November 2024 

White Oak

Quercus alba

This beautiful White Oak in Connecticut's Sherwood Island State Park is on Connecticut's Notable Trees list.  From its longest branch tip to its opposite longest branch tip, the tree spreads out to around 82 feet. Its height reaches about 72'.  While not the tallest Oak, its trunk reaches approximately 18' in circumference.

The White Oak produces very strong and durable wood.  Its acorns are elongated to about an inch long and are an important food source for squirrels, birds, quail, ducks, turkeys,   The White Oak is considered a keystone species because it supports over 900 native caterpillar species and a wide variety of wildlife. Its leaves have rounded lobe ends, as opposed to the red oak that sports pointed tipped leaf lobes.  Average height is between 50-80’ and large in diameter, making it a wonderful shade tree.  The White Oak prefers full sun and can handle moist to dry conditions.  White Oaks can live hundreds of years.  We have no records of when this tree was planted. The White Oak is a native to New England and much of the Eastern United States.  It is also the Connecticut State Tree.

See https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/quercus/alba.htm

October 2024 

White Oak

Quercus alba

Pictures don’t do this White Oak on the Jesup Green justice.  Up close, you feel the stoic strength of the tree in its height of at least 70’ tall and at least 155” in circumference.  Standing under it and looking up, the architecture of the enormous branches pulls you in.

A truly beautiful tree on the Jesup Green, this white oak has a trunk that is at least 155” in diameter.  Years ago our town invested the necessary funds to help maintain the health of this  old mature tree.  To maintain the health of this oak, air compression tools were used to remove compacted soil on top of the tree roots around the trunk.  Compacted soil prevents air and water from getting to the roots, thereby stunting the growth of the roots and tree.  Best practices for maintaining the health of the tree would include a wide ring of mulch encircling the trunk, without touching the bark of the trunk.  Creating a mulch ring of 2-3 inches thick extending out towards the end of the branches would help to prevent compacted soil above the roots, retain moisture and prevents weeds.

The White Oak produces very strong and durable wood.  Its acorns are elongated to about an inch long and are an important food source for squirrels, birds, quail, ducks, turkeys,   The White Oak is considered a keystone species because it supports over 900 native caterpillar species and a wide variety of wildlife. Its leaves have rounded lobe ends, as opposed to the red oak that sports pointed tipped leaf lobes.  Average height is between 50-80’ and large in diameter, making it a wonderful shade tree.  The White Oak prefers full sun and can handle moist to dry conditions.  White Oaks can live hundreds of years.  A best guess estimate on the age range of the Jesup Green White Oak is that it’s between 90-130 years old. We have no records of when this tree was planted. The White Oak is a native to New England and much of the Eastern United States.  It is also the Connecticut State Tree.

See https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/quercus/alba.htm

September 2024

Canada Yew

Taxus canadensis

Also known as American Yew or “ground hemlock”, this small, native, conifer rarely grows taller than 5 feet.  It can grow as wide as 6-8 feet when given partial to full shade and cool, moist soils.  It can spread by low lying stems rooting into the ground. Its needles are short, under an inch long. The Canada Yew grows naturally in ravines as an understory shrub.  If protected from deer, it makes a nice lower height privacy hedge. 

Although the red berries produced are toxic, in fact all parts of the plant are considered poisonous and should not be eaten, all manner of birds and wildlife eat the plant without harm.  Over the last 30 years, chemotherapy drugs have been developed from the red, shreddy bark of the Canada Yew and the Pacific Yew.  

This once prevalent little evergreen is subject to deer grazing and as such has lost much territory to deer, as well as forest fires and logging. Where it grows naturally, it has a “low concern” protected conservation status.  It is found as far west as Iowa and as far south as Tennessee and North Carolina.

See https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/taxcan/all.html

See https://www.bates.edu/canopy/species/canada-yew/

August 2024 

Black Walnut

Juglans nigra

Black Walnut trees are large, deciduous trees inhabiting much of the eastern United States.  They prefer moist, well-drained soils but are also found in wetlands and streams. The average height is between 70-90’ with the trunk of the tree between 2-4’ in diameter. Twigs of the branches are made of long, pinnately compound pairs of 8 to 23 leaves. These leaflets are narrowly ovate with a pointed tip, while the end leaf is usually missing.  

