Viburnum, Rusty Blackhaw

Viburnum; Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum Viburnum rufidulum Raf;.  A small, understory, evergreen tree with cubed, but not ridged, corky bark, V rufidulum yearly produces new sprigs of glossy green, oval leaves with a very finely toothed margin, arranged in opposite pairs along the stems, completely lacking any drip-tip.  New stems, often long arching suckers off of the main trunk and branches, have a slight layer of rusty colored fuzz, giving the plant its descriptive name. Panicles of small, white, tube flowers that are mildly fragrant, bud from the ends of new growth.  The short tube ends in a corolla of 5 petals, with five white stamen, each tipped with a yellow anther, protruding beyond the profile of the flower, giving the bunches a slightly fuzzy look. The fruit are oblong, dark blue drupe with a single seed. Viburnum cultivars are popular in hedges, both for their yearly bloom of large, showy bunches of white flowers, and their glossy, evergreen foliage. (957-958) 3/30 – 4/15/15; 3/15 – 4/5/16; 3/22/17 – 4/7/17; 3/28/18; 19 no obs; 3/25/20;

Note; terminal bunches of white tube flowers that unfold into a corolla with 5 petals, the white stamen tipped with yellow anthers protrude beyond the profile of the flowers, giving the bunches a fuzzy look

Rusty Blackhaw habit; an evergreen, understory shrub with dark, corky bark, glossy foliage, and showy bunches of white flowers that convert to oblong blue drupes

Note; the dark bark is corky and divided into cubes, not furrowed ridges.

Note; bright, evergreen, glossy, oval leaves with very fine serration along the margins, are arranged in opposite pairs along stems, completely lacking any drip-tip

Peach Tree

Peach; Peach Tree Prunus persica;.  Peaches originated in the “Mediterranean” climate of western China and eastern Persia, as the scientific name persica indicates.  Wild Peaches will sometimes grow  from pits of hybrid peaches, but otherwise they do not naturally propagate in this area.  Called “clings”, the flesh clings to the seeds of wild peaches, rather than separating easily, as commercial hybrids do.  However, the flowers and leaves look similar.  Trees have smooth to scaly bark, and the long limbs tend to droop when laden with fruit, or sometimes even split apart from the trunk.  The leaves are slightly folded, long and narrow, with very short petioles, with a pronounced drip-tip, and are born alternately along stems.  Flowers form before new growth emerges, budding from leaf scars on last year’s stems.  Dark red bud sepals open, allowing the five showy, pink petals to unfold, which like other members of the Rosacea family, sport a dome of filamentous stamen, each tipped with an anther, surrounding a central pistol.  Fruit are hairy, scored by a central cleft, and have one hard, flattened pit with a convoluted surface.  The sweet fruit are eaten by birds and wasps alike if left on trees too long.  Like Almonds, the seed inside is laced with cyanide, making them taste bitter, and potentially poison if too many are eaten.  (406-407) 3/5/16; 2/25/17 – 3/15/17; 18 no obs (drupe 5/24/18); 2/28/19 – 3/23/19 (drupe 6/22/19); 2/18/20 – 3/15/20 (drupe 6/12/20);

Peach habit; a readily branching, short tree with smooth to scaly bark.

Note; large, showy five petal, pink flowers with multiple filamentous stamen.

Note; flowers convert to fleshy drupe scored by a cleft, with a flattened, rough seed inside.

Note; alternating, narrow, deciduous, elongated leaves with finely serrated, slightly undulating margins partly obscure fruit

Note; the large fruit on short stems, bud directly from nodes along last years growth.  hard, and reddish, and covered with fine fuzz, peaches will ripen and turn soft if picked when fully grown.

Privet; Glossy Privet

Privet; Glossy/Japanese Privet Ligustrum lucidum var. macrophyllum Ait;. Much bigger, more upright, and less aggressive than L sinense (Chinese privet), this vigorous, invasive, hardy, evergreen, ornamental from south-eastern Asia is more of an understory tree than bush.  The smooth, light grey bark of the trunks, often mottled with lichens, bear large (2-4”), glossy green, pointed leaves that are arranged in opposite pairs along long (6’+) arching stems.  More upright, L lucidum is an understory tree with 3-6 trunks, and though the stems might take root if they touched the ground, they rarely do. Terminal panicles of fragrant, white flowers, each with 4 rounded petals, grow out from the axils of new leaves and the ends of last year’s stems.  Flowers convert to blue-black, oblong fruit which remain on the bush through the winter, providing spring food for migrating birds.  L lucidum is common both in the thin soils of limy high ground and the deep soils of lowland flood plains. (856) 5/28/15- ; 16 not recrd; 17 not recrd; 5/26/18; 19 no obs; 5/10/20;

