Phellodendron amurense var. amurense ◘ Amur Cork Tree

Native region: Northern China, Korea, Japan

Height: 30′-45′

Spread: 30′-60′

Habitat: Grows in fertile, humusy, medium moisture, well-drained loams in full sun. Prefers consistently moist soils, but established trees tolerate some drought. Tolerates many urban air pollutants.

Hardiness zone: 3 to 7

Flowers: Non-showy, yellowish green flowers appear in panicles in May-June.

Leaves: Leaves are compound, odd-pinnate, yellowish green to green, and have 5-11 leaflets (each leaflet can be up to 4 1/2” long). Foliage turns a pale yellow in fall.

Fruit: Pollinated flowers on female trees give way to fleshy pea-sized fruits (1/2” diameter drupes) which turn black in fall and persist well into winter.

Sources:

Robinia pseudoacacia ◘ Black Locust

Plant community: Old Field

Native region: Eastern and central United States

Height: 30-50′

Spread: 20-35′

Habitat: Grows in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates some light shade, but avoid shady locations. Tolerates a wide range of soils including sandy or nearly barren ones. Best performance is in moist, organically rich loams. Has a good tolerance to drought and is capable of nitrogen fixation.

Hardiness zone: 3 to 8

Flowers: Fragrant wisteria-like white flowers form in clusters (up to 8” long) and bloom in late spring.

Leaves: Pinnately compound dark blue-green leaves, with each leaf having up to 23 lance-shaped to ovate leaflets.

Seeds: Flat, purple-brown seedpods (up to 4-5” long).

Wildlife Benefits: 

This tree is highly susceptible to the locust borer (often fatal) and locust leaf miner (browns foliage). Also susceptible to caterpillars, weevils, scale and whiteflies.

Sources: