterflies. Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice) larvae appear from May to October in the north and from March to November in the south. There are 3 flights in the north and 4 to 5 flights in the south (but it rarely uses this plant as a host in North Carolina). Zarucco Duskywing (Erynnis zarucco) has three broods in the deep south from March-October, appearing as early as January in Florida. Silver-Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) appears from May-September with three-four broods in the deep south, two broods in the east, and one brood in the north and west. The buds and catkins are eaten by birds. It provides an excellent leaf cover for birds in wetland sites. Bees are attracted to its flowers and rabbits depend on the sprouts and seeds during the winter.

Hamamelis virginiana

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 4
  • Common Name: American witchhazel
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: This small tree or tall shrub is often multi-trunked and usually grows 10-15 ft. tall but can reach 35 ft. in height. The large, crooked, spreading branches form an irregular, open crown. The floral display of witch hazel is unique. Its fragrant, yellow flowers with strap-like, crumpled petals appear in the fall, persisting for some time after leaf drop. Lettuce-green, deciduous leaves maintain a rich consistency into fall when they turn brilliant gold. Bark is smooth and gray.

The aromatic extract of leaves, twigs, and bark is used in mildly astringent lotions and toilet water. A myth of witchcraft held that a forked branch of Witch-hazel could be used to locate underground water. The foliage and fruits slightly resemble those of the shrub hazel (Corylus). Upon drying, the contracting capsule can eject its small seed as far as 30’ (9 m).

Dimensions

  • Height: 15 - 30 ft
  • Width: 15 - 20 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACU

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occassional flooding
  • pH Range: 4.5 - 6.2
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 9b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Brown, Copper, Gold, Yellow, Green, Orange, Purple, Lavender
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: Orange, Yellow, Green, Brown
  • Bloom Period: 9 - 12
  • Fruit Interest: Fall

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Various medicinal uses, especially for skincare
  • Landscape Value: Fall conspicuous, Understory tree, Blooms ornamental, Aromatic

Wildlife Value

  • Flowers are pollinated by noctuid moths. Wild turkeys eat the seeds. Deer may browse leaves. Fruit is eaten by small mammals and birds.

Prunus serotina

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 5
  • Common Name: Black cherry
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: Ranging from southeastern Canada through the eastern United States west to eastern Texas, with disjunct populations in central Texas and mountains of the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Guatemala, Black cherry is a 25-110 ft. deciduous tree, distinctly conical in youth. When open-grown it becomes oval-headed with spreading, pendulous limbs and arching branches. Crowded trees grow tall and slender. Southwestern varieties are often shrubby. Leaves shiny on the upper surface; blade oblong with a long pointed tip and tapering base, margins finely serrate. White flowers are held in drooping racemes after the glossy leaves have emerged. The dark red fruit changes to black from August through October. Aromatic tree; crushed foliage and bark have distinctive cherry-like odor and bitter taste, owing to the same cyanide-forming toxic compounds, such as amygdalin, found in the wood and leaves of some other woody members of the Rosaceae. Fall foliage is yellow.

This widespread species is the largest and most important native cherry. The valuable wood is used particularly for furniture, paneling, professional and scientific instruments, handles, and toys. Wild cherry syrup, a cough medicine, is obtained from the bark, and jelly and wine are prepared from the fruit. While the fruit is edible and used in beverages and cooking, the rest of the plant contains amygdalin and can be toxic if consumed. One of the first New World trees introduced into English gardens, it was recorded as early as 1629 in Europe and is now highly invasive there and in northern South America. Five geographical varieties are currently distinguished: P. serotina var. serotina (Eastern black cherry) in eastern North America as far west as east Texas, P. serotina var. eximia (Escarpment black cherry) in central Texas, and varieties virens (Southwestern black cherry) and rufula (Chisos black cherry) in mountains of southwestern North America. Populations inhabiting the interior mountains of Mexico and Guatemala are assigned to the subspecies P. serotina ssp. capuli (Capulin black cherry) but are sometimes classed as variety salicifolia.

Dimensions

  • Height: 60 - 80 ft
  • Width: 30 - 60 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACU

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun
  • Soil Texture: High organic matter, Loam (silt)
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 4 - 7.5
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 2a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Brown, Copper, Gold, Yellow, Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow, Orange
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Period: 3 - 6
  • Fruit Interest: Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Native Americans used the inner bark to treat colds. The hard, reddish-brown wood takes a fine polish and is commercially valued for use in a large number of products such as furniture, veneers, cabinets, interior paneling, gun stocks, instrument/tool handles, and musical instruments.
  • Landscape Value: A showy tree with handsome trunk and branches, attractive foliage, especially in fall, and ornamental blooms and fruit. Easy to grow.

