Part 60

Use: Little used because of the extremely poisonous nature of most parts of the plant to the touch.

Habitat: Bogs and swampy woods.

Range: Maine across southern Ontario to Minnesota, south to Texas, east to Florida.

Distinguishing Features: This species differs from other sumacs with numerous leaflets by the absence of teeth along the edges of the leaves and by the absence of a winged stalk between the leaflets.

BLACK LOCUST Robinia pseudoacacia L.

Growth Form: Moderate tree up to 70 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 2½ feet; crown narrowly oblong, with irregularly ascending or spreading branches.

Bark: Gray or black, deeply furrowed, with numerous, elevated, scaly ridges.

Twigs: Slender but strong, angular, often zigzag, reddish-brown, with a pair of short, sharp thorns where each leaf is attached; leaf scars alternate, three-lobed, with 3 bundle traces per lobe.

Buds: Sunken in the twigs, dark brown, without bud scales, up to one-eighth inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound, with 7-21 leaflets; leaflets oval, rounded at both ends but usually with a short point at the tip, without teeth, blue-green and smooth on the upper surface, paler and smooth on the lower surface except for the veins, up to two inches long and nearly half as wide. The leaflets turn yellow in the autumn.

Flowers: In long, drooping clusters, white with a yellow spot, very fragrant, up to 1 inch long, appearing in May and June.

Fruit: Legumes up to 4 inches long and about ½ inch wide, flat, smooth, reddish-brown, with 4-8 seeds.

Wood: Hard, heavy, strong, brown.

Uses: Fence posts, tool handles; often planted as an ornamental.

Habitat: Woodlands, thickets, roadsides.

Range: Pennsylvania across to Oklahoma, east to Georgia; often planted in other regions of the eastern United States.

Distinguishing Features: The pinnately compound leaves with up to 21 oval, smooth-edged leaflets, together with the pairs of spines, serve to distinguish this species.

PEACH-LEAVED WILLOW Salix amygdaloides Anders.

Growth Form: Moderate tree up to 60 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 1½ feet; crown narrowly rounded.

Bark: Grayish-brown, shallowly furrowed, becoming somewhat scaly.

Twigs: Slender, pale brown to grayish, smooth; leaf scars alternate, U-shaped, with 3 bundle traces.

Buds: Small, oblong, brown, up to one-sixth inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades broadly lance-shaped, long-pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering to the base, up to 5 inches long, finely toothed along the edges, dark green and shiny on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface; leaf stalks up to ½ inch long.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate flowers borne on separate trees, minute, crowded into elongated catkins, appearing as the leaves begin to unfold.

Fruit: Several rather broad, flask-shaped, brown capsules up to one-sixth inch long, crowded in elongated clusters.

Wood: Light weight, soft, pale brown.

Use: Fuel.

Habitat: Along streams, around lakes and ponds.