Described by some as one of the most beautiful and valuable native trees, the Black Walnut tree is a heavy, strong, yet easily worked heartwood, prized for its strong brown color and alluring grain patterns. Walnuts are eaten by humans and animals, while the twigs are enjoyed by deer. The bark has been traditionally used in tanning and the nut husks create a yellow-brown to blackish dye.

Recent threats to the Black Walnut are the Thousand Cankers Disease, “a disease complex because it involves an insect called the Walnut Twig Beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis) and the fungal disease Geosmithia morbida. These tiny beetles carry spores of the fungus on their bodies and when they bore under the bark, they introduce the fungus into the tree.  The fungus causes small patches of tissue under the bark to die.  Over time, more and more of these “cankers” form, disrupting the flow of nutrients and eventually killing the tree.  Many people have likened TCD to “death by a thousand paper cuts.” (https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/black_walnut_trees_threatened_by_thousand_cankers_disease)

Black Walnut and White Walnut (Butternut) trees both produce a green husked nut, however, the fruit of the White Walnut is oval instead of round like the fruit of the Black Walnut. Another distinguishing fact is that Butternut twigs are covered in small hairs, whereas Black Walnut twigs have no hairs.

Another tree similar to the Black Walnut is the Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima) or Tree of Heaven. Both the bark and leaf structure of both trees look similar, with up to 41 leaflets on the Ailanthus tree.

See Native Trees of Connecticut, by John Ehrenreich, Globe Pequot, 2022

See A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs, by George Petrides, Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1972

July 2024 

Bur Oak

Quercus macrocarpa

Also known as Mossycup Oak, Blue Oak and Prairie Oak, its trunk, acorn, mature height and leaf size are LARGE. Some National Historic Bur Oaks across the country have trunks between 8-10’ in diameter. That’s one trunk you can’t get your arms around!

This beauty, the Bur Oak, is a hardy, deciduous tree, often with a wide trunk, broad crown, and outstretched branches.  It is a hardwood, medium to large tree, possibly reaching up to 80-100’. A wonderful shade tree when grown. The acorns are ¾ -2” long and wide with a “hairy” or “fringe” rim around the end of the scales on the nut. The Bur Oak produces the largest acorn of all native oak trees. 

The bark of mature trees is grey and has deep ridges.  Its leaves are obovate, dark green, and have a wide, rounded tip with between 7-10 rounded tipped lobes on each side.

The majority of Bur Oaks are distributed throughout the plains of the mid-west, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Dakotas to New England.  They can grow in drier, limestone and gravelly soil, to sandy soil and moist flood plains.  

There are no known pests or threats. Native Americans used the tree medicinally for heart problems.

See Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America, by Stein, Binlon, and Acciavatti, US Dept of Ag, Forest Service, 2003.

See Textbook of Dendrology, by Harlow, Harrar, and White, McGraw-Hill Series in Forest Resources, 6th ed., 1979.

See also, Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees & Shrubs, by Dirr, Timber Press, 2012.

June 2024 

Staghorn Sumac

Rhenus Typhia

Staghorn Sumacs are short deciduous trees or shrubs growing from 3 to 33 feet high. Staghorn Sumacs are part of the Anacardiaceae family. They are widely used as an ornamental species. The leaves are toothed with around 11 - 31 teeth per leave. Leaves are compound, meaning there are multiple leaflets per leaf. Staghorn Sumac's form produces edible fruit that ripens in the summer and fall. In the spring, Staghorn Sumac’s flower with small yellowish-green flowers with five petals. Staghorn Sumac leaves can be 6 to 16 inches long and 4 to 7 inches wide. The flowers are clustered and these trees can have hundreds to thousands of them clustered at the tip of branches when they bloom.

For Sources:

And see: https://kids.kiddle.co/Staghorn_sumac

May 2024 

Balsam Poplar Tree

Populous balsamifera L.

The Balsam Poplar is a tall deciduous tall, whose habitat ranges from Alaska across Canada to Newfoundland, down south to West Virginia. They are often found in pure stands along moist soils of floodplains and river banks. The Balsam Poplar is part of the Willow family and produces catkins in the spring. 