Wildlife Value

  • This plant provides nectar for pollinators and is a larval host plant for several species of butterflies. You may see Coral Hairstreak (Satyrium titus) which has one flight from May-August, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus), which has three flights from February-November in the deep south and March-September in the north, Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) which has many flights from January-October at the gulf coast getting shorter as you move north, Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) which has two to three broods May-September, and Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) has two broods from April-October. Fruits are eaten by songbirds, wild turkeys, quail, white-tailed deer and small mammals.

Acer pensylvanicum

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 6
  • Common Name: Striped maple, Moosewood
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: Striped maple is a deciduous, understory tree with a graceful, arching, uneven crown and short trunk. The bark is smooth and green with longitudinal, white stripes on the trunk and branches. Old trunks lose the pronounced striping. Fall foliage is lemon-yellow. Unlike other native maples, the green flowers of this species are terminal and pendulous.

Striped Maple is easily recognized, even in winter, by the striped twigs and bark, which make it a popular ornamental. Rabbits, beavers, deer and moose eat the bark, especially in winter.

Dimensions

  • Height: 15 - 35 ft
  • Width: 12 - 20 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACU

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist
  • pH Range: 4.4 - 6.5
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 7b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: Yellow, Green, Brown
  • Bloom Period: 4 - 5
  • Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: The Striped Maple has limited uses. Its porous and fine-grained wood has occasionally been used by cabinet makers for inlay material. Whistles can be carved easily from branch sections. Native Americans reportedly used the wood to make arrows and the bark to make a beverage. Farmers in the American colonies and Canada reportedly fed their cattle both dried and green leaves in the winter; in the spring, when the buds had begun to swell, they turned their horses and cows into the woods to browse on the young shoots. Native Americans used the Striped Maple to treat a variety of ailments including bronchial and kidney troubles, colds, and coughs.
  • Landscape Value: The interesting bark on stems and young trunks have white striped markings giving it the common name of Snakebark. The shape of the leaves are supposedly the shape of a goosefoot giving it the common name of Goosefoot Maple. The bright yellow leaves provide fall interest and the unusual bark provides winter interest.

Wildlife Value

  • Members of the genus Acer support Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season and appear from April-October in the south. Adult Imperial Moths do not feed. Early spring source of nectar for bees. It is an important browse plant for many mammals.

Picea abies

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 7
  • Common Name: Norway spruce
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: Not native
  • Description: The Norway spruce is a rapidly growing woody, needled evergreen tree in the pine family (Pinaceae). It is native to Europe. It is the typical Christmas tree in Great Britain and has also served as the United States Capitol Christmas tree several times. There are over 150 cultivars available. The genus name, Picea, is thought to be derived from the Latin word, pix, which means “pitch” and refers to the sticky resin that is found on the tree’s bark. The specific epithet, abies, refers to a similar genus, Abies or fir

Dimensions

  • Height: 40 - 60 ft
  • Width: 25 - 30 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: Not classified

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun
  • Soil Texture: Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist
  • pH Range: 5 - 7
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 2a - 7b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
  • Leaf Retention: Evergreen
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Green
  • Bloom Color: Brown, Copper, Gold, Yellow, Green, Purple, Lavender
  • Bloom Period: 4 - 5
  • Fruit Interest: Fall

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: The tree is used for timber in Europe. It is commonly used as a Christmas tree in Great Britain. Herbal teas are made from leafy twigs. It is the most widely used spruce in North America for horticultural purposes.
  • Landscape Value: In the appropriate climate, the majestic Norway spruce could be used in a large home landscape, woodland, meadow, or recreational play area. It can serve as a windbreak or screen in colder climates. Dwarf cultivars may be acquired to serve as foundation plantings, specimens, or accents in smaller areas of the home landscape.

Wildlife Value

  • Birds, moths, and small mammals are attracted to this tree.

Quercus alba

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 8
  • Common Name: White oak
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: Popular and long-lived shade tree, which grows to 100 feet (30.5 m), with a widespreading rounded crown and with numerous horizontal branches. Bark light gray, shallow furrows forming scaly ridges or plates. Twigs slender to stout, gray to reddish-green twigs with star-shaped pith; buds are reddish-brown and broadly oval and hairless. Leaves petiole 3?8 - 1 inch (10 - 25 mm) in length; obovate to elliptical leaves, 4 - 8 inches (101 - 203 mm) long, 2 3/4 - 4 3/4 inches (70 - 121 mm) wide, margin with 5 - 9 lobes that are widest beyond middle, deep sinuses extending a third or more to midrib; base acute to cuneate, apex broadly rounded; dull or shiny grayish green above, light green with slight pubescence which becomes smooth beneath as they mature.

