Abies balsamea
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 1
- Common Name: Balsam Fir, Blister Pine, Northern Balsam
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)
- Description: Balsam Fir is an evergreen conifer in the pine (Pinaceae) family. It is native to Eastern Canada and south to the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia.
Dimensions
- Height: 40 - 70 ft
- Width: 15 - 25 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FAC
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Loam (silt), Sand
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist
- pH Range: 4 - 6
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 7b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
- Leaf Retention: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green, White
- Fall Leaf Color: No
- Bloom Color: No
- Bloom Period: NA - NA
- Fruit Interest: Fall
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Used by native Americans medicinally.
- Landscape Value: It is popular as a Christmas tree because of its handsome shape and long retention of needles. Its evergreen needles provide structure to the landscape and interest in the winter months.
Wildlife Value
- Songbirds and squirrels eat seed and deer browse foliage. Deer and moose browse the foliage in winter.
Betula alleghaniensis
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 2
- Common Name: Yellow birch
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)
- Description: Yellow birch grows larger than other eastern birches. Open-grown specimens develop a massive candelabra form, while forest trees are tall and slender. The name comes from the curly, translucent, golden-yellow bark, streaked with gray and brown. Showy catkins appear just before leaf emergence. Leaves are dull green above and yellow underneath, changing to blaze yellow in fall. Bark on young stems, branches and trunk peels in thin, papery shreds. Large, aromatic tree with broad, rounded crown of drooping branches and slight odor of wintergreen in crushed twigs and foliage.
Dimensions
- Height: 70 - 80 ft
- Width: 60 - 80 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FAC
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 4 - 8
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 7b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Color: Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Period: 4 - 5
- Fruit Interest: Summer
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Heavy, strong, hard, and close-grained, lumber is Important as a source for flooring, furniture, and veneers. Bark is waterproof and is used for canoes.
- Landscape Value: The Yellow birch is a great shade and specimen tree. They can be used in groves to create a lovely dappled shade.
Wildlife Value
- The Golden birch is a larval host plant for moth caterpillars and Mourning Cloak and Dreamy Duskywing butterflies. Many moths also use this tree as a host plant. You may see Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) which has one flight from June-July, Dreamy Duskywing (Erynnis icelus) with one brood April-July and rarely a second in the south, and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilo glaucus) which has three flights from February-November in the south and two flights May-September in the north. The seeds are eaten by birds. Northern flying squirrels and northern saw-whet owls use the hollows that often form in this tree as nest sites. Squirrels (flying and red) often use the exfoliating bark to line or insulate their nests.
Kalmia latifolia
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 3
- Common Name: Mountain Laurel, Calico Bush, Kalmia, Mountain-laurel
- Growth Habit: Shrub
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N)
- Description: The broadleaf evergreen Mountain-laurel is usually a 12-20 ft. shrub, but is occasionally taller and single-trunked, attaining small tree stature. Evergreen, many-stemmed, thicket-forming shrub or sometimes a small tree with short, crooked trunk; stout, spreading branches; a compact, rounded crown; and beautiful, large, pink flower clusters. Its flowers are very showy. They are bell-shaped, white to pink with deep rose spots inside, and occur in flat-topped clusters. The leaves are oval, leathery, and glossy, and change from light-green to dark-green to purple throughout the year.
Dimensions
- Height: 4 - 15 ft
- Width: 4 - 8 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FACU
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Dappled sunlight, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand, Shallow rocky
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
- pH Range: 4.5 - 6
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 9b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
- Leaf Retention: Broadleaf evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: No
- Bloom Color: Pink, White, Purple/Lavender
- Bloom Period: 4 - 7
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Brown/Copper
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Native Americans used this plant for decorations, disinfectant, and as an external salve.
- Landscape Value: Plant mountain laurel in a meadow, naturalized, or woodland area, and use it as an accent or flowering shrub in a native, children’s, butterfly, or pollinator garden.
Wildlife Value
- It provides winter cover. Hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators are attracted to the flowers. Although the foilage is toxic to domestic livestock, white-tailed deer browse the leaves and twigs during the winter and early spring.