Glossy Privet habit; an upright, evergreen bush with tree like trunks, often mottled with lichens, which bears large, opposite, glossy, oval leaves, and terminal panicles of showy, white flowers

Note; the trunks are smooth, lacking the knobs of L sinense (Chinese privet)

Note; opposite, glossy, dark green, pointed, egg shaped leaves with a sharp drip-tip stay on the plant for several years

Note; terminal panicles of showy, white flowers with a mild fragrance, each flower composed of four rounded petals, stamen and pistol emerging beyond the flower profile

Note; each shallow tube flower has four rounded petals, two white, filamentous stamen tipped with cream colored anthers extending beyond the flower face

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy; Poison Ivy Toxicodendron radicans L;.  A variable, noxious plant that grows as a clinging vine on tree trunks, or free-standing as a low, weak, or sprawling plant with reddish stems which sports coarsely toothed trifoliate leaves, and occasionally white berries.  Clusters of tiny (3/16”) green and yellow flowers, composed of 5 fleshy petals arranged around a yellowish disk of stamens and a white pistol, bud from old leaf scars, turning into smooth white berries, which some birds can eat without ill effects.  The glossy, compound leaves come in sets of three leaflets, each of which is deeply indented into three or five pointed lobes.  The leaves are generally small (2-3”) in upright plants, but much larger (4-6”) in the vine form.  Some vine forms have an extra set of leaves, arranged as a compound leaf of 5 leaflets. Vines attach to tree trunks with dense mats of roots, much like Virginia Creeper, but can be easily stripped off.  Rhizomes burrow through leaf litter, spreading underground.  The general rule, “Leaves of three, leave them be” was coined to warn people of the bad rash touching Poison Ivy leaves can induce.  Although there are other plants which bear leaves in sets of three (Ash, Hops, Skunk Berry), they are shaped differently.  Poison Ivy prefers acid soils around Juniper trees, reaching larger sizes near water.  Goats can graze the leaves with no ill effects.  Poison Ivy rash generally lasts two weeks, but lathering the rash with Burt’s Bees poison ivy soap can cut down on the itch and shorten the duration to days.  If exposed to leaves, wash with soap and cold water, as hot water may drive the poison into pores.  Do not attempt homeopathic remedies that involve drinking tea made from the leaves, for this has led to horrible reactions.  A few lucky individuals seem not to react to poison ivy.  Poison ivy cannot tolerate full sun, and is easy to eradicate by pulling runners out of the ground (guarding the skin with rubber gloves).  Do not burn dried plants, as the smoke can carry the toxic resin into the lungs. Leaves turn a dark red in the Fall.  (638-641) 4/13/15 – 5/15/15; 4/5/16; 3/10/17 – 4/10/17; 18 no obs; 4/1/19; 4/9/20;

Poison Ivy habit; a variable plant that may be a free standing, weak reddish stem, or a vine that climbs trees with short clinging roots, like Virginia creeper, or an Ivy, with trifoliate leaves and small greenish-yellow flowers that convert to white berries.

Note; glossy green leaves come in sets of three pointed, egg-shaped leaflets with coarsely toothed margins.  Some leaves have 5 leaflets.

Note; small spikes of greenish, fleshy flowers with five petals arranged around a ring of yellowish stamen, with a central, white pistol, are born from old leaf axils.

Note; flowers convert to greenish berries, which turn white when mature.

Note: leaves turn bright red in the fall

Hop-Tree; Common Hop-Tree

Hop-Tree; Common Hop-Tree Ptelea trifoliata L (Stinking/Wafer Ash);  Ptelea is derived from the Greek for ‘wing’, referring to the winged seeds of Elm, Ash and Hop trees.  A small, variable, deciduous shrub with reddish stems that become warty and dark grey with age, and alternating trifoliate leaves divided into three elliptical leaflets.   Clusters of small (3/16”), white, intensely fragrant, short lived flowers, each with 4 petals and 4 yellow anthers, are born in dense panicles budding from the ends of new growth.  “Leaves-of-three, leave them be”, usually warns against Poison Ivy, but the Common Hop leaves are smooth and elliptical, and wider toward the ends (spatulate), with no serration along the edge, and although strong smelling when disturbed, are harmless.  Trifoliata (three leaves) describes the foliage pattern, earning the plant comparison to Texas Ash, so it is sometimes called ‘Stinking Ash’, for its smell, or ‘wafer Ash’ for the seed shape.  Seeds are suspended in a circular wing, called a samara.  The seeds float and drift, or tumble, rather than spinning, like the samara of Elm and Ash.  The root is pungent and bitter when cut or chewed. ( 591-593) 4/13/15-5/14/15 Samara; 4/13/16; 17 no observation; 4/25/18; 3/25/19-5/4/19; 4/15/20 (samara 5/25/20);

Common Hop Tree habit; an understory shrub with corky grey trunks, reddish stems, and alternating leaves in sets of three which bears fragrant flowers that convert to oval shaped samara.

