Module 2 - Week 9

Botanical Name: Acanthus mollis

Common Name: bears breeches

Family: Acanthaceae

Distribution/Origin: southern Europe, north western Africa

Leaf: deeply lobed, soft-spiny, glossy dark green, basal foliage, toothed margins, compound, long petiole

Bud: spiky layered flower buds, almost resembles green pine cones

Flower: creamy white to pink, tubular, hooded and subtended by spiny reddish purple bracts, on top of spikes rising above foliage

Fruit/Seed: ovoid capsule, 2-4 large black seeds, dispersed by wind

Stem/Bark: thorny sepals, upright stems

Size: 3-5' height, 2-5' spread

Habit: spreads aggressively in loose soils,

Form: clumping, mounding

Soil conditions: average, fertile, tolerates wide range but must be well drained

Moisture: medium, tolerant of drought

Sun: full sun to partial shade (plants will not flower in heavy shade)

Exposure:

Landscape use: blooms June-July, invasive nature, perennial beds, xeriscaping, beds and borders, cottage gardens

Notes: leaves are prominent in classic Greek and Roman architecture and art, often seen in stone carvings from 4th century B.C















Botanical Name: Aconitum napellus

Common Name: monks hood

Family: Ranunculaceae

Distribution/Origin: western and central Europe

Leaf: deeply lobed, rounded, palmately divided, serrated margins

Bud: alternate

Flower: narrow-oblong helmet/habit shaped, dense terminal racemes, hermaphrodite, bilaterally symmetrical

Fruit/Seed: dry capsule, splits when ripe

Stem/Bark: rigid, hairless

Size: 2-4 height, 1-2' spread

Habit: flowers borne on erect stems, spreading

Form: upright, clumping

Soil conditions: moist, organically rich, well drained

Moisture: even moisture, cannot dry out

Sun: full sun to partial shade

Exposure: needs cool nights to grow well, can grow in full sun in cool areas

Landscape use: blooms July-August, flower borders and beds, perennial beds, cottage gardens

Notes: commonly called "wolfesbane" as plant was once used to poison the tips of arrows in killing wolves. Wear gloves when working with this plant!

Botanical Name: Alnus rubra

Common Name: red alder

Family: Betulaceae

Distribution/Origin: North America

Leaf: ovate, bluntly serrated edges, pointed apex, leaf margin curls under (distinguishing feature from other alders)

Bud: reddish brown, narrowly pointed, alternate, lateral buds stick out

Flower: male catkins, dangling, red in color, female catkins are erect

Fruit/Seed: female catkins develop into small woody cone like oval fruits, seeds develop between woody bracts of cones and shed in autumn and winter

Stem/Bark: mottled, ashy grey and smooth, often draped in moss, rusty grey color is shown if bark is bruised or scraped, prominent lenticels,

Size: 66-98' height, 1-3' spread

Habit: lower trunk usually free of branches due to intolerance of shade,

Form: open, broadly pyramidal, dome shaped crown

Soil conditions: sandy to loamy, average

Moisture: even moisture

Sun: sun to partial shade

Exposure: can handle maritime exposure

Landscape use: flowers March to April, woodland garden canopy, hedge, bog garden

Notes: largest species of alder in North America, as well as one of the largest in the world. Because of its oily smoke, it is a choice wood for smoking salmon. Yum!








Botanical Name: Bergenia cordifolia

Common Name: pig squeak

Family: Saxifragaceae

Distribution/Origin: Russia

Leaf: leathery, glossy, toothed margins, rounded, dark green, bronzy foliage in winter, cordate bases

Bud: rosette of leaves, flower buds in dense clusters

Flower: dense panicles of pink to purple flowers on large stocks

Fruit/Seed: 2 parted capsule

Stem/Bark: erect stems, often red to purple in color

Size: 1-2' height, 1-2' spread

Habit: tightly spreading

Form: clumping

Soil conditions: average, well drained, tolerant of many soil types but prefers moist humusy conditions

Moisture: medium

Sun: partial shade

Exposure:

Landscape use: blooms April-May, perennial beds, borders, groundcover, evergreen

Notes: called "pig squeak" due to the noise when foliage is rubbed between fingers

Botanical Name: Betula utilis

Common Name: white bark birch

Family: Betulaceae

Distribution/Origin: western China

Leaf: ovate, doubly serrate margins, greenish yellow in color,

Bud: alternate, reddish brown, scaled

Flower: yellowish brown male catkins, green female catkins

Fruit/Seed: drooping cone like fruits containing numerous small winged nutlets

Stem/Bark: white exfoliating to orange, paper like bark, shiny horizontal lenticels, peeling/exfoliating, very hard and heavy wood, heartwood is pink to reddish brown

Size: 30-40' height, 18-25' spread

Habit: upright, ascending branches

Form: open, pyramidal

Soil conditions: well drained, sandy to loamy soils

Moisture: medium to wet (in the wild is dependent on snow melt)

Sun: full sun to partial shade

Exposure: best sited in northern to or eastern exposure, consider using bark mulch to keep root zones cool and moist

Landscape use: blooms April-May,

Notes: used traditionally as paper for scriptures and text, or paper for books. Specific epithet means useful