Baptisia australis
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 4
- Common Name: Blue Wild Indigo, Wild Blue Indigo, Blue False Indigo
- Growth Habit: Forb
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (I)
- Description: Rising 2-4 ft. high from a woody base, blue wild indigo is a bushy, robust perennial. Flowers are blue-purple and pea-like, congested in dense, upright, terminal spikes, 4-16 in. long. Leaves are divided into three leaflets. In late fall the plant turns silvery-gray, sometimes breaking off at ground level and tumbling about in the wind.
Like other members of the pea family, this plant requires the presence of microorganisms that inhabit nodules on the plant’s root system and produce nitrogen compounds necessary for the plant’s survival.
Dimensions
- Height: 3 - 4 ft
- Width: 2 - 4 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FACU
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 6 - 7
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 9b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: No
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: No
- Bloom Color: Blue, Purple
- Bloom Period: 4 - 7
- Fruit Interest: Winter, Black
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Uses by indigenous people included rattles (from the ripened seed pods) for children and blue dye. The beautiful blue flowers have been used to make a blue dye nearly comparable to dye made from the flowers of indigo.
- Landscape Value: Great plant to include in a butterfly garden, children’s garden, native garden, and rain garden.
Wildlife Value
- Its flowers are attractive to butterflies, bees, and other insects. This plant is also a larval host plant for a variety of butterflies including: Orange sulphur, Clouded Sulphur, Frosted Elfin, Eastern Tailed Blue, Hoary Edge, and Wild Indigo Duskywing.
Asimina triloba
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 5
- Common Name: Pawpaw
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
- Description: Common pawpaw is a small, short-trunked tree or large, multi-stemmed shrub, 10-40 ft. tall, with large, tropical-like leaves. Young shoots and leaves are covered with a rusty down, later becoming smooth. The thick, bright-green, deciduous leaves turn yellow-green in fall. Not particularly showy, but interesting, purple, six-petaled flowers are borne singly in leaf axils before leaf emergence. Large, cylindric, dark-green or yellow, edible fruit follows.
Dimensions
- Height: 15 - 30 ft
- Width: 15 - 30 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FAC
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: NA
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 4.7 - 7.2
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 5a - 9b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Summer, Fragrant, Fall, Gold/Yellow
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Color: White, Red, Yellow, Purple
- Bloom Period: 4 - 5
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer, Gold/Yellow, Green, Brown/Copper
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: First Nations People and European settlers have long used the fruit as food. First Nations People used fresh fruit and made it into cakes and sauces or dried it and used it as winter food. Some people reportedly develop contact dermatitis after frequent exposure to the fruits. (Athenic) EDIBLE PARTS: Raw berries (fruits) in small quantities. The fruits generally fall to the ground before they are ripe and must be ripened at home. Ripen outdoors – the smell is overpowering. The fruit is ripe when the skin turns brown. The fruit can be eaten raw, cut in half like an avocado, removed from the large oblong seeds, and sprinkled with lemon juice.
- Landscape Value: Pawpaw does well in naturalized, riparian, or woodland areas. It is a flowering tree that attracts butterflies, pollinators, small mammals, and songbirds, which makes pawpaw a good addition to a butterfly, pollinator, or rain garden.
Wildlife Value
- Its flowers are pollinated by flies and beetles. Its fleshy fruits are eaten by songbirds, wild turkeys, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, black bears, and foxes. Pawpaws are larval host plants for the Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus). The adult butterflies lay eggs in the north during two flights between April and August and in the south between March and December. Since adult Zebra Swallowtail butterflies also feed on flower nectar from milkweed, blueberries, blackberries, lilacs, redbuds, verbenas, and dogbane, consider adding these near pawpaws.
Sambucus nigra
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 6
- Common Name: Black elderberry
- Growth Habit: Shrub, Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (NI), HI (I), PR (N), VI (I), CAN (NI)
- Description: Black elder is a large multi-stemmed deciduous shrub or small tree. It can grow at a rapid pace through root suckering to 8 to 20 feet tall and wide.