The classic eastern oak, with widespreading branches and a rounded crown, the trunk irregularly divided into spreading, often horizontal, stout branches. Northern white oak is an imposing, deciduous tree, 80-100 ft. tall, with a straight trunk and a wide (when open-grown) crown. Large, coarse, horizontal limbs are picturesque. Catkins appear just before or with the appearance of new leaves. The round-lobed leaves turn burgundy in fall. Dried leaves remain into winter.

White oak is one of the most important species in the white oak group. The wood is used for furniture, flooring, and spe- cialty items such as wine and whiskey barrels. Used for shipbuilding in colonial times. Continues to be displaced in the market place by several species of red oaks. Acorns are a favorite food source for birds, squirrels, and deer. Used as medication by Native Americans. The largest known white oak specimen had a circumference of 32 feet and grew in the Wye Oak State Park, Talbot County, Maryland. It was destroyed during a storm on June 6, 2002.

Dimensions

  • Height: 50 - 135 ft
  • Width: 50 - 80 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACU

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 4.5 - 6.8
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 9b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green, White
  • Fall Leaf Color: Brown, Copper, Purple, Lavender, Red, Burgundy
  • Bloom Color: Red, Yellow, Green, Brown
  • Bloom Period: 3 - 5
  • Fruit Interest: Fall

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Hardwood timber is used for flooring, woodwork, wine barrels, or whisky barrels. Ships were built from the timber in the colonial period. The acorns were used by Native Americans for medications.
  • Landscape Value: Use white oak as a shade tree for large yards or parks, or in a naturalized area for wildlife to enjoy. It is suitable for butterfly, children’s, drought-tolerant, edible, native, nighttime, and pollinator gardens. However, it should not be planted near structures or pavement due to its eventual size. It is also toxic to horses.

Wildlife Value

  • Oak trees support a wide variety of Lepidopteran. You may see Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season and appear from April-October in the south. Adult Imperial Moths do not feed. Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus), which have one flight from June-August everywhere but Florida where they emerge April-May. Edward’s Hairstreak (Satyrium edwardsii), has one flight from May-July in the south and June-July in the north. Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), has three to four flights in the south from February-November and two flights in the north from May-September. White-M Hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album) has three broods in the north from February-October. Horace’s Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) has three broods in Texas and the deep south from January-November, and two broods in the north from April-September. Juvenal’s Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) has one brood from April-June, appearing as early as January in Florida. The Acorns are eaten by woodpeckers, blue joys, small mammals, wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, and black bear.

Staphylea trifolia

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 9
  • Common Name: American bladdernut
  • Growth Habit: Shrub
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: American bladdernut is a large, suckering, deciduous shrub or small tree, 8-15 ft. tall. Landscape attributes include: drooping clusters of cream, bell-shaped flowers; attractive, dark-green, trifoliate leaves; greenish bark textured with white cracks; and interesting fruit. The fruit, which changes from green to yellow to brown, is a three-chambered bladder.

Dimensions

  • Height: 10 - 15 ft
  • Width: 10 - 15 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FAC

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand, Shallow rocky
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasional flooding, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 6.8 - 7.2
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Period: 4 - 6
  • Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Seed capsules used in dried flower arrangements. Attractive native flowering shrub.
  • Landscape Value: Use this native in a rain or woodland garden, plant it in an understory area of the landscape that gets some shade or near a stream, pond or water feature

Wildlife Value

  • Bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects enjoy the nectar from the flowers. Small mammals browse the foliage.

Clematis virginiana

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 10
  • Common Name: Woodbine or Virgin’s bower
  • Growth Habit: Vine
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: A 15-20 ft., fine-texured vine, climbing by twisting leaf stalks. Profuse, axillary clusters of small, white flowers are followed by plume-like, feathery achenes. Trifoliate leaves are bright-green. A climbing vine with white flowers in many clusters arising from the leaf axils.

A beautiful and common Clematis, it trails over fences and other shrubs along moist roadsides and riverbanks. The female flowers, with their feathery tails or plumes, give a hoary appearance and are especially showy in late summer. Lacking tendrils, the vine supports itself by means of twisted stems, or petioles, that wrap around other plants.

Dimensions

  • Height: 15 - 20 ft
  • Width: 3 - 6 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FAC

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: High organic matter
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasional flooding
  • pH Range: 5 - 6.8
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 6a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: No
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: No
  • Bloom Color: White, Green, Brown
  • Bloom Period: 7 - 9
  • Fruit Interest: Fall

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Aboriginals and Native Americans used this plant for medicinal purposes. An extract of the stems was used as a hallucinogen. The Cherokee used an infusion combined with milkweed for backache and as an ingredient in ceremonial green corn medicine. An infusion of the root was used for stomach trouble and nerves and also for kidney problems by the Cherokee and the Iroquois. The Iroquois also used an infusion of the roots to treat venereal disease sores.
  • Landscape Value: Woodbine has showy, fragrant blooms in the autumn. It attracts a variety of pollinators, including hummingbirds. This plant may be less frequently damaged by deer and rabbits. Requiring less maintenance, the male plant is not adorned with seeds (versus the female which does produce seeds) but is showy (in comparison to the female version).

