#famousfigure

Acer platanoides // Norway Maple

Origin:  Native to Northeastern Europe and Western Europe

Etymology/Cultural Associations:  Species epithet (platanoides) means resembling platanus (Sycamore).  Common name derives from place of origin. Acer platanoides was first introduced to America by Pennsylvania botanist John Bartram in 1756.  Since then, it has been labeled invasive, as it outshades native species.  However, it remains as a common street tree, due to its hardiness and tolerance of urban conditions.  

Zone:  3-7

Habitat:  Spontaneous Urban Growth community.  Grows easily in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade. (Prefers full sun) Tolerant of a wide range of soils, as well as heat and drought. 

Mature Size:  40-50′ tall with 30-50′ spread.  Dense, symmetrical, rounded crown and shallow root system.

Leaves:  Opposite.  Simple.  Leaves grow to 7″ across and have 5 sharply pointed lobes.  Close resemblance to Sugar Maple leaves, but leaves exhibit rounder form.  Leaf stems exude a milky sap when cut.  Yellow Fall foliage, less vivid than that of other Maples.  

Bark:  Bark is ridged on mature trees with interlacing furrows.  Gray-brown in color.  

Flower/Fruit:  Small yellow flowers appear in corymbs in the Spring before foliage.  Flowers give way to paired seeds with horizontally spreading wings (samaras to 2” long).

[www.missouribotanicalgarden.org] 

[www.gobotany.newenglandwild.org]

Rheum rhabarbarum // Rhubarb, Garden Rhubarb

Origin:  Native to Eurasia

Etymology/Cultural Associations:  Rhubarb has been used in Asia for medicinal purposes for 5,000 years.  It was traded along the Silk Road, and eventually reached Europe, where it was known as “Turkish Rhubarb.”  It was introduced to America by European settlers in the 1700s, where it also became known as Pie Plant, due to its edible, tart stalks.  Thomas Jefferson planted Rhubarb at Monticello early after its introduction.

Zone:  3 to 8

Habitat:  Grows best with even and consistent moisture.  Prefers fertile, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade.  Cultivated in gardens for cooking (only stems are edible, leaves are poisonous).  Found in anthropogenic habitats and meadows/fields.

Mature Size:  2-3′ tall with 3-4′ spread.  Forms clumps on ground and spreads horizontally due to rhizomatous habit.  

Leaves:  Alternate.  Simple.  Large, heart-shaped, dark green leaves are highly toxic (oxalic acid) but ornamentally attractive.  Leaves grow up to 6-18″ long and up to 12″ across with curled edges.  Leaves die back each Winter but regrow from underground rhizomes with more leaves the following year.  

Stem:  Noted for edible, fleshy, colored stalk, ranging from deep red to pink to green.  Stalks may be used in pies, jams, and sauces.

Flower/Fruit:  Usually monoecious.  Tiny, whitish flowers form terminal panicles on erect stalks anytime between May and late Summer.  Flowers give way to angular winged fruits, each containing one seed. 

[www.missouribotanicalgarden.org]

[www.gobotany.newenglandwild.org]

Comptonia peregrina // Sweetfern

Origin:  Native to Eastern United States

Etymology/Cultural Associations:  Genus name Comptonia honors dendrologist and patron of botany Henry Compton (1632-1713) who served as the bishop of London.  Species epithet means “exotic” or “immigrant”, although Sweetfern is native to New England.  Common name refers to pungent aroma released when leaves are crushed, and resemblance of notched leaf edges to fern fronds.

Zone:  2 to 6

Habitat:  Old Field community.  Grows easily in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade, but can tolerate wet, windy conditions as well as drought and a variety of soils. 

Mature Size:  2-5′ tall with 3-8′ spread.  Does not transplant well, but can spread rapidly to form colonies once established.  

Leaves:  Alternate.  Simple.  Narrow, lustrous, leaves are deeply notched and medium to dark green in color.  Leaves grow up to 4″ long, and resemble abstracted fern fronds.

Bark:  Old stems are shiny and have a coppery, purplish color.  Resin dots appear on stems.

Flower/Fruit:  Monoecious.  Insignificant, yellowish-green flowers appear in Spring, giving way to greenish brown, burr-like nutlets.

[www.missouribotanicalgarden.org]

Juniperus virginiana // Eastern Redcedar

Origin:  Native to Eastern North America

Etymology/Cultural Associations:  Early explorers took note of Juniperus virginiana.  Arthur Barlowe and Phillip Amadus proclaimed the trees "the tallest and reddest cedars in the world" when they arrived at Roanoke Island in 1564. 

Colonial craftsmen used the wood for fenceposts and furniture, since it proved workable while also resistant to weathering.  It was also used prolifically in the pencil industry until the supply was exhausted.  

Used by Creek, Choctaw, Natchez, Kiowa, and Zuni Native Americans for a variety of medicinal purposes.  

Zone:  2 to 9

Habitat:  Old Field community.  Grows easily in average, dry to medium-moisture soil in full sunlight.  Intolerant of wet soils but tolerant of drought. Often found on limestone bluffs, forest edges, fields, pastures, and fence lines.

