Part 45

Uses: Pulpwood, fuel, interior finishing.

Habitat: Swamps, low woods.

Range: Connecticut to southern Michigan, southwestward across southern Illinois to central Louisiana, east to northern Florida.

Distinguishing Features: The broad, heart-shaped, toothed leaves readily distinguish the Swamp Cottonwood from other trees in Illinois.

QUAKING ASPEN Populus tremuloides Michx.

Growth Form: Medium tree up to 50 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 2 feet; crown rounded or occasionally spreading.

Bark: Pale yellow-green or white, becoming grayish and divided into dark scaly ridges at maturity.

Twigs: Pale yellow-green or white, slender, smooth; leaf scars alternate, crescent-shaped, each with 3 bundle traces.

Buds: Lance-shaped, short-pointed, smooth, sticky, up to ⅓ inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades ovate to nearly round, short-pointed at the apex, rounded at the base, up to 4 inches long, nearly as broad, with many small round teeth along the edges, green, smooth, and shiny on the upper surface, not shiny on the lower surface; leafstalks to 3 inches long, smooth, flat. The flat leafstalks allow for the leaves to tremor at the slightest wind.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate borne on separate trees, the staminate crowded in catkins up to 4 inches long, the pistillate crowded in catkins up to 6 inches long.

Fruit: Narrow, flask-shaped, green capsules up to ¼ inch long, grouped in elongated clusters, containing numerous seeds with cottony hairs attached.

Wood: Light weight, soft, pale brown.

Use: Pulpwood.

Habitat: Edge of woods, thickets.

Range: Newfoundland to Alaska, south to California and New Mexico and Texas, east across Missouri and Tennessee to New Jersey.

Distinguishing Features: The whitish trunk and the ovate, trembling leaves serve to distinguish this species.

WILD PLUM Prunus americana Marsh.

Other Name: American Plum.

Growth Form: Small tree to 20 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 8 inches; crown broad, often irregular.

Bark: Dark gray to brown, rough and scaly.

Twigs: Slender, brown, speckled with many dots, smooth or hairy; leaf scars alternate, half-round, elevated, with 3 bundle traces.

Buds: Ovoid, pointed, reddish-brown, smooth or hairy, up to ¼ inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades oval to ovate, pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering to the base, up to 4 inches long and less than half as broad, finely toothed along the edges, the teeth not glandular, green and smooth or hairy on the upper surface, paler and smooth or hairy on the lower surface; leafstalks slender, up to 1 inch long, sometimes with 1 or 2 glands near the upper end, smooth or hairy.

Flowers: Showy, several in a cluster, up to 1 inch across, with 5 white or pinkish petals, appearing before or as the leaves begin to unfold.

Fruit: Spherical or nearly so, up to 1 inch in diameter, red or covered with a whitish wax, juicy, sweet, 1-seeded.

Wood: Hard, close-grained, brown.

Uses: The fruits are used in making jelly and preserves.