Wildlife Value

  • Flowers attract hummingbirds and bees.

Rubus odoratus

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 11
  • Common Name: Flowering raspberry
  • Growth Habit: Subshrub
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: A suckering shrub, 3-6 ft. high and 6-12 ft. wide which forms broad patches. Five-lobed, maple-like, dark green leaves become pale yellow in fall. Large, pinkish-purple flowers occur singly or in few-flowered clusters. Fruit is a broadly rounded, red to purple berry. Canes are thornless, yellow- to orange-brown, and exfoliating. This erect, shrubby, thornless plant has rose-lavender flowers in loose clusters; new branches have bristly hairs.

Thimbleberry (R. parviflorus), with very similar white flowers and similar but smaller leaves, occurs from Alaska to Mexico and northeast to Ontario. Baked-apple Berry (R. chamaemorus), is a dwarf form only 12” (30 cm) tall, with a solitary white flower, an amber-colored berry, and leaves similar to the above, but smaller. It is found on mountaintops in New England and northward into Canada. All other species in the East have compound leaves and usually spiny stems.

Dimensions

  • Height: 3 - 6 ft
  • Width: 4 - 8 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: Not classified

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist
  • pH Range: 4.5 - 6.5
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: Pink, Purple
  • Bloom Period: 6 - 8
  • Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Multiple medicinal purposes including analgesic, antirheumatic, cathartic, cough medicine, dermatological aid, cynecological aid, gastrointestinal aid, tonic, toothaches, gynecological aid, blisters, and food.
  • Landscape Value: The Purple Flowering Raspberry grows best in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. It will grow well in sandy soils, but does not like clay. It has good shade tolerance. It best to prune immediately after fruiting. Grows best in moist but not wet soil, enriched with organic matter. It dislikes high humidity and high temperatures and needs good air circulation. It is found naturally in upland forests, boulderfields, rock outcrops, thickets, and substrates. It can be propagated from bare root, seed, or sprigs. An aggressive, suckering habit needs to be watched.

Wildlife Value

  • This plant is beneficial for songbirds, game birds, butterflies, bees, large and small mammals. Also used for nesting material for bees. It is of special value to native bees, bumble bees, and honey bees.

Carya cordiformis

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 12
  • Common Name: Bitternut hickory
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: A slender shade tree, bitter-nut hickory is one of the largest hickories, growing 50-150 ft. tall. Bitter-nut hickory typically develops several primary ascending limbs, forming an arched shape. The deciduous tree produces long, graceful catkins and large, hard-shelled nuts. The pinnately compound leaves attain a bright, clear yellow early in the fall. It holds its fall foliage longer than other hickories.

Dimensions

  • Height: 50 - 100 ft
  • Width: 25 - 40 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACU

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand, Shallow rocky
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally wet
  • pH Range: 4.8 - 7.4
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 9b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow, Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: Yellow, Green, Brown
  • Bloom Period: 4 - 4
  • Fruit Interest: Fall

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Said to be somewhat inferior to the other hickories, but is used for the same purposes: tool handles, furniture, interior paneling, and sporting goods. Also used to smoke ham and bacon. It is also used for food, beverages, and dermatological aids, and mixed with bear grease to make mosquito repellants.
  • Landscape Value: Bitternut Hickory is a tall, slender, cylindrical deciduous tree with a broad pyramid-shaped crown.

Wildlife Value

  • Several species of moth are attracted to the foliage. Larval host for butterflies and Luna moths. This plant supports Hickory Horndevil (Citheronia regalis) larvae which have one brood and appear from May to mid-September. Adult Hickory Horndevil moths do not feed.

Quercus bicolor

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 13
  • Common Name: Swamp white oak, Bicolor oak
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: Swamp white oak is a large, wide, round-topped, deciduous tree. Its leaves, with their silvery undersides, are similar of those of White oak (Quercus alba), yet Swamp white oak leaves lack deeply cut lobes. Tree grows to 100 feet (30.5 m) with an irregular crown. Bark dark gray, deep furrows forming scaly or flat-ridges. Twigs smooth, light brown twigs; buds light orangish-brown, smooth, ovoid and blunt. Leaves petiole from 3/8 - 1 inch (10 - 25 mm) long; leaves are narrowly elliptical to obovate, varies up to 7 inches (178 mm) long and 4 3/8 inches (111 mm) wide; base cuneate to acute, rounded apex; margin with 10 - 20 lobes with shallow sinuses, distal half of blade may have teeth; glossy dark green above with white velvety pubescence beneath. Fall color is golden-brown to russet-red.