Mature Size:  30-65′ tall with 8-25′ spread.  Broadly conical, sometimes columnar form with dense horizontal branching.  

Leaves:  Opposite.  Dark blue-green scaly foliage.  Foliage may turn brownish-green in the Winter.

Bark:  Gray to reddish-brown bark exfoliates in vertical shreds.

Flower/Fruit:  Dioecious.  Round, gray to blackish-green, berry-like cones (1/4″ diameter) produced by female plants in Fall of the first year.  Cones attract a variety of birds, including Cedar Waxwings (named for affinity for the tree).

[www.missouribotanicalgarden.org]

[www.gobotany.newenglandwild.org]

[www.arborday.org]

Mitchella repens // Partridge Berry

Origin:  Native to North America

Etymology/Cultural Associations:  Genus name Mitchella honors John Mitchell (1711-1768), a Virginian physician and correspondent of Linnaeus. Species epithet (repens) means creeping.  Common name refers to Partridges, which enjoy the berries as a food source.  Other birds and mammals also eat the berries.  Another alternate common name is Twin Berry, because two flowers result in one berry.

Native Americans used the leaves to brew tea.

Zone:  3 to 8

Habitat:  Grows in organically-rich, medium-moisture, well-drained soils in partial to full shade.  Can tolerate some drought.  Found in bluffs, bogs, stream banks, and forests. 

Mature Size:  0-0.5′ tall with 0.5-1′ spread.  Forms mat-like colonies, as stems will root at nodes.  

Leaves:  Opposite.  Oval, glossy, dark-green leaves grow up to 3/4″ long. Leaves appear in pairs at end of stem.  Can have whitish veining.  

Flower/Fruit:  Funnel-shaped, white flowers (about 1/2″ long) appear in Spring in pairs.  Flowers exude pleasant fragrance and are followed by round, bright red berries.  Edible berries ripen in late Summer.  A pair of flowers give way to a single berry, resulting in another common name of Twin Berry.  

[www.missouribotanicalgarden.org]

[www.gobotany.newenglandwild.org]

Gaultheria procumbens // Creeping Wintergreen

Origin:  Native to Eastern North America

Etymology/Cultural Associations:  Genus name Gaultheria honors Jean-Francois Gaultier, who was the king’s physician in Quebec from 1742-1756.  He was also an avid botanist and plant collector.  Species epithet and common name reference the plant’s low-spreading habit.  

Gaultheria procumbens was historically used by colonists to make an oil which exhibits astringent, stimulant, and diuretic properties.  Various Native American tribes, including the Algonquin, Cherokee, Chippewa, and Iroquis, used this plant for medicinal purposes and to make tea.  Current uses of Wintergreen include the flavoring of chewing gum, candy, and toothpaste.  

Zone:  3 to 8

Habitat:  Red Maple Swamp community.  Grows best in organically rich, evenly moist, acidic, well-drained soils in part to full shade, but established plants can tolerate some dry soils.  Perform best in climates with cool summers. Commonly found in forest edges, forests, meadows and fields, and woodlands.

Mature Size:  0.25-0.5′ tall with 0.5-1′ spread.  “Creeping” habit due to rhizomatous characteristic.    

Leaves:  Alternate.  Simple.  Glossy, leathery, elliptic to oblong leaves are dark green and grow up to 2″ long.  Leaves turn partially reddish-purple in the Fall.

Flower/Fruit:  Monoecious.  Waxy, bell-shaped, white flowers demonstrate nodding character and grow about 3/8” long.  They bloom from the leaf axils in early summer (June-July), before giving way to edible bright red berries (3/8” diameter) that persist through Winter.  Berries have characteristic Wintergreen flavor and provide food for various birds and mammals.  

[www.missouribotanicalgarden.org]

Salix babylonica // Weeping Willow

Origin:  Native to Northern China

Etymology/Cultural Associations:  Species epithet (babylonica) assigned by Carl Linnaeus, who believed the tree to be the biblical species from Babylon after seeing its graceful profile along the Euphrates River.  More likely, the species was transported from China along the Silk Road through Asia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, before arriving in Europe by the 1700s.  Common name refers to weeping tendency of branches and leaves.

The shade of a Weeping Willow helped comfort Napoleon during his exile on the Island of St. Helena.  After Napoleon was buried under his favorite tree, cuttings from it became a valued prize among his admirers worldwide.

Zone:  6 to 8

Habitat:  Thrives in moist soils and prefers full sun.  Intolerant of dry soils. Found in floodplains and along edges of rivers and ponds.

Mature Size:  30-50′ tall with 30-50′ spread.  Stout trunk is topped by graceful broad-rounded crown of downward-sweeping branches.

Leaves:  Alternate.  Narrow, lanceolate, leaves are finely toothed and grow up to 6” long and 3/4” wide.  Leaves are light green above and gray-green beneath.  Undistinguished Fall color.

Flower/Fruit:  Dioecious.  Male and female flowers appear in silvery green catkins (1” long).

[www.missouribotanicalgarden.org]