Oak Hickory Forest Species List

1. Red Maple

Order: Sapinadales

Family: Sapindaceae

Genus: Acer

Species: A. rubrum

General Characteristics:

The leaf is opposite, simple, 3 to 5 palmate lobes with serrated

margin, sinuses relatively shallow (but highly variable), 2 to 4 inches long; green above, whitened and sometimes glaucous or hairy

beneath. The flower is an attractive but small, occur in hanging clusters, usually bright red

but occasionally yellow, appear in early spring, usually before leaves. The fruit is in clusters of 1/2 to 3/4 inch long samaras wit

h slighly divergent wings, on long slender stems. Light brown and often reddish, ripen in late spring and early summer.The twig is reddish and lustrous with small lenticels, buds usually blunt, green or reddish (fall and winter) with several loose scales usually present, leaf scars V-shaped, 3 bundle

scars, lateral buds slightly stalked, may be collateral buds present.

Special Adaptaions:

Maples provide cover for many species of wildlife. The screech owl,

pileated woodpecker, and common flicker nest in cavities in many

species of maple. Cavities in red maples in river floodplain communities

are often well suited for cavity nesters such as the woodduck. Riparian

red maple communities provide autumn roosts for blackbirds in central

Ohio.

2. Hackberry

Order: Rosales

Family: Cannabaceae

Genus: Celtis

Species: C. occidentalis

General Characteristics:

The simple, alternate leaves are

lance-ovate or deltoid

from 2 to 4.5inches (5-1

2cm) long and 1.2 to 2.4 inches (3-6cm) wide with a serrate margin.

The lower surface of the leaves is paler and pubescent. This

monoecious tree has perfect, unisexual flowers which

appear in the spring as the new leaves emerge. The inconspicuous, small,

green flowers are wind-pollinated. Staminate flowers appear singly or in

clusters of two to three at the base of a short, green branch. Pistillate flowers

appear singly or in pairs.

Special Characteristics:

Although principally a bottomland tree, sites with a permanently high water

table are unfavorable forhackberry; however, periodic flooding is not

detrimental. In Kentucky, 46 days of flooding during one growing season

caused no apparent damage to this tree. This species has been planted

frequently in the west because of its relative drought tolerance.

3. American Elm

Order: Urticales

Family: Ulmacaea

Genus: Ulmas

Species: U.americana

General Characteristics:

Ulmus americana is a tree with alternate, simple leaves. The two sides of the leaf base are often asymmetrical. The leaf margins are doubly toothed (each large tooth often has a smaller tooth upon it). Leaves can be variable in shape and size. Each fruit of an elm consists of a single seed, surrounded by a flat, papery wing-like border. In the case of Ulmus americana, the margin of the fruit is ciliate (straight, short hairs along the margin), but the surface is glabrous. Ulmus thomasii is our only other Elm with ciliate margins, and its surface is pubescent (hairy). The progressively upward spreading shape of the tree is characteristic.

Special Adaptations:

Since 1930, when Dutch elm disease reached the United States in a ship

ment of elm logs from Europe, it has spread to 41 States from coast to coast. The causal fungus, Ceratocystis ulmi, is introduced into the sap stream of twigs or small branches during feeding by the smaller European elm bark beetle, Scolytus multistriatus, and the native elm bark beetle, Hylurgopinus rufipes. Dutch elm disease is characterized by a gradual wilting and yellowing of the foliage, usually followed by death of the branches and eventually the whole tree.

4. Spicebush

Order: Laurales

Family: Lauraceae

Genus: Lindera

Species: L. benzoin

General Characteristics:

Spicebush is a medium-sized deciduous shrub growing to 5 m tall, typically found only in the understory of moist thickets. The leaves are alternate, simple, 6–15 cm long and 2–6 cm broad, oval or obovate and broadest beyond the middle of the leaf. They are very aromatic when crushed, hence the common names and the specific epithet "benzoin." The flowers grow in showy yellow clusters that appear in early spring, before the leaves begin to grow. The fruit is a berrylike red drupe about 1 cm long and is highly prized by birds. It has a peppery taste and scent, and contains a large seed.

Special Adaptations:

Spicebush is a favorite food plant of two handsome lepidopterous insects: the Spicebush Swallowtail Papilio troilus, and the Promethea Silkmoth, Callosamia promethea. The larvae of the Spicebush Swallowtail are easily found inside leaves that have been folded over by the application of silk; small larvae are brown, resembling bird droppings, mature larvae are green, with eyespots resembling the head of a snake. Since typically there are several broods (generations) of Spicebush Swallowtails each year, Spicebush is a useful plant for the butterfly garden, since the egglaying females are strongly attracted to it. Promethea moth cocoons, if present, can be found in the winter, resembling dead leaves still hanging from the twigs. Neither of these insects is ever present in sufficient quantities to defoliate a spicebush of medium to large size, although very small specimens may suffer even from a single caterpillar. Spicebush is dioecious (plants are either male or female), so that both sexes are needed in the garden if one wants berries with viable seed.