Viburnum rufidulum
This viburnum is a shrub or tree, usually growing to 18 ft. but sometimes taller with bark separating into dark, rectangular plates. Twigs reddish brown with a thin light gray coating. Leaves in pairs, often on short spurs, the petioles covered with rust colored, branched hairs visible under a l0x hand lens; blades up to […]
Vernonia baldwinii
Western ironweed’s 3-5 ft. stems occur singly or in clumps, and are stout and hairy. Wide clusters of vibrant, red-violet flowers form at the ends of short branches near the top of the plant. Because the flowers are all of the disc variety, the 6 in. wide flower cluster has a fuzzy appearance. Long, lance-shaped […]
Panicum virgatum
Clump-forming, warm-season grass with open, lacy sprays with small seeds, Aug-Oct. Purple stigmas at flowering time. Switchgrass is a 3-10 ft., rhizomatous, loose sod former with a large, open, finely textured, reddish-purple seedhead. Fall color is pale yellow. Bright green leaves occur up and down the stem, turning bright yellow in fall. Switchgrass is a […]
Parkinsonia aculeata
Paloverde is a spiny shrub or small tree, normally about 15 feet, with long, graceful, slightly drooping branches bearing many long, delicate leaves and sprays of yellow flowers. The 5 yellow petals of the flower, 1/3-2/3 inch long, are almost equal, but 1 has a honey gland at its base and soon becomes red; it […]
Morella cerifera
A wispy, 6-12 ft., multi-trunked, evergreen shrub, southern bayberry or wax myrtle can reach 20 ft. in height. The light olive-green foliage has a spicy fragrance. Pale blue fruits occur on female plants in the winter. Handsome gray bark is almost white on some plants.Native from New Jersey west to eastern Oklahoma and east Texas, […]
Lantana urticoides
A spreading shrub, much branched from the ground upward, branches sometimes with prickles. Frequent in brushy places and in woodlands. Bark light gray to light brown, tending to flake off. Young twigs nearly square in cross section, covered with short hairs visible under a 10x hand lens. Leaves opposite, up to 2 1/2 inches long, […]
Juniperus virginiana
Evergreen, aromatic tree with trunk often angled and buttressed at base and narrow, compact, columnar crown; sometimes becoming broad and irregular. Pyramidal when young, Eastern Red Cedar mature form is quite variable. This evergreen usually grows 30-40 ft. but can reach 90 ft. Fragrant, scale-like foliage can be coarse or fine-cut, and varies in color […]
Juglans nigra
Black walnut is a large, rugged, deciduous tree, 50-75 ft. in height and width, sometimes reaching 150 ft. tall. Dark, furrowed bark on the trunk. Wide-spreading branches form an upright, umbrella-like crown in the woods or a round-topped crown in the open. The well-formed trunk is usually devoid of branches a considerable distance from the […]
Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida
The 6-16 in. stems branch near the base, usually lying on the ground with rising tips. Plants are covered with long, whitish hairs. Leaves are opposite and deeply cut several times on both sides of the midrib; they are 1-3 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide on a 1-inch stem. Branch-tip, ball-shaped flower […]
Frangula caroliniana
This small, deciduous tree or shrub, usually 12-15 ft. tall, can reach 30 ft. in height with leaves that stay green into late fall. Leaves up to 5 inches long, with a petiole as much as 1/2 inch long; blade ovate to elliptic, sometimes narrow, pointed at the tip and tapered or rounded at the […]