Part 47

Uses: Cabinets, interior finishing.

Habitat: Roadsides, fencerows, edge of woods.

Range: Nova Scotia across to Ontario, south to Texas, east to Florida.

Distinguishing Features: The Wild Black Cherry is similar to the Choke Cherry but usually is a larger tree with thicker leaves and with the teeth tending to curve inward.

CHOKE CHERRY Prunus virginiana L.

Growth Form: Small tree to 20 feet tall, often only a shrub; trunk diameter up to 5 inches; crown irregular.

Bark: Thin, smooth and reddish-brown at first, becoming furrowed and darkened.

Twigs: Slender, smooth, reddish-brown with pale lenticels; leaf scars alternate, half-round, each with 3 bundle traces.

Buds: Ovoid, pointed, brown, more or less smooth, up to ¼ inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades oblong or oval, short-pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, up to 4 inches long and about half as broad, finely and sharply toothed along the edges, green, smooth and shiny on the upper surface, paler and smooth or with a few hairs on the lower surface; leafstalks slender, up to 1 inch long, smooth, with 2 glands near the tip.

Flowers: Crowded in showy, drooping, elongated clusters up to 6 inches long, appearing when the leaves are partly grown, each flower up to ½ inch across, with 5 white petals.

Fruit: Fleshy, juicy, spherical, up to ⅓ inch in diameter, red at first, becoming deep purple at maturity.

Wood: Heavy, hard, not strong, close-grained, pale-brown.

Uses: Fuel, some interior finishing.

Habitat: Woods, along streams.

Range: Newfoundland across to Saskatchewan, south to Kansas, east to North Carolina.

Distinguishing Features: Choke Cherry resembles Wild Black Cherry, differing by its more pointed teeth along the edges of the leaves.

WAFER ASH Ptelea trifoliata L.

Other Name: Hop-tree.

Growth Form: Small tree or shrub up to 20 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 5 inches; crown rounded.

Bark: Brown, somewhat roughened.

Twigs: Slender, dark brown, often with small “warts”; leaf scars alternate, large, horseshoe-shaped, slightly elevated, with 3 bundle traces.

Buds: Spherical, pale brown, hairy.

Leaves: Alternate, divided into 3 leaflets; leaflets mostly ovate, long-pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering to the base, up to 5 inches long, up to half as wide, smooth or with fine teeth along the edges, dark green and smooth on the upper surface, paler and smooth on the lower surface; leaflets without individual stalks.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate flowers borne separately but usually in the same cluster, appearing in late May and June, with 3-5 obscure, greenish-white petals.

Fruit: Thin, flat, nearly spherical winged seed up to 1 inch across.

Wood: Hard, heavy, close-grained, yellow-brown.

Use: The fruit at one time was used as a substitute for hops in brewing.