We are learning and growing along with SAFF. For the first several months, we thought our loblolly pines were long leaf pines. ☺️ Luckily, we were gently guided to their true identity. We were also gifted a helpful booklet called Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States by the US Department of Agriculture-Forest Service. It was clear we did indeed have loblolly pines! We admire these trees for their beauty and hope to nurture and serve them as long as we can.
This is only the beginning of our list of trees. We will add more as we identify them.
Loblolly pine, Pinus taeda, needles are in clusters of three. Loblolly seeds are eaten by wild turkeys, squirrels and some songbirds. (From Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States booklet page 16). From Page 17 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States bookletBlack Cherry, Prunus serotina, deciduous leaves 2-6 inches long one half to three quarter inch wide. White flowers. Cherries are dark red and turn black when they ripen. They are food for wild animals and birds. (Page 88 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern US booklet). We’ve seen deer eating them on the farm cam. They are prone to caterpillar nests as evidenced by the gypsy moth nest seen here. We have an abundance of these native trees. They provide nectar and pollen for insects and food for mammals. They support 456 species. Seeds are toxic and fruit is edible.Page 89 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United StatesPaulownia. Nonnative. We have a few of these up top in the clearing on SAFF. It has been effectively procreating. The trees are known for fast growing and used for lumber. It is listed as invasive in Virginia so we will discourage it from spreading and are thinking of having the large paulownias milled to build a structure on the farm, and pulling out babies when the ground is soft and wet.Yellow Poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, far and above the most common tree on SAFF. It thrives on the farm. Deer love eating the seedlings. We have plenty for them! Seeds are used by squirrels in early fall and mid winter (page 58 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States). Many of our poplars are very small, undeveloped, and, too -crowded trees. We have begun to use these stick-like trunks to build berms to direct and slow water down on the slope. Page 59 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States Virginia pine, Pinus virginiana, a small tree, 30 to 40 feet. The seeds are eaten by wild turkeys, squirrels and some songbirds. (Page 20 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States)Page 21 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States. Eastern redcedar, Juniperus virginiana, is seen on SAFF. Spread throughout the farm. Lumber used for moth and insect repellents. Resistant to decay and rot. We will find many uses for this. Eastern red cedar makes an excellent specimen and does well in a grouping or as a screen or windbreak. It provides cover, habitat, and food for wildlife. This tree is also resistant to damage by deer. It is sometimes grown for Christmas trees. Page 29 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States.Blackjack oak, Quercus marilandica, A small sized tree (20 to 30 feet tall) generally with poor form and a bristle at the end of each leaf lobe. It typically has a short trunk with a round crown made up of twisted limbs. It provides cover and habitat and its acorns are an important food for mammals and birds. American Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, multicolored and mottled bark. American sycamore is recommended for planting on all types of strip-mined land, and it is useful in rehabilitation of various sites with saturated soils. It is often a natural early colonizer of disturbed sites such as old fields, spoil banks, streambanks degraded by channelization, and waterway disposal sites. Native Americans used sycamores for a variety of medicinal purposes. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/cs_ploc.pdfPage 57 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States Shortleaf pine, Pinus echinata, Seeds are eaten by wild turkeys, squirrels and some songbirds. (Page 14 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States). A medium to large tree with a straight, well pruned trunk, able to reach over 100 feet tall; typically has a small, open, pyramidal crown. https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=101Shortleaf pine https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=101White oak, Quercus alba, is a deciduous tree with leaves 5-9 inches long and 7-9 rounded lobes. This is Virginia’s oaks support 534 species making them highly valued and a keystone species. They are long lived, slow growing with a deep tap root. Intolerant of flooding. Although called a white oak, it is very unusual to find an individual specimen with white bark; the usual colour is a light grey. The name comes from the colour of the finished wood. The acorns are much less bitter than the acorns of red oaks, but are small relative to most oaks. They can be eaten by humans but, if bitter, may need to have the tannins leached. They are also a valuable wildlife food, notably for turkeys, wood ducks, pheasants, grackles, jays, nuthatches, thrushes, woodpeckers, rabbits, squirrels, and deer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_albaPage 103 of booklet Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States American Beech, Fagus grandifolia, Edible nuts are triangular in prickly husks that remain on tree into winter. These nuts are excellent food for many wild birds and animals Page 91 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus, a nonnative, is also unfortunately on SAFF. So far, we have seen it up top in clearings and in the forest. At least 3 clusters of it noted so far. We have a plan to rid the farm of this invasive plant. Ailanthus produces an overly abundant amount of seeds, crowds out native species with its dense thickets and secretes a chemical into the soil that is toxic to surrounding plants. Hand pulling young seedlings is effective when the soil is moist and the entire root system is removed. https://extension.psu.edu/tree-of-heaven#:~:text=When%20cutting%20tree%2Dof%2Dheaven,entire%20root%20system%20is%20removed.