A more narrow, sun loving tree, with a single straight trunk, usually grows to 20-60'. The ovate leaves are shiny green on top with a silvery and brown underside with a pointy tip. Fruit (catkins) from the tree ripens in May and produces seeds attached to a cottony mass that is carried on the wind. Young Balsam Poplars have a smooth light grey bark that turns rough with deep greenish, brown ridges in maturity. The flammable resin, Balm of Gilead, from buds produces a fragrant odor and is used for medicinal purposes in home remedies. The wood is desirable for carving. It is relatively light weight for its strength.  This wonderful native attracts bee and butterflies and is a larval host tree for the Viceroy, Limenitis archippus. 

See: https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/populus/balsamifera.htm

And see: https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/populus/balsamifera/

April 2024 

Eastern Hophornbeam Tree

Ostrya virginiana

The Eastern Hophornbeam offers A LOT for its size! Deer, rabbits, grouse, pheasants and Northern Bobwhites, as well as all manner of songbirds, eat its fruit (nutlets); beneficial insects alight on the pollen from the male flowers (catkins) which fertilize the smaller female flowers (catkins); and industry likes its very tough hardwood, all while only topping out between 20-50’ with a 1-2’ trunk diameter.  The Eastern Hop Hornbeam is definitely a planting to be considered if you favor adding to the biodiversity of your backyard.  In fact, it is a larval host to over 100 butterfly and moth larvae, including the Eastern Swallowtail. Talk about star power! Just don’t expect it to reach maturity quickly as it is slow growing.  

Also called, the American Hop Hornbeam, it is a member of the Birch family, and favors the under story of hardwood forests in moist soil, but will tolerate dry sands or compacted clay.  Although it isn’t currently afflicted by many pests or diseases, it is sensitive to pollution and salt, so consider planting away from streets. Its branches are known to withstand strong winds and storms due to its hardwood but it doesn’t like wet feet.  Best not to plant it in a flood zone. The Eastern Hophornbeam can handle some shade. Its natural habitat ranges from the gulf of Mexico to Canada and from the Midwest to Nova Scotia. 

See https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/ostrya/virginiana.htm 

 March 2024

Called the Dotted Hawthorn due to the small white specks on the edible red fruit, this species of Hawthorn is one of several dozen in Connecticut and several hundred in the United States. This small, precious, flowering tree has a native range covering Central to Eastern Canada all the way south to Oklahoma and Georgia. It is commonly found in woodlands and along riverbanks. The Dotted Hawthorn tops out at around 30’ but is usually much smaller.  Its bark is a pale grey or brown color and the twigs are hairy when young. Thorns of up to 3” in length can be found on the branches. Its leaves are 2-3’ long and obovate and  turn red in the fall. 

The Dotted Hawthorn is part of the Rosaceae family along with roses, apples and serviceberries and susceptible to cedar rust diseases. It needs full sun and enjoys alkaline soil. Bees and butterflies are attracted to the not so sweet smell of the flowers in the spring and wildlife shelter in its dense spring coverage. The Xerces Society recognizes the Dotted Hawthorn as a source for attracting large numbers of native bees. The leaves turn orange-red in the fall.

See https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=crpu

 See also https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/crataegus/punctata/

February 2024

Lacebark Elm

Ulmus Parvifolia

Sometimes called Red elm, the Slippery Elm or Ulmus Rubra, is a medium size, deciduous tree that can reach 132 ft. The Slippery Elm grows best in moist soils at the bottom of flood plains but can grow in dry, limestone soils. Known for its slippery feel of the inner bark. A softer wood, not a large part of lumber production.  A minor food source for wildlife. Native to much of the Eastern US but susceptible to many pests and diseases like Dutch Elm Disease.

Leaves of Slippery Elms have several secondary “forked” veins on both sides. The sides of each leaf tend to fold upward along the main vein.

