Now You Tree Me, or Maybe You Don’t?
This week in order to spread our metaphorical tree identification wings and fly, I walked past hundreds of different tree species. For sake of time, I’ve brought 8 of those back with me in photograph form, so that I can share all the fun wild Ohio plant information here with you! The inspiration for this week’s multiple nature walks was from Gabriel Popkin’s 2017 NYT article titled “Cure Yourself of Tree Blindness”. To start, I highly recommend you read the article which I’ve linked here but in essence the takeaway of the article is that we as a society have become ignorant and ‘blind’ to the wondrous world in the woods (and other habitats). That is not to say that the opinion piece is trying to convince everyone to become tree experts, but rather at least spark a little flame inside the readers to become more curious about the living planty beings that make our lives possible. With the internet it’s become so easy to acquire all kinds of information, including identifying and seeing all the extravagant different plants around the world, and reading plant blogs like the very one you’re on right now! But no online experience can truly substitute being ‘lost’ out in the middle of nature. And while you’re out there, maybe you’ll recognize a few new familiar faces (branches? leaves? trunks?) after seeing them below!
Mossycup Oak (Bur Oak)
(Quercus macrocarpa)
Leaf arrangement and complexity: Alternate & Simple
Other identifying traits: Acorn cups having a fringe that is moss-like.
Site and habitat: Goodale Park (one of the few wild found trees in the park). Habitat was out in the open field which aligns with their usual locations outside of dense forest canopies. Rich woods and prairie boarders according to the Field Guide. Rested close to the parking lot this tree seemed to wave “Hello, welcome to the park! Please respectfully enjoy my fellow tree friends and the beautiful space we occupy!”
The Mossycup Oak is a White Oak variant. There are over 19 different species that rely upon Oaks like the Mossycup, according to the Field Guide, including several squirrel and chipmunk species, red and gray foxes, black bears, and Ohio’s whitetail deer! According to the Iroquois Medical Botany’s James Herrick, the Mossycup Oak’s bark chip infusion was once used as an antidiarrheal drug.
Yellow Birch
(Betula lutea)
Leaf arrangement and complexity: Alternate & Simple
Other identifying traits: Serrated leaves, broken twigs give off wintergreen scent.
Site and habitat: Goodale Park (one of the few wild found trees in the park). Habitat was also out in the open field. This to me is a little abnormal as its usual habitat is near bodies of water in cooler climates, avoiding dry areas such as a large open grassy park. Moist forests as per the Field Guide. Perhaps brought to the park against its will, the tree does not necessarily invite parkgoers with the same enthusiasm as the Bur Oak across the path.
According to the Field Guide, oil of wintergreen is found in the sap and leaves. Hamel et al. documented the Cherokee Natives using Yellow Birch as Fiber and a building material.
Silver Maple
(Acer saccharinum)
Leaf arrangement and complexity: Opposite & Simple
Other identifying traits: Toothed leaves lobed, the terminal leaf lobe base is narrowed.
Site and habitat: Antrim Park along the lake path. Its usual habitat aligns with this as it is often seen in wetlands or along waterways. According to the field guide riverbanks and floodplains. This particular tree was leaning over the gravel path to soak in the extra sunshine and to offer anyone taking a lap around a moment of shade to cool off.
The field guide says its sap is sweet but less sugary than the Sugar Maple, so perhaps an alternative pancake topper if you can find some! I’d love to do a taste test comparing syrups coming from different species saps, but I’d need a lot of big buckets since it takes around 40 liters of sap to make 1 liter of syrup. The Omaha tribe has been documented utilizing the twigs and bark in a black dye typically for coloring tanned hides.
Honey Locust
(Gleditsia triacanthos)
Leaf arrangement and complexity: Alternate & Pinnately Compound
Other identifying traits: Stout branched out thorns several inches long, although thornless varieties have been observed.
Site and habitat: Antrim Park along the lake path. With a wide range on the East coast and Midwest (where Ohio sits right in the middle) this Honey Locust likely feels right at home with organically moist soil along the lake and no large forest canopies around it to block out the sun’s light. According to the Field guide woods and fields. Ohio’s humid climate also is a plus for this tree’s preferences.
Although it may still be a wild Ohio tree, the Honey Locust I spotted may not be as ancestral to the emergence of the species since there were little to no thorns present from my observations, which is commonly a cultivated variety according to the Field guide. It’s also stated that the thorns have been used as spear points, pins, and animal traps (ouch!). The Delaware tribe would use the bark combined with a few other species to make an infusion used to treat sore throats.
Red Mulberry
(Morus rubra)
Leaf arrangement and complexity: Alternate & Simple
Other identifying traits: Fine toothed leaves, rough “sandpaper” texture from above. Lobed and unlobed leaves appearing on the same tree.