Note; leaves of three with smooth margins, the central leaflet wider toward the end, born in an alternating spiral around new stems

Note; terminal panicles of small, intensely fragrant, short lived, 4 petal flowers, with yellow anthers

Note; oval samara, seeds within filamentous ‘wings’ which completely surround the seeds, (unlike Elm and Ash samara, which have a wing on one side only, causing them to whirl like a helicopter)

Holly; Deciduous Holly

Holly; Deciduous Holly/Possumhaw Holly Ilex decidua Ait;.  A common, leggy bush that can grow to 20’ or more, the brittle knobby stems almost always arching away from the central bulbous ‘root-trunk’ of the plant.  The bark is usually a light gray and smooth, but may be mottled with darker splotches as it ages.  Sometimes evergreen, but usually losing its leaves in the fall, or in dry conditions.  Small clusters of white flowers born on 3/8” pedicles from old leaf axils along last year’s growth, or even trunks, produce clusters of bright red berries, sometimes orange or yellowish, that last through the winter.  The spatula shaped leaves, wider toward their end, are arranged alternately along twigs.  An important berry for migrating birds which eat it before they fall in the spring.  Grows everywhere, but is more abundant in stream flood basins, where it may be mistaken for invasive Chinese Privet, which is evergreen, smaller, and does not tolerate shade as well. (654-655) 4/8-4/15/15; 3/25/16-4/10/16; 3/21/17-3/28/17; 4/7/18-4/17/18; 3/29/19; 3/25/20 – 4/3/20;

Deciduous Holly habit; a leggy understory bush with many knobby trunks arching away from a central root stump, bearing spatula shaped leaves and small white flowers that convert to red-orange berries that last the winter.

Note; soft, spatula shaped leaves with smooth margins bud in an alternate pattern along new growth

Note; clusters of small, white, 4 petal flowers bud from old leaf nodes along last years stems, and even old trunks

Note; loose clusters of bright red-orange berries are born along old twigs, last all winter long

Note; American Holly, an ornamental from northern climes, also has small white flowers which convert to bright red berries which last the winter, but has sharp tips to the stiff, glossy green, evergreen leaves, and the berries are born on new growth, not old stems

China-berry

China-berry; China-Berry/ Neem/Umbrella Tree Melia azedarch L;.  It is illegal to intentionally plant this invasive, soft, fast growing, deciduous tree, which germinates easily from ½” pulpy, yellow seeds, for it crowds out local vegetation.  The dark blueish-green trunk is smooth with light furrowing when young, becoming somewhat rough when older, but never deeply furrowed.  China-berry loses its leaves in the fall, growing new clusters of long, compound serrate leaflets on the ends of long branches every spring.  Clusters of pleasantly fragrant, lavender and purple flowers, each with 5 narrow petals surrounding a purple central tube, bud from the axils of new leaves in March, making a nice centerpiece while they last.  The leaves have a strong odor, and when crushed and immersed in water are used as insecticide elsewhere.  In some places the fruit is pulped in water to make medicine for round worms, but the fermented fruit itself can be poisonous. Medicinal uses refer to the tree as Neem, or Arobaini (40 in Arbic), for the reputed 40 applications, while those who plant it for shade refer to is Umbrella Tree for its rounded canopy.  Common in disturbed forests, especially where there is ample moisture. (602) 4/16/15-5/10/15; 4/10/16; 3/20/17-4/15/17; 4/15/18-5/10/18; 4/21/19; 4/9/20 – 5/9/20;

China-berry habit; a fast growing, invasive tree with soft wood, relatively smooth, greenish bark, and a rounded, open canopy, bearing fragrant, lavender flowers which convert to oval, yellow berries.