Dimensions
- Height: 10 - 20 ft
- Width: 8 - 20 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FAC
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist
- pH Range: 5 - 8
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 5a - 7b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: No
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: No
- Bloom Color: Cream/Tan, White
- Bloom Period: 3 - 8
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer, Black
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: This plant has been used in traditional medicine and as a food source. Flowers are also used to make wines and cordials.
- Landscape Value: It does best in a background planting, as an informal hedge and with enough room to naturalize.
Wildlife Value
- Flowers attract butterflies. Fruits attract birds.
Juniperus virginiana
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 7
- Common Name: Eastern red cedar
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
- Description: Evergreen, aromatic tree with trunk often angled and buttressed at base and narrow, compact, columnar crown; sometimes becoming broad and irregular. Pyramidal when young, Eastern Red Cedar mature form is quite variable. This evergreen usually grows 30-40 ft. but can reach 90 ft. Fragrant, scale-like foliage can be coarse or fine-cut, and varies in color from gray-green to blue-green to light- or dark-green. All colors tend to brown in winter. Pale blue fruits occur on female plants. Soft, silvery bark covers the single trunk.
Dimensions
- Height: 30 - 40 ft
- Width: 10 - 20 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FACU
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand, Shallow rocky
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 4.7 - 8
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 2a - 9b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
- Leaf Retention: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green, Blue, Gray/Silver
- Fall Leaf Color: No
- Bloom Color: Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Period: 3 - 5
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Winter
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: The heartwood is light brown and aromatic and is commonly used for cedar chests. Wood is often used to make fence posts and rails as it is naturally rot resistant. This plant was also used by Native Americans to make flutes, furniture, fragrance, mats, incense, and spices. They also used it medicinally.
- Landscape Value: Eastern red cedar makes an excellent specimen and does well in a grouping or as a screen or windbreak. It provides cover, habitat, and food for wildlife.
Wildlife Value
- Provides winter cover. This plant supports Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus) and imperial moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae. Adult Juniper Hairstreak butterflies feed on various flower nectars. Songbirds and small mammals eat the fruits.
Sporobolus heterolepis
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 8
- Common Name: Prairie dropseed
- Growth Habit: Graminoid
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
- Description: Prairie Dropseed is a fine-textured, distinctive bunchgrass with leaves that curve gracefully outward forming large, round tufts. Delicate seedheads appear above the tuft in midsummer, rising 3 ft. high. Fall color is tan-bronze. Prairie dropseed is a perennial.
Dimensions
- Height: 2 - 3 ft
- Width: 2 - 3 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: UPL
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand, Shallow rocky
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Occasionally dry
- pH Range: 6 - 7.2
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 9b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: Brown/Copper, Orange
- Bloom Color: Brown/Copper, Pink
- Bloom Period: 6 - 8
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Winter, Brown/Copper
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Native Americans used the seeds to make flour.
- Landscape Value: Use in the upper tier of a rain garden, mass planted in a meadow, as an accent in a rock garden, or as a lawn alternative. It works well to prevent erioson or can be used in the front of a border to line a walkway.
Wildlife Value
- Birds like sparrows and juncos feed on the seeds. Feeds grasshoppers and leafhoppers.
Alnus incana subsp. Rugosa
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 9
- Common Name: Speckled alder
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)
- Description: A low and clump-forming shrub; sometimes a small tree. The Latin subspecies name, meaning “rugose” or “wrinkled,” refers to the network of sunken veins prominent on the lower leaf surfaces. Height: 20 to 30 feet.
Dimensions
- Height: 15 - 25 ft
- Width: 15 - 25 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FACU
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: NA
- Soil Drainage: Moist, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 4.8 - 7.7
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 2a - 6a
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: NA
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Dark green
- Fall Leaf Color: No
- Bloom Color: Yellow, Green, Brown
- Bloom Period: 4 - 5
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Winter, Red, Brown/Copper
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Bark was boiled to make medicinal teas for treating rheumatism. It was also applied to wounds as a poultice to reducing bleeding and swelling. Inuit people and settlers extracted a dark dye from the bark for tanning and staining hides.