The scientific name refers to the difference in coloration between upper and lower leaf surface. The two largest known specimens grow in Highland County, Virginia, and Washington County, Ohio.

Dimensions

  • Height: 50 - 60 ft
  • Width: 50 - 60 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACW

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun
  • Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry, Occasionally wet
  • pH Range: 4.3 - 6.5
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Gray, Silver, Green, White
  • Fall Leaf Color: Brown, Copper, Gold, Yellow, Red, Burgundy
  • Bloom Color: Red , Yellow , Green
  • Bloom Period: 3 - 5
  • Fruit Interest: Fall

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: The inner bark was used heavily in the leather tanning industry and it also produced an important yellow dye. Native Americans used it to treat a wide variety of ailments. Native Americans and pioneers used the nuts for food. Roasted acorns have been ground and used as a coffee substitute. The wood is used in furniture but is not as valuable as white oak due to having more knots.
  • Landscape Value: The swamp oak is best planted in an area along a pond, a stream of other wet or low sites.

Wildlife Value

  • This tree is mildly resistant to damage by deer. The wildlife value is high. The acorns are eaten by woodpeckers, blue jays, small mammals, wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, and black bears. Oak trees support a wide variety of Lepidopteran. You may see Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season and appear from April-October in the south. Adult Imperial Moths do not feed. Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus), which have one flight from June-August everywhere but Florida where they emerge April-May. Edward’s Hairstreak (Satyrium edwardsii), has one flight from May-July in the south and June-July in the north. Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), has three to four flights in the south from February-November and two flights in the north from May-September. White-M Hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album) has three broods in the north from February-October. Horace’s Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) has three broods in Texas and the deep south from January-November, and two broods in the north from April-September. Juvenal’s Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) has one brood from April-June, appearing as early as January in Florida. It attracts a wide range of insects which in turn feed the birds.

Liriodendron tulipifera

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 14
  • Common Name: Tulip Tree, Tulip Poplar, Yellow Poplar
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: One of the tallest and most beautiful eastern hardwoods, with a long, straight trunk, a narrow crown that spreads with age, and large showy flowers resembling tulips or lilies. A tall, straight, deciduous tree, up to150 ft. tall (sometimes taller), tuliptree has a medium to narrow crown and distinctive, star-shaped foliage. The leaves are waxy and smooth, and dependably turn bright gold in fall. Showy, yellow-orange, tulip-like flowers are often missed because they are up 50 ft. or higher in the tops of trees. Cone-shaped seedheads remain after leaves have fallen.

Introduced into Europe from Virginia by the earliest colonists and grown also on the Pacific Coast. Very tall trees with massive trunks existed in the primeval forests but were cut for the valuable soft wood. Pioneers hollowed out a single log to make a long, lightweight canoe. One of the chief commercial hardwoods, Yellow Poplar is used for furniture, as well as for crates, toys, musical instruments, and pulpwood.

Dimensions

  • Height: 80 - 120 ft
  • Width: 30 - 60 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACU

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun
  • Soil Texture: Loam (silt)
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 4.5 - 6.5
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 9b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: Yellow , Green , Brown
  • Bloom Period: 4 - 6
  • Fruit Interest: Fall

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Tulip poplar is one of the largest and most valuable hardwood trees in the United States. Wood from this tree is somewhat weak and is used for furniture, plywood, boats, veneer, paper pulp, and general lumber. It is light, soft, and easily worked. The wood has also been used to make musical instruments and toys. Native Americans used this tree to make dugout canoes. They also used the inner bark of this tree as a medicine for cough and cholera.
  • Landscape Value: To plant, it needs a large area and does best in natural areas. It can have superb fall color of yellow to golden yellow but leaves abscise prematurely. It is not recommended for a small residential area or as a street tree. There are many cultivars available including smaller forms of this plant.

Wildlife Value

  • This plant supports pollinators and is a larval host plant. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilo glaucus) has three flights from February-November in the deep south and March-September in the north. The Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) has two broods from April-October, and Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) has two to three broods from May-September and all year in Florida. Hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and birds like cedar waxwings feed on the nectar from flowers. White-tailed deer, gray squirrels, and some songbirds eat the flowers in the spring. Sprouts, buds, and seeds are primary food for deer and squirrels.

