Tree Descriptions

Evergreens

AMERICAN ARBORVITAE: A Medium upright tree with a stout, buttressed trunk, native to Minnesota. The tree is hardy in all zones but prefers a semi-moist site. Other common names are White Cedar and Easterns Arborvitae. The largest tree, located in North Dakota, is 45 feet tall with a canopy spread of 30 feet.

WHITE PINE: Pinus Strobus is a beautiful landscape pine widely used throughout much of North America. It is a truly magnificent tree attaining a height of 80 feet at maturity with a diameter of two to three feet. It carries long, soft bluish green needles with large brown cones. Cones are 4-8 inches in length and are rather thin and never have prickles. Widely used as a screen or windbreak.

BLACK HILLS SPRUCE: Picea Glauca var. Densata is noted for its dark green foliage and conical form. It is a truly cold adapted tree and is very resistant to winter injury. Young Picea Glauca var. Densata are dense with stout ¾ to 1-1/4 inch needles.

COLORADO SPRUCE (Blue Spruce): Gorgeous, brilliant, stately. The Picea Pungens, is a pyramidal shaped evergreen with steel blue foliage. It prefers heavier soils, full sun, and clean cultivation. Picea Pungens will reach a height of six feet in eight years on a good site. The Picea Pungens is probably the most drought tolerant of all spruce. It is widely used in windbreaks or as an ornamental yard tree.

NORWAY PINE (Red Pine): Large-sized, averaging 23 - 32 m (75 - 105 ft) high, evergreen conifer. Crown sparse, oval, over a straight, limbless trunk with little taper. Branches spreading with foliage tufted at the ends, resembling a fox tail. Branchlets medium textured, orange-brown in color with orange-brown buds. Trunk bark on young trees, red-brown or pink to gray, flaky. Eventually becoming plated. The plates have scaly surfaces.

PONDEROSA PINE: Pinus Ponderosa will grow on most soils including very sandy soils and sites with very little topsoil. Once established, it is very drought resistant. With good care, Pinus Ponderosa will grow to a height of six feet in six years. It is widely used in windbreaks. The Pinus Ponderosa is the most frequently planted of the large, long-needled native pines.

Deciduous

AMERICAN LINDEN (Basswood): is a stunning shade tree with a strongly upright pyramidal form, clean habit and fragrant yellow flowers in early summer, which will eventually grow quite large. It's very adaptable and low maintenance, an excellent shade tree. The American Linden will grow to be about 60 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 30 feet. It has a high canopy with a typical clearance of 6 feet from the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 70 years or more. This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist locations. It is not particular as to soil type or pH.

RED MAPLE: The swamp or red maple is a beautiful deciduous tree that is often planted as an ornamental. It ranges from medium to large in stature with notable variation in size and form depending on its site. While this tree may attain a height of 120 ft (36.6 m) and grow 5 ft (1.5 m) in diameter under ideal conditions, it more commonly grows 40-50 ft (12.2-15.2 m) in height with diameters of 1.5-2.5 ft (3.8-6.4 cm). It has a narrow or rounded compact crown, and due to prolific sprouting, this tree often grows in clumps of stems from one stump. It also occurs as a single trunked tree and is most often grown this way in landscapes. There are a number of varieties offered on the market selected for characteristics like size and fall color.

SUGAR MAPLE: Sugar maple is a large tree, often 80' or more tall with a trunk up to 3 ft (0.9 m) in diameter. It has a large, dense and rounded crown and is one of the giants of the forest. Its leaves are opposite, palmately lobed and deciduous. Sugar maple has deeply furrowed gray bark which turns almost black when wet. The fruits of the sugar maple are called winged samaras and appear before the tree leafs out in early spring. You may have played with them as a schoolchild - we called them helicopters and dropped them from heights to watch them whirligig to the ground. There are dozens of named cultivars of sugar maple, selected for fall color, shape, leaf characteristics, size, hardiness or sugar production.

NORWAY POPLAR: Tall tree grows to 80’, 60’ in 20 years. A large fast-growing narrow crowned tree. Grows well in moist soils. Longest lived of all poplars. Needs 16’ spacing.

SWAMP WHITE OAK: Swamp White Oak is a medium sized, deciduous tree with a broad, rounded crown and a short trunk which typically grows at a moderate rate to a height of 50-60' (sometimes larger). Leaves are dark, shiny green above and silvery white beneath, with 5-10 rounded lobes or blunt teeth along the margins. Fall color is yellow, but sometimes reddish purple. Insignificant flowers in separate male and female catkins in spring. Fruits are acorns which mature in early fall. Indigenous to north, central and eastern Missouri in moist to swampy locations in bottomlands and lowlands, such as along streams and lakes, valleys, floodplains and at the edge of swamps. Also has surprisingly good drought resistance.

RED OAK: A medium sized, deciduous tree with a rounded to broad-spreading, often irregular crown. Typically grows at a moderate-to-fast rate to a height of 50-75' (often larger in the wild). Dark, lustrous green leaves (grayish-white beneath) with 7-11, toothed lobes which are sharply pointed at the tips. Leaves turn brownish-red in autumn. Insignificant flowers in separate male and female catkins appear in spring. Fruits are acorns (with flat, saucer-shaped cups) which mature in early fall. An abundant crop of acorns may not occur before this tree reaches 40 years old. A Missouri native tree which typically occurs on northern- and eastern-facing wooded slopes throughout the State. Also commonly called northern red oak.

HACKBERRY: This tree can attain very large proportions, but usually grows 40'-60' in height and 1'-1½' in diameter. When grown in the open, it develops a short bole and a large rounded crown. It has simple, elm-like leaves and can be identified by its many corky warts and ridges of bark on the trunk. It produces fruit in the form of ½"-1" purple drupes.

BLACK WALNUT: Juglans Nigra is a large, moderately growing, majestic tree. Prized for its wood veneer at maturity; used in fine cabinets, gunstocks, and furniture. Makes a wonderful shade tree, and when planted for a wood plantation, a long-term investment. Has moderate water requirements, and shows a moderate tolerance to salt and alkali soils. The Juglans Nigra will grow slower if exposed to droughty periods but is tolerant to drought.

SHRUBS/SMALL TREES

AMERICAN PLUM: American Plum is a Missouri native, small, deciduous, single trunk tree or multi-stemmed shrub which occurs in rocky or sandy soils in woodlands, pastures, abandoned farms, streams and hedgerows throughout the State. As a tree, it typically grows to 15-25' tall with a broad, spreading crown. As a shrub, it suckers freely and can form large colonies. 2-5 flowered clusters (umbels) of 5-petaled white flowers (1" diameter) appear in March before the foliage. Flowers are unpleasantly aromatic. Flowers are followed by edible, round, red plums (1" diameter) with bright yellow pulp which ripen in early summer. This species is usually grown for ornamental value and not for fruit production, however. Although the plums can be eaten raw, the quality is somewhat poor. The fruits are perhaps better used for preserves and jellies. Toothed, oblong to ovate leaves are 3-4" long and turn yellow to red in autumn. Branches and twigs are an attractive dark reddish-brown and sometimes have thorny lateral branchlets.

RED SPLENDOR CRABAPPLE: The flowering crab apples are a group of durable and highly useful ornamental trees that are strikingly beautiful in bloom. The flowers, fruit and fall color are dependent on the species or cultivar. It is of utmost importance when selecting a crab apple that disease resistant (primarily to apple scab) and fruit quality (persistence, bright color and small size) be considered.