Note; clumps of coarsely toothed, compound pinnate leaves, each leaflet deeply toothed, are arranged in an alternating spiral, budding from the ends of long stems each spring,

Note; panicles of attractive, if small, heavily fragrant, lavender and purple flowers bud from this the axillary nodes of this year’s leaves

Note; five narrow, lavender petals surrounding a frilled, purple central tube that houses pistol and stamen, tipped with cream anthers

Note; round, green fruit surrounding a single seed, which turns yellow when ripe, falling in the spring

Note; fall colors yellow, with yellow berries

Yucca, Torrey Yucca

Torrey Yucca Yucca torreyi.  Rising from a fibrous corm, which divides both under the ground and above, this member of the Amaryllis family first forms a flattened, untidy rosette of narrow, fibrous, lance-like leaves, up to 12” long.  The pithy flower stem can grow very tall, branching to form a complex spray, unlike Y pallida, which remains as an unbranched spike, bearing flowers 2-4” across that, unusual for yucca, open fully and face outward, rather than drooping.  Each flower has 6 identical, elliptical petals arranged around a fleshy pistol, and 6 narrow stamen with a conspicuous, outward crook.  The narrow pods are more bean like than the peanut shaped pods of Y pallida.  Y torreyi is more common in drier parts of West Texas, but a few are attested in the ILC area.  Amerinds once used the fibrous leaves for cordage, after scraping the thin layer of pulp off, ate the corms and young flower stalks, and used to saponin laced corm to create a sudsing soap to bathe, or wash their hair in.  (55)  5/10/15-5/25/15; 5/1/18-5/20/18; 5/5/19; 5/1/20 – 5/15/20;

Torrey Yucca habit; growing from a thick, fibrous corm, from which sprout multiple trunk like stems, this yucca forms an untidy rosette of narrow, fibrous, lance like leaves which produce a thin, branching flower panicle bearing large, cream flowers that open fully

Note; Torrey’s Yucca is more slender and taller than Pale Yucca, and the fibrous leaves less tidy looking

Note; the large, cream flowers open fully, the 6 petals broader than the sepals, all surrounding a fleshy pistol and 6 slender stamen

Note; Torrey’s flowers are more slender, more upright, and open wider than Pale Yucca flowers

Sorrel, Violet Sorrel

Violet Sorrel Oxalis violacea. Growing from underground, nut like corms, this sorrel sends up long (6-8”), soft stems, each supporting one large, green or burgundy leaf with 3 squared off, triangular lobes 1.5” or more across.  The squared lobes droop, or tent around the stem.   The slender flower stalks arise from the base of leaves, sending up a single, dense, umbel cluster of deep, cup shaped flowers, white to light pink.  Mostly grown in flower gardens, O violacea tastes like ascorbic acid.  The burgundy leaves make a good addition to salads, or gardens.  Does not grow naturally on the ILC (298) 4/20/15-; 3/1/16; 2/18/17-?; 3/5/18; 2/25/19; 2/20/20;

Violet Sorrel habit; dense clumps of triangular, deep purple leaves that tent around the long stems, bearing umbels of white to pink flowers

Note; dense clumps of deep burgandy to purple leaves, divided into three triangular leaflets, with zonal mottling along the midrib

Note; dense umbels of deep, white to pink flowers, the 5 petals fusing into a tube marked by greenish base.

Note yellow pistols and stamen deep in the throat.

Sorrel, Lavender Sorrel

Lavender Sorrel Oxalis violacea.  Growing from nodules or corms up to 2” underground, the visible portions of this plant are large green, 3 lobed, drooping leaves and spikes of lavender tube flowers.  Leaves, 1” or more across, which are deeply cleft, each lobe looking like a green valentine, are born singly.  Unlike Wood Sorrel, which bears flowers singly, O violacea spikes bear umbels of pink-lavender flowers, each nearly ¾” across.  The small clusters (3-5), of deep, cup shaped flowers, ranging from white to light pink, are a shallow tube opening to a corolla of five whorled petals.  The pistols and stamen stay deep within the tube.  Mostly grown in flower gardens, where it spreads primarily by division of the corms.  The stems taste like vitamin C (ascorbic acid), making a good addition to salads. Although it is not native to the ILC it has escaped cultivation, now occurring along paths in the woods wherever the corms might have been dropped. (298) 4/20/15-; 3/1/16; 2/18/17- ; 3/5/18; 3/5/19; 3/28/20

Lavender Sorrel habit; Clumps of green, three lobed leaves rising from an underground corm, bearing sparse, umbel clusters of lavender tube flowers that open into a corolla of 5 petals

Note; the tube striped with deeper purple, yellow anthers contained deep within the tube.

Note; three lobed leaves, born singly on long stems, are divided into two lobes, like green valentines.