- Landscape Value: Planted as an ornamental at water edges.
Wildlife Value
- Alder thickets provide cover for wildlife, browse for deer and moose. Good for the Green Comma (Polygonia faunus) and songbirds.
Populus tremuloides
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 10
- Common Name: Quaking aspen
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)
- Description: A 35-50 ft., sometimes taller, deciduous tree, quaking aspen is pyramidal when young, usually developing a long trunk and narrow, rounded crown at maturity. Its small, nearly round, shiny leaves have a flattened petiole which allows them to quiver in the slightest breeze. Smooth, whitish-green bark becomes furrowed at the trunk’s base with age. Silvery catkins appear before leaves. Fall color is bright yellow.
Dimensions
- Height: 40 - 50 ft
- Width: 20 - 30 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FAC
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade, Full shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand, Shallow rocky
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 4.3 - 9
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 1a - 6b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Color: Yellow, Green, Brown/Copper
- Bloom Period: 3 - 6
- Fruit Interest: Fall
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Native Americans are known to have used this plant as a food source. To prepare it, they would cut the inner bark into strips, dry it, and then ground it to be mixed with other starches for bread or mush. They ate catkins raw, and the cambium both raw and in soups.
- Landscape Value: Attractive, Fall conspicuous
Wildlife Value
- Aspens are host to a wide array of birds, mammals, and butterflies. Seeds-granivorous birds, Browse
Onoclea struthiopteris
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 11
- Common Name: Ostrich Fern
- Growth Habit: Fern
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N)
- Description: The sterile fronds of ostrich fern are 2-10 ft. tall, once-pinnate, tapered at both base and apex, brown-stemmed, and slightly scaly. Fertile fronds are shorter, with edges of pinnae turned in to form a beaded plume persistent through winter. The rootstock is creeping, producing urn-like clusters of fronds.
Dimensions
- Height: 3 - 5 ft
- Width: 2 - 4 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FACW
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 5 - 6.5
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 8b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Spring, Summer, Fall
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: Brown/Copper, Gold/Yellow, Orange
- Bloom Color: No
- Bloom Period: NA - NA
- Fruit Interest: No
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: NA
- Landscape Value: Used as a food source and for medicinal purposes
Wildlife Value
- NA
Tilia americana ‘McKSentry’
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 17
- Common Name: American basswood, The American Sentry linden
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (NI)
- Description: he American Sentry linden is a dense shade tree with heart-shaped leaves and fragrant flowers. This cultivar is particularly symmetrical and is reported to have some resistance to Japanese beetle
Dimensions
- Height: 40 - 45 ft
- Width: 25 - 30 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FACU
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial sun
- Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
- Soil Drainage: Moist, Well drained
- pH Range: 4.5 - 7.5
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 8b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall, Spring, Summer
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Color: Cream/Tan, Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Period: 4 - 7
- Fruit Interest: Summer
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Lumber, pulpwood, veneer. Cream-colored soft wood for carving. The inner bark has been used to make rope and mats and additionally, used for tea and various medicinal purposes.
- Landscape Value: Use in a variety of garden types as a shade tree, naturalized ares, woodlands, and as a street tree.
Wildlife Value
- This plant provides nectar for pollinators and is a larval host plant for Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). You may see it during its three flights from February-November in the deep south and two flights March-September in the north. Seeds eaten by birds and squirrels. Bees and other pollinating insects enjoy the nectar from the flowers.
Quercus coccinea
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 13
- Common Name: Scarlet oak, Black oak
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N)
- Description: Large tree with a rounded, open crown of glossy foliage, best known for its brilliant autumn color. Scarlet oak is a 75 ft., deciduous tree, occasionally reaching heights of 150 ft. A somewhat pyramidal crown develops from stout, ascending branches. Bark brown with fine fissures and scaly ridges, inner bark is red to orangish-pink. Twigs are smooth reddish-brown; clustered terminal buds are ovoid and reddish-brown with pubescence near the apex, 5-angled in cross section. Leaves smooth petiole 3/4 - 2 3/8 inches (19 - 60 mm) in length; leaves are elliptic to obovate, 2 3/4 - 6 1/4 inches (70 - 159 mm) long, 3 - 5 1/8 inches (76 - 130 mm) wide, margins with 5 - 9 lobes extending more than 1/2 the distance to the midrib, base truncate, apex acute; upper surface a glossy light green, with tufts of axillary tomentum beneath, secondary veins raised on both surfaces. Leaves turn rich, scarlet-red in the fall. Catkins appear just before or with the appearance of new leaves.
