Norma Stillwell

“ This simple key and guide to the woody plants—trees, shrubs and woody vines—which grow naturally in Dallas County, Texas, has been prepared to help beginners of any age in getting better acquainted with these leafy neighbors and friends. Woody plants offer one of the best places to begin a study of nature: first because there are but few kinds to learn in comparison with many other living forms—about 90 of these plants against estimated numbers for the county of about 300 birds, 500 to 1000 other flowering plants and over 25,000 insects ”

“ AROMATIC OR ILL-SCENTED SUMAC (Rhus trilobata and var. aromatica) or skunk bush: a spreading, low to medium shrub common in dry upland woods. Leaves: compound, of three leaflets, teeth or lobes usually rounded, 1⁄2 to 11⁄2 inches long; both plants and opinions vary as to whether leaves are aromatic or ill-scented when crushed. Twigs: are noticeable in winter for their cone-shaped buds. Flowers: in March, small, yellow. Fruit: small clusters of red stone fruits covered with white hairs, ripe in midsummer, decorative. ”

“ Black or Red Oak Group: Fruit requires two years to mature, leaves have sharp points on lobes.
217. WATER OAK, duck oak, or pin oak (Quercus nigra L.) Habitat: low, sandy land, rare. Leaves: usually about 21⁄2 inches long and 11⁄2 wide, narrow toward base, usually broader toward tip, shallowly lobed toward tip or entire, smooth and dark green above, tardily deciduous. Bark: rather smooth, reddish brown. Fruit: acorns usually solitary, very short-stalked, light brown, 1⁄2 to 2⁄3 inch long. Wood: heavy, hard, strong, little used except for fuel and crossties. ”

“ CHINQUAPIN OAK or chestnut oak (Quercus muehlenbergii Engelm.) Habitat: various, prefers limestone soil, common. Leaves: similar to preceding species but more sharply notched. Bark: thick, usually silvery gray, large, loose scales on surface. Acorns: smaller than preceding and have very short stems. Branches: typically fewer, larger and more irregular than preceding. Wood: hard, strong, close-grained, durable, used for cooperage, furniture, crossties, fuel. ”

“ Flowers: small, inconspicuous, yellowish or greenish, dioecious, in umbels, six “petals”. Fruit: black, shining or covered with a bloom, round or nearly so, size of small peas. This vine’s greatest virtue seems to be that it offers food and shelter to the birds.
205. YUCCA, bear-grass, Spanish dagger (Yucca species) more than one species in the county; abundant in meadows and along roadsides. Leaves: grasslike but large, thick and tough, in rosettes, often with white threads on margins; sharp-pointed. Woody stem: very short in our species. ”

“ Fruit: nearly cylindrical seed with a 41 thin wing attached, oar-shaped, 1 to 21⁄2 inches long, in dense clusters. Wood: heavy, hard, tough, strong, brown; valuable for tool handles, oars, furniture and interiors; valued as a shade tree.
275. GREEN ASH (Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. lanceolata Sarge.) prefers bottom lands. Leaves: differ from white ash in the leaf color which is light or bright green on both sides, margins more sharply serrate and serrations extending nearly to the base, leaflets narrower. Fruit: wings extend more than half way along two sides of the seed portion. ”

“ Scientific names are included here, not with any thought that they should be memorized or that they need be used in ordinary conversation, but to avoid the possibility of misunderstandings such as often arise from some common names which are used by different persons to designate different plants. Many plants have more than one common name and often one common name is used for two or more quite unlike plants. ”

“ Habitat: similar to red elm, less common. Leaves: similar except usually rather smooth above and downy below, veins prominent below and parallel from midrib to leaf edge. Twigs: brownish and smoother, buds without rusty hairs, not, or very slightly, mucilaginous. Cross section of BARK shows alternate layers of brown and white; surface dark gray with irregular, flat-topped ridges. Flowers: very short-stalked. Seed: wings notched, with incurving tips. Wood: hard, strong, tough, difficult to split, coarse-grained, used for wheel-hubs, saddletrees, floors, boats. ”