Site and habitat: Antrim Park along the lake path. Found from the East Coast to the Eastern edge of the Great Plains and southern Florida, Ohio is definitely a comfortable climate for the Red Mulberry found. According to the field guide fertile soil. In addition, the Mulberry is in a habitat along the lakefront which may be a little closer to water sources than typical for the species, although I think the tree would agree that it’s better to be safe than sorry for having enough water to drink.
The field guide lets us know the fruits can be enjoyed by squirrels and multiple bird species as well as ourselves! That’s right, if only I had known this over the summer, but it seems like I’m way too late as I couldn’t spot any fruits from the ground. The Rappahannock Tribe have used Red Mulberry and rubbed the sap on skin to treat ringworm.
Shingle Oak
(Quercus imbricaria)
Leaf arrangement and complexity: Alternate & Simple
Other identifying traits: Bristle tipped leaves, but lacking lobes or teeth, hairy underneath
Site and habitat: Antrim Park along the lake path. Often found in the uplands as long as the drainage is adequate, this Shingle Oak was valiantly keeping watch over the two benches nearby to ensure any park patrons needing a rest can do so while avoiding the sun’s heat. According to the Field Guide fertile woods. Interestingly, this tree seemed to tell me that it had a history of children climbing it, and that did not please this tree (although I’m still learning the ways of tree communication).
As a Red Oak variant, it’s acorns acid can be removed by grinding and washing with hot water, which the Natives used to practice when eating them. Almost exclusively used by the Cherokee Tribe, the Shingle Oak has a wide variety of medical uses, often as an oral aid with mouth sores and other ailments of the throat/mouth.
European Honeysuckle
(Lonicera xylosteum)
Leaf arrangement and complexity: Opposite & Simple
Other identifying traits: Flowers either pink, yellowish, or white and fruits red. Papery scales present at twig bases.
Site and habitat: Antrim Park wooded path. Often found in the thickets of wooded areas, according to the Field Guide Escaped to Thickets, the honeysuckle that I stumbled across seemed a little standalone, but this was very likely due to the unnatural pathing created in the nearby woods by humans. Although technically a shrub and not a tree, it is still a wild Ohio plant, and it was enough to fool me into assuming I was looking at a tree. To expand your minds of the plant filled world around us, and to show an example of myself being ‘Tree Blind’ I have included it in this post as perhaps sort of ‘tree-imposter’.
The Honeysuckle can easily be confused with some hydrangea species when not in bloom to make differences apparent (especially during winter). The Costanoan Tribe has utilized the honeysuckle with a decoction of the plant as a bath aiding in treating swollen feet.
Pumpkin Ash
(Fraxinus tomentosa)
Leaf arrangement and complexity: Opposite & Pinnately Compound
Other identifying traits: Leathery leaf texture, not toothed but wavy-edged. Leafstalks and twigs velvety-haired.
Site and habitat: Strip of woods behind my Dublin apartment complex. Usually located in swamps and floodplains according to the Field Guide, but also found in wetlands, and other wetter habitats, the appearance of the Pumpkin Ash right outside my front door (or right below considering I’m on the top floor) came as a surprise. I wouldn’t describe this short strip of woods as overly moist, but the soil underneath may have some hidden water reservoir that allowed this beautiful tree to survive and thrive, or that’s my running hypothesis as of now.
Their flowers are a pollen source for bees in the area, as well as their twigs being eaten by deer according to the Field Guide. The Ojibwa Tribe has utilized many species of Ash as fibers for snow gear such as snowshoes or sled materials.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully these photos, descriptions, and fun facts have scratched a little bit of that itch to get out into the natural world, but if you’re left not yet fully satisfied then I urge you to get up, go out, and do some tree sightings of your own! You never know what you might stumble across…
Citations
All references to the “Field Guide” seen on this page refer to this first citation by George A. Petrides:
Petrides, George A. 1972, Trees and Shrubs of Northeast and North Central US and Southeast and South Central Canada (Peterson Field Guide). Houghton Miflin, pages (51, 62, 73, 97, 104, 120, 126, 152, 206, 217, 221, 233, 320, 324, 330, and 338)
Citations for the Native American Tribe Herbal/Plant Use Information:
Bocek, Barbara R., 1984, Ethnobotany of Costanoan Indians, California, Based on Collections by John P. Harrington, Economic Botany 38(2):240-255, page 24
Gilmore, Melvin R., 1919, Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region, SI-BAE Annual Report #33, page 100
Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses — A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., page 25 and 46
Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, page 303
Smith, Huron H., 1932, Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians, Bulletin of the Public Museum of Milwaukee 4:327-525, page 420
Speck, Frank G., R.B. Hassrick and E.S. Carpenter, 1942, Rappahannock Herbals, Folk-Lore and Science of Cures, Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science 10:7-55., page 30
Tantaquidgeon, Gladys, 1972, Folk Medicine of the Delaware and Related Algonkian Indians, Harrisburg. Pennsylvania Historical Commission Anthropological Papers #3, page 30