Dimensions
- Height: 50 - 80 ft
- Width: 45 - 60 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: UPL
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
- pH Range: 4.5 - 6.9
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 9b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Summer, Fall
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: Red/Burgundy
- Bloom Color: Green
- Bloom Period: 3 - 5
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Brown/Copper
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Native Americans and pioneers used the acorns for food. Roasted acorns have been ground and used as a coffee substitute. The wood is used in construction for floors, etc.
- Landscape Value: The scarlet oak is a popular and has spectacular fall color. It will add interest to the landscape if used as a specimen, shade tree, or street tree. As with all oaks, it is a high-value wildlife plant, but is 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. Acorns are eaten by woodpeckers, blue jays, small mammals, wild turkey, white-tailed deer, and black bear.
Sassafras albidum
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 14
- Common Name: Sassafras
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
- Description: Common sassafras is an aromatic deciduous flowering tree that is found in all areas of North Carolina except the higher mountains. In early to mid-spring, small, bright yellow-green flower clusters are borne in 2-inch stalks on separate male and female trees. Female trees produce a blue, fleshy drupe that is borne in a red cup attached to a red stalk. In the fall, the leaves turn a beautiful yellow to orange to red. The tree is a member of the Lauraceae or laurel family.
Dimensions
- Height: 30 - 60 ft
- Width: 25 - 40 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FACU
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, Loam (silt), Sand, Shallow rocky
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occassionally dry
- pH Range: 4.5 - 7.3
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 9b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green, White
- Fall Leaf Color: Gold/Yellow, Orange, Red/Burgundy
- Bloom Color: Gold/Yellow, Green
- Bloom Period: 3 - 5
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Black, Blue, Red/Burgundy
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Many Native American peoples have historically used the oils in tonics for medical purposes. Leaves and oils have been used in food products, soaps, and fragrances. The wood is used to make furniture and boats.
- Landscape Value: The common sassafras may be used in naturalized areas or provide a screen in large areas by allowing the suckers to spread or colonize. The tree may also be used as a shade tree, street tree, or specimen.
Wildlife Value
- Fruits are eaten by eastern bluebirds, red-eyed vireos, quail, wild turkeys, kingbirds, crested flycatchers, mockingbirds, sapsuckers, pileated woodpeckers, yellowthroat warblers and phoebes, black bears, beaver, rabbits, squirrels, some eat bark and wood, white-tailed deer browse twigs and foliage. This plant supports 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. 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.
Rhododendron maximum
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 15
- Common Name: Rosebay
- Growth Habit: Shrub
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
- Description: Evergreen, thicket-forming shrub or tree with short, crooked trunk, broad, rounded crown of many stout, crooked branches, and large white blossoms. Great-laurel or rosebay rhododendron is a loose, open, broadleaf evergreen with multiple-trunks, upright branching, and the largest leaves of all native rhododendrons. The plant grows 4-15 ft. in the north, but can grow 30 ft. high in favorable sites. Its foliage is dark blue-green and leathery. Large, bell-shaped, white to purplish-pink, spotted flowers appear in terminal clusters of 16-24.
Dimensions
- Height: 5 - 15 ft
- Width: 5 - 12 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FAC
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: High organic matte, Loam (silt), Sand
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry
- pH Range: 4 - 5.5
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 7b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
- Leaf Retention: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Dark green
- Fall Leaf Color: No
- Bloom Color: Pink, White, Orange, Green
- Bloom Period: 6 - 8
- Fruit Interest: No
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Native Americans used this plant as an analgesic, antirheumatic, ceremonial medicine, heart medicine, cooking tools, decorations, and smoking pipes.
