Aesculus pavia

Photo source: http://users.telenet.be/chef/gallery.html

Photo source: http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=14799

Photo source: Mt. Cuba Center

Photo source: http://www.ncwildflower.org/index.php/plants/details/aesculus-pavia/

NAMING

Scientific Name: Aesculus pavia
Family: Hippocastanaceae
Common: red buckeye

HABITAT

Native
Habitat: Near rivers and streams, higher up on flood plains
Range: East TX -> N. FL -> NC

TREE TRUNK

Size: 25-30ft tall
Bark: Smooth, thin, light grey
Twigs: armed, long petiole, single terminal bud  imbricate, axillary buds – huge and distinctive

LEAVES

Leaf arrangement: opposite
Leaf type: palmate compound
Leaf margin: serrate
Leaf shape: elliptic
Leaf blade length: 2 to 8 inches long
Leaf venation: pinnate
Leaf color: green
Leaf persistence: deciduous

REPRODUCTION

Flowers: showy, red, tubular
Fruit: capsule fruit, large seed inside

USES

Wildlife – flowers for pollinators

Commercial – no timber quality, used as an ornamental

TOLERANCES

Fire – Low
Drought – Med
Flood – Mod
Salt – No

Acer negundo

Photo source: http://www.coloradotrees.org/feature_trees/boxelder_sens.php

Photo source: http://www.coloradotrees.org/feature_trees/boxelder_sens.php

Photo source: https://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/aceneg01.htm

NAMING

Scientific Name: Acer negundo
Family: Aceraceae
Common: boxelder

HABITAT

Native
Habitat: Rivers, creeks, edges of swamps
Range: All over North America

TREE TRUNK

Size: Up to 60ft tall
Bark: Thin, brown and grey (very green when branches are young)
Twigs: Green with a glaucous sheen

LEAVES

Leaf arrangement: opposite
Leaf type: odd-pinnately compound, trifoliate
Leaf margin: serrated to dentate
Leaf shape: lobed
Leaf blade length: 2 to 4 inches long
Leaf venation: pinnate, reticulate
Leaf color: scatter pubescence
Leaf persistence: deciduous

REPRODUCTION

Flowers: inconspicuous
Fruit: semara pairs

USES

Wildlife – small mammals and birds eat the seeds

Commercial – little pulp use

TOLERANCES

Shade – Yes
Salt – No
Fire – No
Drought – High
Flood – Med

Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Photo source: http://www.nrem.iastate.edu/class/for356/species/Fraxinus_pennsylvanica.html

Photo source: http://www.nrem.iastate.edu/class/for356/species/Fraxinus_pennsylvanica.html

Photo source: http://classes.hortla.wsu.edu/hort231/List05/FraxPenn.html

Photo source: http://www.carolinanature.com/trees/frpe.html

NAMING

Scientific Name: Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Family: Oleaceae
Common: green ash

HABITAT

Native
Habitat: Wet sites, river floodplains, swamp
Range: Canada, Rockies -> Eastern US

TREE TRUNK

Size: Up to 100ft tall
Bark: Straight trunk with high limbs, sometimes swollen base. Bark is corky, soft with interlacing braid pattern.
Twigs: Terminal buds are short and blunt. Axillary buds are very visible. *Leaf scar is in the shape of a Knight’s shield*

LEAVES

Leaf arrangement: opposite
Leaf type: odd-pinnately compound
Leaf margin: can be serrate or crenate, but mostly entire
Leaf shape: oblong -> elliptical ->olanceolate
Leaf blade length: 2 to 4 inches long
Leaf venation: pinnate
Leaf color: dark green above
Leaf persistence: deciduous

REPRODUCTION

Flowers: inconspicuous
Fruit: semara (single winged seed)

USES

Wildlife – small mammals and birds eat the seeds, beavers use bark for damming

Commercial – hardwood markets (good for furniture and veneers)

TOLERANCES

Shade – Mod
Salt – Low
Fire – Mod
Drought – Mod
Flood – Mod