This species is easily confused with some of our native trees that have compound leaves and numerous leaflets, such as staghorn sumac, black walnut, and hickory. The leaflet edges of these native trees all have teeth, called serrations, while those of tree-of-heaven are relatively smooth. The foul odor produced by the crushed foliage and broken twigs is also unique to tree-of-heaven.
Flowering dogwood, Cronus florida, has beautiful white flowers in spring. Dogwood berries are winter food for deer, wild turkeys, gray squirrels and many species of songbirds. (Page 28 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States.Page 29 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States Red Maple, Acer rubrum, the buds and samaras are a primary food source for gray squirrels in late winter and early spring. Sprouts are a favorite deer food. (Page 32 Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States. Page 33 of Important Forest Trees of the Eastern United States American Beech found at bottom of slope along waterway.
American beech trees are one of our most magnificent native trees, beautiful in every season, especially winter. They are also one of the most easily recognized of our eastern deciduous trees, with their silvery gray bark that appears cast from “molten pewter”. The massive trunks appear smooth to the eye but are slightly rough to touch and sometimes likened to elephant hide. American Beeches are slow growing but reach heights of 60 – 80’ and are known to grow as tall as 120’. This tree has massive smooth trunks with fluted bases that give way to a tracery of fine silvery branches accented with rich brown narrow pointed buds. Oval leaves alternate down the fine branches and are lined with small regular teeth along the margins and distinctive parallel veins on either side of the mid-rib. The lustrous leaves are almost translucent when held up to the sun, casting a dappled light under the trees. The leaves emerge a glowing chartreuse in spring, and light up the woodlands once again in fall when they turn a rich copper which glows against the silvery gray trunks. In winter, some of the leaves curl and fade to a light parchment color and hang on the branches, especially on younger trees and on lower branches of older trees, creating a lovely contrast with the gray trunks and surrounding forest.
In spring, their small yellow-green flowers are rarely noticed but give rise to distinctive three-sided nuts held in a ½” long prickly capsule. Beechnuts have been reported as the primary food source for more than 30 species of wildlife including: squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks, deer, foxes, and black bears as well as many birds such as wild turkey, grouse, ducks, blue jays, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, including red headed woodpecker, and nuthatches. Many of these animals cache the seeds helping to disperse them widely. In bygone times, the abundant nuts were readily eaten by pigs who could roam free under the beech trees. The nuts were also a favorite food of the now extinct passenger pigeon who descended to feast on them in such great numbers their weight caused massive branches to break off! The thin smooth bark was also once used for writing paper, and the unfortunate habit continues today with folks still loving to carving their initials into the smooth bark, potentially harming these long lived trees. The bark and leaves have been used historically to dye fabric and a poultice of boiled leaves has been used to treat burns, frostbite, and poison ivy and a tea made from the bark has been used to treat various respiratory ailments.
Sugar Hackberry found at top along edge near several large black cherries.
We found this Sugar Hackberry while we were clearing out around large pines on top at edge of clearing. It was covered in leaf cutter bees that had cut out little notches in the leaves to use for their young.
The notches cut from the leaves by the leaf cutter bees.
Uses Conservation: Sugarberry is used in native landscaping and habitat restorations, and windbreaks. Ethnobotanic: Sugarberry was used by a variety of Native American tribes. The Houma used a concentrate made from the bark to treat sore throats and a decoction made from the bark and ground up shells to treat venereal disease. The Comanche would beat the fruits of sugarberry to a pulp. The pulp was then mixed with animal fat, rolled into balls, and roasted in the fire for food. The Acoma, Navajo, and Tewa all consumed the berries for food. The Navajo boiled the leaves and branches to make dark brown and red dye for wool.
Wildlife: Many species of songbirds including mockingbirds and robins eat the fruit and use the tree for nesting habitat. It is a larval and nectar host for two butterflies: hackberry emperor (Asterocampa celtis) and American snout (Libytheana carineta). White-tailed deer browse the leaves and fruit. Other Uses: Sugarberry is used for furniture, athletic goods, firewood, and plywood. It has limited use for flooring, creating, and for wood posts. It is used as an ornamental and as a street tree in residential areas in the lower South
Saint Andrew’s Forest Farm 