See https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/ulmus/rubra.htm

Because the Tree Board is unable to locate a Slippery Elm tree in the area, we’ve provided an interesting alternative tree to plant…the Lacebark Elm.  Sometimes called Chinese Elm, as it is native to Asia, the Lacebark Elm is identifiable by its beautiful shedding bark pattern. Although it is not native to New England, it is more resistant to Dutch Elm Disease and Elm Leaf Beetle. The Lacebark Elm is also more hardy in the toughest landscape conditions, and does well in parking lots, and street sides. Indeed, it is known to grow from the East Coast to the Pacific and from Iowa to Florida.

Lacebark Elm grows well in full sun, part shade to an average height of 40-60 feet. The deciduous tree flowers in the summer and the unique bark pattern provides year round interest. Can provide good shade with its round crown shape.

See Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees & Shrubs, Michael A. Dirr, Timber Press, 2012.

https://plantdatabase.uconn.edu/detail.php?pid=515

January 2024 

Butternut Tree

Juglans Cinerea

The Butternut tree, otherwise known as White Walnut, is a medium size, native, softwood tree that rarely gets above 90’ tall.  Its habitat ranges from the southeast of Canada to the eastern part of Iowa and Missouri; and then as far south as the northern edges of Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas. While it used to be numerous in colder climates like New England, its population is severely reduced due to the fungus, Butternut canker.  

The Butternut flowers in the spring and produces a walnut-like fruit that is more oval than the Black walnut. They hang in 3-5 clusters with a light brown shell.  The nut is oily and edible but it does go rancid soon after maturity so harvest quickly. The twigs on the Butternut tree are hairy and sticky, unlike the Black Walnut.  The outer covering of the nuts were used for yellow, orange and brown dye.  Native Americans ate the nuts and used its oil for many purposes.  

Butternut trees like moist soils and do well along stream banks.  They do not like shade.  Our December scout could not locate a Butternut tree in Westport in order to get a good picture.  If you have a picture of a local Butternut tree, please send it to us at treeboardwestportct@gmail.com and we will gladly post it.  

Click on the following link into your browser for more information on the Butternut Tree:

https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/juglans/cinerea.htm 

December 2023 

Chinkapin Oak

Quercus Muehlenbergii

The Chinkapin Oak is a native, medium sized tree, with a dense population throughout the Midwest and a lighter population in specific areas of New England, Texas and New Mexico.  Its limited range is due to its love of calcareous and alkaline soils.  They tend to thrive in limestone soils given the high pH levels. 

Average height ranges 50-80’ with a 2-3’ diameter.  The sweeter acorns from the Chinkapin Oak are on the smaller side, are more oval in shape and are highly favored by birds and other wildlife.  The bark has a thin, flakier, shallow ridge form with an ash grey color. The leaves are similar in shape to the Chestnut Oak in that they are elliptical or obovate with shallow teeth at the edges; however, the Chinkapin leaf has a pointed tip and teeth.  Small “glands” sit at the tips of the teeth. Notice how the teeth tend to grow towards the tip of the leaf. The top side of leaves are greener than the paler, hairier underside.  

Calling all dendrologists!!! If you happen to have one of these very special Oaks,  or think you have located one on public property, send your pictures to treeboardwestportct@gmail.com. 

See Native Trees of Connecticut, Ehrenreich, Globe Pequot, 2022;

See Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America, Stein, Binion, & Acciavatti,  USDA US Forest Service, 2003;

See also, Oaks of North America, Miller & Lamb, Naturegraph Publishers, 1985.

November 2023 

White Spruce

Picea Glauca

October 2023 

Pin Oak

Quercus Palustris

September 2023 

American Sycamore

Platanus Occidentalis

Most easily recognized for its beautiful peeling bark of mottled green, grey, brown and cream colored patches, this lovely hardwood native grows from southern New England to Georgia and as far west as Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri.  She loves wet feet, preferring banks of rivers, lakes and swamps, but will also handle dryer city streets as well.  Ranging up to 60-100’ high, and 2-4’ wide or more, the Sycamore has been known to live up to 500 years old.  The tall straight trunks of such old trees become hollow overtime and have, in colonial times, housed entire families.  Spring brings small green hued flowers that then turn into clusters of seed balls. Wood from the Sycamore is used to make furniture, flooring, and butcher blocks.  Native Americans carved canoes out of the trunks. See Trees of North America, p. 163 National Audubon Society 2021.