Prunus serrulata

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 15
  • Common Name: Japanese flowering cherry
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: Not native
  • Description: The Japanese flowering cherry tree is a small to medium-sized flowering tree that has spectacular spring flowers. It grows 15 to 25 feet tall and equally as wide with variable habits. This tree is a popular ornamental in its native countries and in portions of the United States. The profuse and showy white blooms herald the advent of spring. The leaves are ovate to lanceolate and dark green. Small, round, pea-size fruits appear in the late summer. This iconic flowering tree is a member of the Rosaceae or rose family.

This tree is native to East and South China, Japan, and Korea. Cherry blossoms are the national flower of Japan and symbolize life, good health, and happiness.

Dimensions

  • Height: 15 - 25 ft
  • Width: 15 - 25 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: Not classified

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Loam (silt)
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist
  • pH Range: 5.5 - 8
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 5a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green, Red, Burgundy
  • Fall Leaf Color: Brown, Copper, Gold, Yellow, Red, Burgundy
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Period: 4 - 5
  • Fruit Interest: Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: NA
  • Landscape Value: For spectacular showy flowers in the spring consider this tree for the home landscape as a specimen, groupings, or street tree. While the species may be difficult to find commercially, there are many beautiful cultivars that are very popular.

Wildlife Value

  • This is a larval host plant to Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). You may see three flights from February-November in the deep south and two flights from May-September in the north. Birds relish the fruits, though they are not plentiful.

Quercus velutina

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 16
  • Common Name: Black Oak, Quercitron Oak, Yellow Oak, Smoothbark Oak, Yellowbark Oak
  • Growth Habit: Tree
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: Black oak, a deciduous tree, reaches 50-80 ft. high and the spread is variable. Large, spreading branches form an open crown that is often quite irregular. Catkins appear just before or with the appearance of new leaves. Thick, glossy, pointed-lobed black oak leaves often turn orange or red in fall.

Easily distinguishable by the yellow or orange inner bark, formerly a source of tannin, of medicine, and of a yellow dye for cloth known as quercitron. Peeled bark was dried, pounded to powder, and the dye sifted out.

Dimensions

  • Height: 50 - 100 ft
  • Width: 50 - 80 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: UPL

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 4.5 - 6.5
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 9b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Brown, Copper, Gold, Yellow, Red, Burgundy
  • Bloom Color: Yellow , Green , Brown
  • Bloom Period: 3 - 5
  • Fruit Interest: Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Wood is used for furniture and flooring. The acorn of oaks was an important food source for Native Americans. Some tribes are known to have used the bark as medicine for heart troubles and bronchial infections. It was also used as an astringent, disinfectant, and cleanser.
  • Landscape Value: Use this tree as a large shade tree, in parks and as a street tree. It is also useful in meadows, on slopes and other naturalized areas.

Wildlife Value

  • Oak trees support a wide variety of Lepidopteran. You may see Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season and appear from April-October in the south. Adult Imperial Moths do not feed. Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus), which have one flight from June-August everywhere but Florida where they emerge April-May. Edward’s Hairstreak (Satyrium edwardsii), has one flight from May-July in the south and June-July in the north. Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus), has three to four flights in the south from February-November and two flights in the north from May-September. White-M Hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album) has three broods in the north from February-October. Horace’s Duskywing (Erynnis horatius) has three broods in Texas and the deep south from January-November, and two broods in the north from April-September. Juvenal’s Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) has one brood from April-June, appearing as early as January in Florida. The acorns are eaten by woodpeckers, blue jays small mammals, wild turkeys white-tailed deer and black bears.

Chasmanthium latifolium

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 17
  • Common Name: Inland Sea Oats, Indian Wood Oats, Wild Oats, River Oats, Flathead Oats, Upland Oats, Upland Sea Oats
  • Growth Habit: Graminoid
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N)
  • Description: This is a 2-4 ft., clump-forming, perennial grass bearing large, drooping, oat-like flower spikelets from slender, arching branches. The blue-green, bamboo-like leaves often turn a bright yellow-gold, especially in sunnier sites, in fall.

Very popular as a low-maintenance shade grass, Inland sea oats is notable for its large, graceful seedheads. Sending up blue-green basal leaves in earliest spring, it can be 2 feet tall and a vivid green by May, with translucent green seedheads swaying in the breeze. By mid-summer, the seeds will have turned an attractive ivory and will turn brown in a few months before dropping off. It passes through most of winter a soft brown, but becomes tattered and gray by February, a good time to cut it back to the basal rosette. It reseeds easily and can expand aggressively within a couple of years, making a solid mat in moist loams. It has been used to prevent soil erosion along streams. The seed stalks are attractive in flower arrangements.

Dimensions

  • Height: 2 - 5 ft
  • Width: 1 - 2.5 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FACU

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Dappled sunlight, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Moist, Occasionally wet
  • pH Range: 5 - 7
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 5a - 9b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: No
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Brown, Copper, Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: Green
  • Bloom Period: 6 - 9
  • Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Native americans use the seeds for food source.
  • Landscape Value: Use in naturalized areas, along streams or edges of water gardens. Watch its placement especially in smaller gardens as may spread aggressively by rhizomes and seeds.