- Landscape Value: Rosebay rhododendron does well as an understory shrub planted in groups in woodland or naturalized areas, or as specimens in butterfly or pollinator gardens. As an evergreen it adds interest in a winter garden.
Wildlife Value
- It proves winter and extreme weather coverage. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees are attracted to its blooms for nectar. Members of the genus Rhododendron support the following specialized bee: Andrena (Andrena) cornelli.
Ribes nigrum ‘Consort’
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 16
- Common Name: Black current
- Growth Habit: Shrub
- Duration: NA
- Native Status: NA
- Description: A medium-sized shrub grown for its tart black berries in summer, excellent for jam; quite stiff and upright, becoming looser with age; best for a reserved spot in the orchard or fruit garden, can be susceptible to mildew so allow for good air movement. Consort Black Currant will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn’t necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.
Dimensions
- Height: 3 - 4 ft
- Width: 3 - 4 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: NA
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun
- Soil Texture: NA
- Soil Drainage: Well drained
- pH Range: 6 - 6.5
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 7b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: NA
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: NA
- Fall Leaf Color: NA
- Bloom Color: Yellow-green
- Bloom Period: 4 - 5
- Fruit Interest: Summer, Black
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: NA
- Landscape Value: NA
Wildlife Value
- NA
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 17
- Common Name: Cinnamon fern
- Growth Habit: Fern
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), PR (N), CAN (N), SPM (N)
- Description: The fronds of cinnamon fern occur in groups, rising from a shallow, black rootstock. Fertile fronds appear first as silvery, furry fiddleheads, ultimately becoming stiff, erect, and covered with specialized pinnae, which turn their upper portions into a thick spike of fruit dots - turning from green to chocolate brown. Sterile fronds bend outwards forming a vase-shaped circle enclosing the “cinnamon” fronds. The fern can reach a height of 6 ft.
Dimensions
- Height: 2 - 6 ft
- Width: 2 - 4 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FACW
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: NA
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 4.5 - 7
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a - 9b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall, Spring, Summer
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green, Gold/Yellow
- Fall Leaf Color: Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Color: No
- Bloom Period: NA - NA
- Fruit Interest: No
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Native Americans used this plant as a snack, antirheumatic, febrifuge, snake bite remedy, tonic, analgesic, cold remedy, gynecological aid, venereal aid, orthopedic aid, panacea, soup, and hunting scent mask.
- Landscape Value: NA
Wildlife Value
- It provides excellent ground cover. It has scale-like hairs (the fuzz on stems) used by songbirds to line their nests. Birds like the Kentucky Warbler nest in clumps of these ferns.
Parthenocissus quinquefolia
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 18
- Common Name: Virginia creeper
- Growth Habit: Vine
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
- Description: A woody, dedicuous vine, Virginia Creeper can be high-climbing or trailing, 3-40 ft.; the structure on which it climbs is the limiting factor. Virginia Creeper climbs by means of tendrils with discs that fasten onto bark or rock. Its leaves, with 5 leaflets, occasionally 3 or 7, radiating from the tip of the petiole, coarsely toothed, with a pointed tip, and tapered to the base, up to 6 inches long. Leaves provide early fall color, turning brilliant mauve, red and purple. Inconspicuous flowers small, greenish, in clusters, appearing in spring. Fruit bluish, about 1/4 inch in diameter.
Dimensions
- Height: 30 - 50 ft
- Width: 5 - 10 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: FACU
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Dappled sunlight, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand
- Soil Drainage: Good drainage, Moist, Occasionally dry, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 5 - 7.5
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 10b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: Purple/Lavender, Red/Burgundy
- Bloom Color: Green, White
- Bloom Period: 5 - 6
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer, Black, Blue, Purple/Lavender
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Native Americans used it for various medicinal purposes, including—but not limited to—liver aid, dermatological aid, antidote to poison sumac, orthopedic aid, menstrual aid, urinary aid, dye, antidiarrheal, and food.