REDOSIER DOGWOOD (Redtwig): This redtwig dogwood cultivar is a rapid-growing, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub which grows to a maximum size of 10-12' tall with a rounded, spreading (stoloniferous) habit. Denser and more compact than the species due in large part to its shorter internodes. The outstanding ornamental feature of this plant is its bright red winter stems which are particularly showy against a snowy backdrop. Tiny white flowers appear in flat-topped clusters (to 2.5" diameter) in late spring, with sparse, intermittent, additional flowering sometimes continuing into summer. Flowers give way to clusters of whitish (sometimes with a bluish tinge) drupes in late summer. Fruit is quite attractive to birds and is generally considered to have as much if not more ornamental interest than the flowers. Ovate to lanceolate, dark green leaves (2-4" long) turn an attractive reddish purple in autumn.

AMERICAN HAZELNUT: American Hazelnut, also called American filbert is a Missouri native, deciduous, rounded, multi-stemmed shrub which typically grows 8-16" tall and occurs statewide in dry or moist thickets, woodlands and wood margins, valleys, uplands and prairies. Monoeciuos (separate male and female flowers on the same plant). In spring, male flowers appear in a showy, 2-3" long, yellowish brown catkins and female flowers appear in small, reddish inconspicuous catkins. Female flowers give way to small egg-shaped, 1/2 " long, edible nuts (maturing July-August) which are encased in leafy, husk-like, ragged-edged bracts. Nuts are similar in flavor the the European filbert, and may be roasted and eaten or ground into flour, but are also commonly left for the squirrels and birds. Ovate, double-toothed, dark green leaves (3-6" long). Fall color is quite variable, ranging from attractive combinations of orange, rose, purplish red, yellow and green to undistinguished, dull yellowish green.

COMMON LILAC: This common lilac cultivar is an upright, deciduous shrub which grows 8-15' tall. Deep purple to wine red, sweetly fragrant, single flowers with white edges are arranged in dense, pyramidal, terminal clusters (panicles) which cover this shrub in late April to early May (St. Louis). Ovate to cordate, dark green leaves (to 5" long). Excellent fresh cut flower. Lilacs have been a garden favorite for years and often evoke nostalgic feelings of home and childhood. Walt Whitman lyrically extolled the lilac as "tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green, With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love, With every leaf a miracle..." in his 1865 poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd".

MOUNTAIN ASH (Sorbus Americana): also known as Roundwood, is a deciduous small to medium size tree, attaining a height of 30 feet (maximum 71 feet), and a trunk diameter of more than 1 foot. The American Mountain Ash grows in acidic, loamy, moist, sandy, well-drained, wet and clay soils. Plant in a full-sun site. These trees do not tolerate shade. Mountain Ash is notable for showy spring flowers and bright, fall fruits. Leaves are dark, dull, green in summer and yellow to reddish in fall.

ELDERBERRY: Elderberry shrubs typically grow 5 to 12 feet tall, but some can soar to heights of 20 feet. These taller elderberry bushes often appear more like multi-stemmed trees in the garden. They are also rapid growers with a spread that's typically 6 to 12 feet across.

SERVICEBERRY: Serviceberry is known for its white flowers in spring. Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) is a small deciduous tree or shrub with attractive white spring blossoms, that provides year-round interest in the landscape, as well as producing edible fruits.

NANKING CHERRY: Nanking Cherry is a broad, spreading shrub. It is grown primarily for its showy white flowers which cover the plant in early spring. The flowers are borne sessile along the stem. The 1/2" bright red fruit which ripen in early July are edible but a little tart for fresh eating. They make excellent jams and jellies. The pit is quite large in relationship to the fruit size. The fruit is relished by birds. Foliage is very attractive, dark green with fuzzy undersides; turning yellow in the fall. The plant works well as a mass planting or informal hedge. Nanking Cherry is native to northern China and is very winter hardy.

FLAME WILLOW: Flaming Willow is grown for its ornamental qualities. Both in summer and in winter, the branches retain a bright orangey-red glow. The numerous branches of the willow are especially striking against dark green evergreens. The Flame willow grows in shrub form to 15 feet, and grows quickly when

planed in wet, well drained soils.