“ BUSH HONEYSUCKLE (Lonicera albiflora T. & G.) not very common; on limestone bluffs, upland meadows and thickets. Leaves: opposite, upper pair usually united or encircling stem, not evergreen. Stems: stiff and upright or sometimes long and trailing, both usually to be found on one bush; this habit is the best point of distinction between this species and the rarer trumpet honeysuckle when there are no flowers present. ”

“ Fruit: many flat, black, shiny, pie-shaped seeds packed in a six-angled, cylindrical seed case about 1 to 2 inches in diameter and 2 to 3 inches long. A closely related cultivated vine is often planted where a dense screen is desired. ”

“ Leaves: thick, glossy, finely serrate, about 3 inches long and half as wide; a rusty fuzz at the base of the veins beneath; simple, opposite, red in autumn. Twigs: sometimes coated with rusty fuzz as the buds always are. Bark: dark reddish brown, with small, roundish scales. Flowers: late March or early April, white, in flat clusters about 5 or 6 inches across. Fruit: oval, about one-half inch long, blue with a bloom, containing a single stony seed; especially attractive in autumn, turning from red to blue. Wood: ill-scented.
285 black haw ”

“ Wood: hard, strong, coarse-grained, durable in the soil, bright red-brown, used for fence posts, wheel hubs and in construction. This tree is very resistant to drouth but gives scanty shade and causes much litter. ”

“ Stem: 6 to 12 inches tall, reddish, slender, with few prickles. Fruits: red, haw-like, in fall and winter. Leaves: pinnately compound, small leaflets 7 to 11, red in autumn or green and tardily deciduous. D (p. 106.)
235. DEWBERRY (Rubus trivialis) abundant trailing “shrub” of woods, roadsides, thickets and ditches. Leaves: compound, 3 to 5 leaflets, rose-like, evergreen or nearly so. Stems: green, prickly, usually lying on the ground, several feet long. Flowers: white, 5 petals, like small single roses. Fruit: black, many-seeded, juicy, ripe April-May, popular with birds, boys and redbugs. ”

“ Leaves: pinnately compound of 3 to 9 pairs of leaflets, usually ovate with acute or acuminate tips, 1 to 21⁄2 in. long, shiny above, dull beneath, margins crenate-serrate, aromatic and tingling-spicy as are the fruit and bark. Twigs: have scattered, hooked spines, often black on young shoots. ”

“ Leaves: glossy, dark green, 2 to 5 in. long and 1 to 2 in. wide, rounded at base and acute or acuminate at tip, margins obscurely serrate, veins yellow, evenly spaced and prominent on the under side; turning dark purple or yellow in autumn, tardily deciduous on young trees. Twigs: with naked winter buds small and pointed. Flowers: in May, inconspicuous, usually dioecious. Fruit: size of small peas, containing 2 to 4 seeds; scattered, on short stems; red in summer, turning black in autumn. Wood: hard, light brown, close-grained and brittle.
259 Indian cherry ”

“ This key is based chiefly on leaves and twigs, as they offer the easiest clues for identification, especially in this climate where leaves are present about three-fourths of the year. The best method of study is to carry this booklet to the woody plant or plants you want to know. ”

“ Leaves: fleshy, sometimes palmately compound, or deeply 3-lobed or 3-parted. Stems: somewhat fleshy. Flowers: small, in compound umbels, usually 4 spreading petals. Fruit: small, grape-like, blackish. K (p. 222) .
264 cow-itch vine
265. (CISSUS AMPELOPSIS Pers.) no common name; a rare vine of low woods. Leaves: grape-like, but smooth and thin, broadly oval, or heart-shaped, coarsely toothed. Fruit: bluish, inedible, like small grapes. Main STEM: sometimes with many short, leafy branches. B (Vol. II, p. 509) .
265 Cissus ampelopsis ”

“ Bark: light gray, thin, with numerous shallow fissures. Flowers: color of redbud, slightly larger and averaging two weeks later, 4 or 5 slender petals and red stamens often curving in opposite directions. Fruit: 3 or rarely 4 round, black, shiny seeds, smaller than true buckeyes but having the pale “eye-spot”; leathery brown pods usually crack open and drop the seeds in October or November, themselves remaining through the winter. The seeds are powerful emetics and reputed to be poisonous. Wood: heavy, close-grained, soft but brittle, reddish brown. K (p. 215.)
256 Texas buckeye ”