- Landscape Value: Virginia Creeper can be used as a climbing vine or ground cover, its leaves carpeting any surface in luxuriant green before turning brilliant colors in the fall. Its tendrils end in adhesive-like tips, giving this vine the ability to cement itself to walls and therefore need no support. The presence of adhesive tips instead of penetrating rootlets also means it doesn’t damage buildings the way some vines do. It is one of the earliest vines to color in the fall. A vigorous grower, it tolerates most soils and climatic conditions.
Wildlife Value
- Its fruits are eaten by songbirds, squirrels, opossum, raccoons, and other mammals. Bees and other pollinators enjoy the nectar from the flowers. A larval host for several species of sphinx moths.
Quercus ilicifolia
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 19
- Common Name: Scrub oak
- Growth Habit: Shrub, Tree
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
- Description: Scrub oak is one of the smaller and more gnarled oaks in New England, rarely exceeding 12-20 feet in height. Also called bear oak, reportedly because only bears consume the bitter acorns. This hardy species is among the first to recolonize dry sites that have been repeatedly cut-over or burned. Thus, it is a valuable early-successional tree that stabilizes and shades bare soils.
Dimensions
- Height: 12 - 20 ft
- Width: 12 - 20 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: S. ME w. to NY, s. to PA, MD & in the mts. to e. WV, s.w. VA, & w. NC.
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun
- Soil Texture: Sandy, Gravelly
- Soil Drainage: Dry
- pH Range: 4.5 - 6.5
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 7a
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Fall Leaf Color: NA
- Bloom Color: Red, Yellow, Green
- Bloom Period: 3 - 6
- Fruit Interest: Fall
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Native Americans used it for gynecological aid and other medicinal purposes.
- Landscape Value: A temporary scrub type after heavy cutting and repeated fires, Bear Oak is replaced by taller pines and oaks. The Latin species name, meaning “holly leaf,” refers to the foliage. It is called “Bear Oak,” reportedly because only bears like the very bitter acorns. Bear oak is a transition species that depends upon stand disturbance. Fire promotes this species.
Wildlife Value
- The common name derives from its value to bears and other wildlife as a nutritional snack. Its wildlife value is reported to be among the highest of our native oaks, and oaks are generally a crucial group for wildlife as it is! It is listed as endangered in some areas due to fire suppression so planting it will support its declining population.
Typha latifolia
General Description
- Plant Walk Number: 20
- Common Name: Broadleaf cattail
- Growth Habit: Graminoid
- Duration: Perennial
- Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), HI (I), CAN (N)
- Description: A stout-stemmed perennial, 4-10 ft. tall, often in found dense clumps. Broad linear leaf blades. The dense, brown, cylindrical flowering spike persist through autumn before becoming a downy mass of white. This tall, stiff plant bears a yellowish, club-like spike of tiny, male flowers extending directly above a brownish cylinder of female flowers.
Dimensions
- Height: 5 - 10 ft
- Width: 4 - 6 ft
Wetland Status
- Status: OBL
Cultural Conditions
- Light: Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil Texture: Clay, High organic matter, Loam (silt), Sand
- Soil Drainage: Frequent standing water, Moist, Occasionally wet
- pH Range: 5.5 - 8.7
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a - 10b
Aesthetic Attributes
- Foliage Interest: Fall
- Leaf Retention: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Gray/Silver, Green
- Fall Leaf Color: Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Color: Brown/Copper, Gold/Yellow
- Bloom Period: 3 - 8
- Fruit Interest: Fall, Summer, Brown/Copper
Ethnobotany and Landscape Value
- Ethnobotany: Many uses including food, medicine, thatching, and glue/cement.
- Landscape Value: Water garden, Bog or pond area. Cattails can be used as an accent plant or for a thick privacy screen. Since cattails are aggressive they make great container plants when planted one per 12- to 19- inch pot. Blooming from March through May, cattails offer a unique flower perfect for dried arrangements.
Wildlife Value
- Birds use the cattail as nesting material. Rhizomes are a food source for small mammals. Cattails provide nesting sites for red-winged blackbirds, ducks, geese and fish. Nutria, muskrats and beavers enjoy the shoots and roots, while teal ducks, finches and least bitterns eat the seeds.