Wildlife Value

  • This is a larval host plant for Northern Pearly-Eye (Lethe anthedon) caterpillars. You may see two broods from May-September in the south or one brood from June-August in the north. Highly resistant to deer. Also a larval host plant to several skipper butterflies. Small mammals and birds are attracted to the seeds.

Pycnanthemum incanum

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 18
  • Common Name: Hoary Mountain Mint, Silverleaf Mountain Mint
  • Growth Habit: Forb
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
  • Description: This stiff, erect, clump-forming mint has whitened leaves subtending the flower clusters. The minty-smelling plants are 2-6 ft. tall and have terminal flower clusters composed of numerous, small, two-lipped corollas varying from whitish to lavender, with purple spots. Flowers are in dense rounded clusters in leaf axils or atop a hairy square stem and branches; white bracts beneath flowers.

Dimensions

  • Height: 3 - 6 ft
  • Width: 2 - 4 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: Not classified

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 5.5 - 7.5
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Spring, Summer
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Gray/Silver, Green, White
  • Fall Leaf Color: No
  • Bloom Color: Purple/Lavender, White
  • Bloom Period: 6 - 7
  • Fruit Interest: Fall

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Native Americans used this plant as an analgesic, antidiarrheal, cold, dermatiological aid, fever reducer, gastrointestinal aid, heart medicine, nose bleeds, stimulant, and food source.
  • Landscape Value: It can be used to help stop erosion, good pollinator or edible garden plant, it is drought tolerant, and grows well even in dry soils.

Wildlife Value

  • This plant supports Wavy-lined Emerald (Synchlora aerata) larvae. This plant provides nectar for pollinators. Flowers are attractive to butterflies, especially smaller species like hairstreaks, and many other insects.

Panicum virgatum

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 19
  • Common Name: Switchgrass, Wand Panic Grass
  • Growth Habit: Graminoid
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48, CAN
  • Description: Clump-forming, warm-season grass with open, lacy sprays with small seeds, Aug-Oct. Purple stigmas at flowering time. Switchgrass is a 3-10 ft., rhizomatous, loose sod former with a large, open, finely textured, reddish-purple seedhead. Fall color is pale yellow. Bright green leaves occur up and down the stem, turning bright yellow in fall. Switchgrass is a perennial. Grows in large clumps, with many persistent, curly leaves.

Switchgrass is one of the dominant species of the tallgrass prairie, but also grows along roadsides where moisture is present. The rich, yellow-colored clumps last throughout the winter.

Dimensions

  • Height: 3 - 7 ft
  • Width: 2 - 3 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FAC

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Moist, Occasional flooding, Occasionally dry, Occasionally wet
  • pH Range: 4.5 - 8
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 5a - 9b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Yes
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Blue, Green, Red, Burgundy
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow, Orange
  • Bloom Color: Green , Brown
  • Bloom Period: 8 - 11
  • Fruit Interest: Fall, Winter

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Being explored as a potential biofuel.
  • Landscape Value: Mass plant this grass in the back of a border or use as a screen. It is effective as an accent plant in a native or water garden or along a pond. This plant is resistant to deer grazing, drought, erosion, and air pollution. It is also slightly salt tolerant, withstands occasional flooding, and can be planted near black walnut trees.

Wildlife Value

  • Provides excellent cover year round. This is a larval host plant for various Skipper butterflies and the Common Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis pegala) which have one brood from late May to October. Adult Common Wood-Nymph butterflies feed on rotting fruit and flower nectar. Seeds are eaten by songbirds and small mammals in the winter

Amelanchier laevis

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 20
  • Common Name: Allegheny Serviceberry, Allegheny Service-berry, Serviceberry
  • Growth Habit: Tree, Shurb
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48, CAN
  • Description: This service-berry is usually a multiple-trunked tree or shrub, 15-25 ft. tall, with dense, fine-textured branching. White flowers occur in terminal clusters before the leaves appear and are followed by summer berries turning from red to purple or nearly black. Blue-green summer foliage can become orange or red in fall. The bark is smooth and slate-gray with white, longitudinal stripes.

