Welcome, welcome! We’re going to take a look at some broadleaf trees I got the chance to see. I didn’t have much opportunity to get out on my own with a field guide in hand, so there is going to be a spattering of trees, I have seen from all over central Ohio. From the Olentangy trail, Scioto trail, Cedar Bog (not a bog), Battelle Darby Metro Park, and Blendon Woods Metro Park so lets go on a digital dendrology expedition!
Tree blindness and how to treat it
So, being tree blind doesn’t mean that you can’t see the trees, it’s more that you might not have an awareness of what they are. Kind of like knowing there is a sea of green without being able to see what all is beyond the veil of it and what makes the individual pieces special. Don’t you worry your precious little self, for there is a “cure” and it is *drumroll* engaging in environmental education and learning more about the natural world around you. Sometimes you just need a little push to open up your eyes a little more. For example, paw paw trees are not very abundant around my hometown, but I have been here at OSU for a few semesters and I travel on the trails. It wasn’t until a classmate pointed out the fallen fruit on campus that I recognized what it was! I went from never seeing (noticing) a paw paw, to seeing them EVERYWHERE! Once I realized just how much I was missing right in front of me, I started to pay more and more attention with even more of an interest in discovering what else there was. Picking up a field guide, being active in exploring the parks, and utilizing the incredible resources and tools available to you can make a big difference so that you too can become someone that’s excited to see your favorite tree species on a leisurely walk.
Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
The tuliptree is most recognizable by its leaves! It is a broad-leafed species with alternating, simple, lobed leaves with the top of the leaf almost looking as though it was cut flat! The flowers have a conelike center with six greenish-yellow petals surrounding it. Twigs are tinted redish-brown, but young trees have bark that is a dark green with white spots that become grayish with deep furrows as the tree matures. Tuliptrees can get up to 200ft tall and 8-10 feet in diameter if they live long enough! Since it is September and there are no flowers on the goofy little sapling pictured directly below, I do have a supplementary photo to give an idea of how beautiful the flowers they produce are!
Fun fact: Some states refer to tuliptrees as “canoe trees” because they were used by Native Americans to make, can you guess? Canoes! (From Harlow, William M. 1957, Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 288 pp.)
Ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana)
Ironwood has alternating, simple, serrate leaves with prominent veins. The bark is a grayish color, smooth with a notable muscle-like texture. Fruits are small nuts surrounded by 3-7 pointed leafy involucres, resembling hops. This particular tree was found in a woodland area of Battelle Darby Metro Park, I do believe, and it truly is a distinctive tree! The trunk resembles muscle tissue to such an intense degree that it looks like the tree is flexing, but I guess that’s why they also call it “musclewood.” Fitting isn’t it?
Fun fact: The common names of this tree are incredibly fitting and as you expect someone with a lot of muscle to be strong, these trees fit the bill just as well (probably a bit better even). Making the wood great for the handles of tools! (From Braun, E. Lucy. 1961, The Woody Plants of Ohio. The Ohio State University Press, 362 pp.)
Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra)
Slippery Elm has alternate, simple leaves that are doubly serrated, hairy on the bottom and rough on the top. The leaves are 5-7 inches, have a creased midrib, and an asymmetric. Buds are orange tipped, lacking a terminal bud. Fruits are coin shaped samaras. The bark is a reddish brown with furrows and, if the bark is split open, you will see that the bark is red throughout. This makes the species name rubra make a whole lot more sense!
Luckily, when I came across this tree I was surrounded by a wonderful group of people that were able to guide me to the identity of this particular tree. It was growing on the edge of a woodland area.
Fun fact: The inner bark could be ground and added to water to make a throat soothing concoction! (From Harlow, William M. 1957, Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 288 pp.)
Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)
Shagbark Hickory have alternate, pinnately compound leaves. The leaflets are serrate, with 5 leaflets (rarely 7), and the terminal leaflet is notably larger than the others. The fruit is a nut encased in a husk with 4 ridges, and the buds are a velvety brown with the terminal bud being the longest. At young ages the bark is gray in color and smooth, before they grow into their shaggy bark namesake as they mature.
I have come across this tree on multiple occasions and the saplings are the ones that have given me the most trouble, but the mature trees stand out with that beautiful shaggy bark.
Fun fact: Way back in the time of wooden spokes, shagbark hickory was used for that very purpose on automobiles because of the woods strength, heft, and ability to take a shock! Can you believe that? Spokes, who knew. (From Harlow, William M. 1957, Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 288 pp.)
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
Yet another beautiful tree! Maybe not quite as impressive as those previously mentioned, but beautiful none the less! Pawpaws have leaves that are alternate, simple, entire, and capable of ranging in size from 6-12 inches long with the largest leaves being toward the tops. Flowers are purple with 6 petals and this tree produces edible fruits that are a yellowish green with numerous large seeds making it ornamentally valuable. Pawpaw fruit is the state fruit of Ohio and they are the only native custard apple in North America! If you had to think of a tropical fruit, I bet that Ohio wouldn’t be the first place you would expect them to grow.
As I had state previously, I had never actually seen them before recently, but as soon as I saw them the first time they were everywhere! The leaves really stand out in a crowd.
Fun fact: Though the wood doesn’t really have a value when it comes to lumber, the inner bark has been used for fishing nets. (From Harlow, William M. 1957, Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 288 pp.)
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Sweetgum have alternate, simple, 7 lobed leaves that are star shaped, and have serrate margins. The fruit are globose heads hanging from a long, slender stem. The bark is furrowed with lighter peaks and darker furrows.
When I first came across this tree I was absolutely amazed by the shape of the leaves and just how tightly held together the fruits are. The leaves reminded me of The Land Before Time, if anyone remembers that, with all the “tree stars!”
Fun fact: Interestingly, the lumber of sweetgum seems to be the most successful as a veneer because of its lovely pattern and ability to take stains. (From Harlow, William M. 1957, Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 288 pp.)
Something interesting to note is that the fruit only drop 2 fertile seeds, but they carry a whole lot of infertile seeds.
Chinquapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii)
Chinquapin oak leaves are alternately arranged, simple, and are, unlike other oaks, oblong-elliptical but still lobed. Leaves are narrower on both ends and broadest in the middle. Fruit are acorns about 3/4 inch long with one-third covered by a thin cap. Terminal buds are often accompanied by 2-3 lateral buds. Bark is gray and rough.
I recognized that this was an oak when I first came across this interesting member of Quercus, but that was about the most that I knew at the time.
Fun fact: It is named chinquapin because of it’s resemblance to chinkapin foliage. Not quite the most fun fun fact, but its kind of the lazy river of fun facts here on our rollercoaster ride through the roughage. (From Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network (ACSA2))
Blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata)
Blue ash leaves are opposite and pinnately compound (M.A.D.Buck) with serrate leaflets. What gives this species away once you narrow it down to an ash is the ridged twigs. The twigs have 4 ridges running parallel the length of the twig, otherwise the bark has similar coloration to black ash.
When I first came across the blue ash, the shape of the twigs had me believing that it was just a small shrub, likely with a hollow stem. Once I discovered that it was, in fact, a blue ash, I became extremely interested in the species for its unique characteristic and I am so excited to share this with family and friends the next time we’re tromping through the woods should I come across another.
Fun fact: It was named blue ash because it’s sap turns a blue color when exposed to air. Sounds pretty alien! (From Harlow, William M. 1957, Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 288 pp.)
