Jack Oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis)
Identification: Leaves lobed with bristle tips, alternate, simple leaves, hairless twigs, lower branches point downwards.
Location: Whetstone Park, ravine, 100 feet from hillside.
Interesting Facts: Jack Oaks are very similar to four other species of oak, each best identified by their acorn cups.
The largest known specimen grows in Bay Village, Cuyahoga County, Ohio (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).
American Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)
Identification: Long-pointed course-toothed leaves, base uneven, alternate, simple leaves, rough hairy foliage, hairless twigs, pith chambered, light grey bark.
Location: Whetstone Park, ravine, 10 feet from hillside.
Interesting Facts: Fruits (“sugarberries”) eaten by numerous birds.
Wood is used for furniture, athletic goods, boxes and crates, and plywood (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).
Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)
Identification: Trunk bark scaly, fruit husks with weak thorns, opposite, palmate leaves, twigs emit foul odor when broken, bud scales ridged.
Location: Whetstone Park, ravine, 10 feet from hillside.
Interesting Facts: The flowers are yellow and bell shaped, similar to that of a dwarf buckeye.
The seeds and young foliage are poisonous, and the toxic bark was formerly used medicinally (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Identification: Five-lobed leaves, opposite, simple leaves, pale underside of foliage, leaves typically hairless, buds slender and sharp-pointed, dark brown trunk bark.
Location: Whetstone Park, ravine, 10 feet from hillside.
Interesting Facts: One of the most valuable hardwood trees, wood is used for furniture, and sap is used for maple syrup.
Some trees develop special grain patterns, including birdseye maple with dots suggesting the eyes of birds (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).
Common Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
Identification: Large toothless leaves, long deep-brown hairy end buds, alternate, simple leaves, bark dark and smooth.
Location: Whetstone Park, ravine, 30 feet from hillside.
Interesting Facts: Fruits can be eaten raw or made into desserts.
The name Common Pawpaw is from the Arawakan name of Papaya, an unrelated tropical American fruit (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).
Boxelder (Acer negundo)
Identification: Green or purplish glossy twigs, leaflets 3-5, some with teeth (three pointed) and some without, opposite, pinnate leaves.
Location: Whetstone Park, ravine, 50 feet from hillside.
Interesting Facts: Soft white wood is used for making boxes.
Although classified as a maple, it is identifiable by their pinnately compound leaves (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).
White Ash (Fraxinus americana)
Identification: Brown side buds, twigs round and hairless, leaflets 5-9, white or pale underside or leaves, can be toothed or not, trunk bark dark, opposite, pinnate leaves.
Location: Whetstone Park, ravine, 10 feet from hillside.
Interesting Facts: Most valuable and largest native ash, its campfire fuel ranks with oak and hickory.
The wood of White Ash is particularly suited for making baseball bats, tennis racquets, hockey sticks, polo mallets, oars, and playground equipment (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).
White Mulberry (Morus alba)
Identification: Hairless leaves, red-brown buds, yellow-brown bark, whitish tasteless fruits, fine-toothed leaves, alternate, pinnate leaves.
Location: Whetstone Park, ravine, 20 feet from hillside.
Interesting Facts: Introduced by British pre-revolution who unsuccessfully established a silkworm industry.
White Mulberry twigs and bark tend to be more orange than Red Mulberry (Minnesota Wildflowers).
Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Identification: Notch-tip, 4 pointed hairless leaves, pairs of large leafy stipules attached to twigs, twigs hairless with completely encircling stipule scars, two bud scales, light gray bark, alternate, simple leaves.
Location: Cedar Bog, near small creak.
Interesting Facts: Widely known as Yellow Poplar, it is not anywhere related to poplars.
Tulip Trees are the tallest of North American hardwoods, growing up to 100 feet or more (Arbor Day Foundation).
Red Elm (Ulmus americana)
Identification: Single or divided trunk, leaves rough and sandpapery above, hairy beneath, twigs are rough hairy, buds red and hairy, alternate, pinnate leaves.
Location: Battelle Darby Metro Park, semi-dense woods.
Interesting Facts: Also known as Slippery Elm, the name comes from the slimy inner bark.
Red Elms are tolerant to the Black Walnut, which produces chemicals and releases them into the soil (University of Minnesota).