Very easy to grow and provides year-round interest. Berries are edible and juicier than those of the similar A. arborea. Sensitive to drought. Serviceberries are subject to many disease and insect problems, but damage from these problems is usually cosmetic rather than life threatening. The sweet, juicy fruits are edible and rich in iron and copper. (Kershaw)

Native peoples dried the small pomes like raisins or mashed and dried them in cakes. Often the dried fruits were mixed with meat and fat to form pemmican, a light-weight, high-energy food that could support winter travellers for long periods if the diet was supplemented with vitamin C to prevent scurvy. (Kershaw)

Dimensions

  • Height: 15 - 25 ft
  • Width: 15 - 20 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: Not classified

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Dappled sunlight, Full sun, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Moist, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 4.8 - 7
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 8b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Fall
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green, Purple, Lavender
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow, Red, Burgundy
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Period: 3 - 6
  • Fruit Interest: Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Used by native Americans to make pemmican- a high energy cake made with the dried fruits, meat and fat for traveling. The bark has been used in herbal medicine.
  • Landscape Value: Allegheny Serviceberry can be used as a small shade tree, street tree, in a woodland setting or used as a shrub in borders and hedges. To use as a tree it must be pruned to the shape as it tends to want to grow shrubby.

Wildlife Value

  • Host plant for Red-Spotted Purple and Viceroy butterflies. Butterflies and other insects nectar at the blooms. Fruits are eaten by songbirds, ruffed grouse, small mammals, and large mammals. Mildly resistant to deer. Bees are attracted to the flowers.

Pachysandra terminalis

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 21
  • Common Name: Japanese spurge, Pachysandra, Carpet box
  • Growth Habit: Forb
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: Not native
  • Description: Japanese spurge or Pachysandra is a broadleaf evergreen, herbaceous perennial or ground cover in the boxwood family (Buxaceae). Native to Japan and northern central China, it grows 6 to 12 inches high and 12 to 18 inches wide.

Dimensions

  • Height: 0.5 - 1 ft
  • Width: 1 - 1.5 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: Not classified

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Deep shade, Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (silt)
  • Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
  • pH Range: 5.5 - 7.5
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 9b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Fall
  • Leaf Retention: Broadleaf evergreen
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Period: 5 - 6
  • Fruit Interest: No

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: NA
  • Landscape Value: Pachysandra blooms in early spring and is a very common ground cover that spreads by rhizomes to form large colonies beneath trees or shady areas. It helps control erosion on slopes and banks. It also works well as a border or foundation planting. Include it in a children’s garden or recreational play area.

Wildlife Value

  • Attracts bees.

Lindera benzoin

General Description

  • Plant Walk Number: 22
  • Common Name: Northern Spicebush, Spicebush, Wild Allspice
  • Growth Habit: Shrub
  • Duration: Perennial
  • Native Status: L48, CAN
  • Description: Northern Spicebush is a single- or few-stemmed, deciduous shrub, usually 6-15 ft. tall, with glossy leaves and graceful, slender, light green branches. Leaves alternate on the branchlets, up to 6 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide, upper surface dark green, lower surface lighter in color, obovate, tapering more gradually to the base than to the tip, tip somewhat extended margins without teeth or lobes. Dense clusters of tiny, pale yellow flowers bloom before the leaves from globose buds along the twigs. Flowers occur in umbel-like clusters and are followed by glossy red fruit. Both the fruit and foliage are aromatic. Leaves turn a colorful golden-yellow in fall.

In the North this plant is thought of as the “forsythia of the wilds” because its early spring flowering gives a subtle yellow tinge to many lowland woods where it is common. A tea can be made from the aromatic leaves and twigs.

Dimensions

  • Height: 8 - 15 ft
  • Width: 6 - 15 ft

Wetland Status

  • Status: FAC

Cultural Conditions

  • Light: Partial shade
  • Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
  • Soil Drainage: Moist, Occasional flooding, Occasionally dry, Occasionally wet
  • pH Range: 4.5 - 6
  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 5a - 9b

Aesthetic Attributes

  • Foliage Interest: Fall
  • Leaf Retention: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow, Green
  • Fall Leaf Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Color: Gold, Yellow, Green
  • Bloom Period: 3 - 5
  • Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer

Ethnobotany and Landscape Value

  • Ethnobotany: Essential oils from this plants leaves, twigs, and fruits, have been used in teas. The fragrant fruits are sometimes dried and used in sachets. Native Americans have been known to use the dried fruits of this plant as a spice, and the leaves of this plant for tea.
  • Landscape Value: This plant has good, yellow fall color.

Wildlife Value

  • This plant supports Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes) larvae which has two flights from March-December with a partial 3rd flight in the South. The adult butterflies feed on nectar from flowers like sweet pepperbush, thistles, blue flag, and azalea. This plant also supports Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) larvae which have 2 generations per year from April-October. Adult Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies feed on nectar from Japanese honeysuckle, jewelweed, thistles, milkweed, azalea, dogbane, lantana, mimosa, and sweet pepperbush. Also a host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly. Fruits are eaten by songbirds, especially during fall migration. White-tailed deer will browse twigs and leaves.