Botanical Name: Calluna vulgaris

Common Name: heather

Family: Ericaceae

Distribution/Origin: Europe, Asia Minor, northern North America

Leaf: scale like leaves, borne in opposite and decussate pairs, whorls of 3-4 sometimes 5

Bud: opposite

Flower: urn shaped, incomplete fusion, terminal in racemes, sepal like bracts, sometimes double flowers

Fruit/Seed: fruit like capsule

Stem/Bark: thin, smooth

Size: 1-2' height, 1-2' spread

Habit: scraggly, older shrubs become unkempt and benefit from spring pruning

Form: small clumps, thick mats of foliage in ideal conditions

Soil conditions: well drained, humusy, lean, sandy or gravelly

Moisture: dry to moist

Sun: full sun to partial shade

Exposure: tolerant of grazing, regenerates following occasional burning, do not expose to strong winds

Landscape use: blooms May-November, ornamental gardening, beds, borders, ground cover

Notes: despised until the 19th century for its association with rugged rural poverty. Important food source for grazing animals during winter months. Also was used to brew beer before hops began to take off during the middle ages.
















Botanical Name: Corylus avellana 'Contorta' 

Common Name: Harry Lauder's walking stick

Family: Betulaceae

Distribution/Origin: Europe

Leaf: twisted, round, double toothed margins

Bud: plump, alternate arrangement, small

Flower: brown male catkins, female insignificant - red styles of the pistils protruding from bud scales

Fruit/Seed: species commonly grown for nuts, this cultivar does not produce fruit

Stem/Bark: curled contorted stems, heavy lenticels

Size: 8-10' height, 8-10' spread

Habit: multistemmed, contorted branching

Form: irregularly rounded

Soil conditions: average, medium, well drained

Moisture: medium

Sun: full sun to partial shade

Exposure:

Landscape use: April bloom time, hedgerow, winter interest, specimen, shrub border

Notes: sold in grafted form, remove suckers as they will not have contorted form













Botanical Name: Daboecia cantabrica

Common Name: Irish heath

Family: Ericaceae

Distribution/Origin: Europe

Leaf: ovate, elliptical, leathery, white or silver undersides, occasional hairs

Bud:

Flower: nodding, terminal racemes, urn shaped, white purple or pink in color, born on erect spikes

Fruit/Seed: insignificant capsule

Stem/Bark: light brown stems, occasional hairs, thin stems

Size: 12-18" height, 12-15" spread

Habit: multistemmed, spreading, evergreen

Form: compact mounds

Soil conditions: organically rich, well drained

Moisture: even moisture, somewhat drought tolerant

Sun: full sun, dappled shade

Exposure:

Landscape use: mosaic plantings, ground cover, borders, blooms June-October

Notes: named after an obscure Irish saint "Saint Beoc", with a slight name adjustment to "da" ("thine"), and "mo" meaning "my" which are Irish endearments for saints... who didn't make the cut for being well known on the list of Irish saints. The connection of why the heather was linked to this man is lost, though speculation was made that he used to bless it and use it to sprinkle holy water on the Celtic folks.













Botanical Name: Erica arborea

Common Name: tree heath

Family: Ericaceae

Distribution/Origin: Mediterranean

Leaf: dark green, whorled, needle like, simple

Bud:

Flower: sweetly scented, panicles of white urn shaped flowers

Fruit/Seed: dry red capsules

Stem/Bark: older growth is furrowed, grey to brown stems with light fissuring

Size: 4-13' height, 3-9' spread

Habit: arborescent/bushy, multistemmed

Form: tight mounds, globose, upright, taller than wide

Soil conditions: well drained, sandy loams

Moisture: dry to moist

Sun: full sun

Exposure:

Landscape use: blooms early to mid spring, shrub borders, perennial beds, scent garden

Notes: the wood, known as briar root, is extremely hard and heat resistant; traditionally used to craft smoking pipes.
















Botanical Name: Erica carnea

Common Name: winter heather

Family: Ericaceae

Distribution/Origin: central, southern Europe

Leaf: evergreen, needle like leaves, in whorls of 4, linear

Bud:

Flower: racemes, urn shape, dark reddish to pink, sometimes white

Fruit/Seed: brown capsules, not showy

Stem/Bark: smooth brown to red stems

Size: 4-10" height,  up to 23" spread

Habit: low growing sub-shrub, upright, multistemmed

Form: mounding, creeping, mat like

Soil conditions: well drained, average, tolerates acidic and alkaline soils

Moisture: moist

Sun: full sun to partial shade

Exposure:

Landscape use: groundcover, winter flowering, borders, beds

Notes: very neat plant that blooms in the winter

Botanical Name: Heuchera hybrids

Common Name: coral bells

Family: Saxifragaceae

Distribution/Origin: North America

Leaf: varying colors (many cultivars), palmately lobed, long petioles, simple, ovate, cordate bases

Bud:

Flower: spikes of small dainty flowers, bell shaped, racemes, floriferous

Fruit/Seed: insignificant

Stem/Bark: dense low growing clumps with tall slender stems with flowers

Size: 1-2' height, 1-2' spread

Habit: spreading

Form: clumping

Soil conditions: organically rich, humusy, well drained

Moisture: medium, foliage will decline if allowed to dry out completely

Sun: full sun to partial shade

Exposure:

Landscape use: bloom period June-July, mass plantings, ground cover, borders, rock gardens

Notes: many, many varieties to choose from for foliage colors
















Botanical Name: Holodiscus discolor

Common Name: oceanspray

Family: Rosaceae

Distribution/Origin: western North America

Leaf: small, long and broad, lobed, green, simple, obovate, pinnately lobed

Bud: alternate 

Flower: cascading drooping white flowers, clustered, faint sugary scent, panicles, perfect

Fruit/Seed: small hairy fruit containing 1 seed which is dispersed by the wind

Stem/Bark: peeling white to brown bark

Size: 9-15' height, 13-16' spread

Habit: multistemmed, arched branching

Form: loosely rounded mounds, airy appearance with flowers in bloom, twiggy

Soil conditions: humusy, rich, well drained

Moisture: even moisture to dry

Sun: full sun, partial shade

Exposure: can withstand drought

Landscape use: blooms June-August, accent shrub, habitat for birds, insects, garden beds

Notes: very hard wood, often used for weapons by native tribes















Botanical Name: Nothofagus antarctica

Common Name: Antarctic beech

Family: Fagaceace

Distribution/Origin: South America

Leaf: compound, large ovate, dense, wavy and irregular margins (crenate), foliage lightly scented

Bud: alternate

Flower: scented like cinnamon, monoecious pale green flowers, small and solitary on leaf axils, male flowers are clustered in 5's, females occur in groups of 1-3 wrapped in bracts

Fruit/Seed: small nuts, usually in 3's, with 4 valved capsules

Stem/Bark: white lenticels, hard and elastic, smooth dark brown, flaky bark with age

Size: 30-40' height, up to 15' spread

Habit: suckering from base, irregular, pendulous branching

Form: open irregular crown,

Soil conditions: wide range of soil types, prefers fertile and acidic, well drained

Moisture: even moisture

Sun: full sun or dappled shade

Exposure: drought tolerant when established

Landscape use: street tree, ornamental

Notes: its occurance on the Hoste Island earns it the title of the southernmost tree on Earth















Botanical Name: Physocarpus opulifolius

Common Name: eastern nine bark

Family: Rosaceace

Distribution/Origin: western North America

Leaf: ovate to rounded, 3-5 lobed leaves, dull green during warm season giving way to yellow in fall

Bud: alternate, scales overlapping on buds like shingles

Flower: small pink or white corymbs, five petaled

Fruit/Seed: drooping clusters of reddish fruit that are inflated seed capsules

Stem/Bark: exfoliating, peels in strips to reveal reddish to light brown inner bark

Size: 5-8' height, 4-6' spread

Habit: suckering, spreading,

Form: upright,

Soil conditions: average, slightly acidic, well drained

Moisture: dry to medium

Sun: full sun to partial shade

Exposure: tolerates drought and poor soils, good for erosion

Landscape use: winter interest, bloom period May-June, hedge, shrub borders, erosion control on banks

Notes: common name comes from plants characteristic for bark to peel away in layers and reveal interesting contrasting colors

Botanical Name: Potentilla fruticosa

Common Name: shrubby cinquefoil

Family: Rosaceae

Distribution/Origin: native to every continent in the northern hemisphere

Leaf: pinnately divided, 7 lobes, linear oblong, entire margins, pubescent

Bud: alternate

Flower: terminally on stems, buttercup shaped, 5 petaled, 15-25 stamens, pale and bright yellow in color

Fruit/Seed: cluster of archenes covered with long hairs

Stem/Bark: older bark is shredded

Size: 4-5' height, up to 4' spread

Habit: variably upright to sprawling, stems ascending, dense foliage

Form: rounded

Soil conditions: average, well drained

Moisture: prefers moist soils, can tolerate dry conditions

Sun: full sun to semi shade

Exposure: cold tolerant, drought tolerant, very tough plant

Landscape use: flowers early to late summer, ornamental, woodland garden, groundcover, hedge, parking lot meridians

Notes: the dry flaky bark is useful for a friction tinder















Botanical Name: Quercus garryana

Common Name: Garry oak

Family: Fagaceace

Distribution/Origin: southern North America

Leaf: broad, 3-7 lobes, oblong to ovate, dark green, leathery, tomentose surfaces

Bud: terminal buds furry, conical and ovoid in shape, alternate, leafy stipules

Flower: catkins, male and female, monoecious, colored brown, pollinated by wind, not showy

Fruit/Seed: small acorn with shallow scaly cups, brown

Stem/Bark: large contorted branches, shoots are orange-red, hairy, fissured, grey to tan in color

Size: 72-98' height, 32-49' spread

Habit: irregular, open, spreading, twiggy, upright

Form: oval profile when solitary, grown in groves crowns form a canopy, rounded

Soil conditions: rocky or gravelly, well drained

Moisture: low moisture, can handle dry conditions

Sun: sun to partial shade

Exposure: tolerant of heavy winds

Landscape use: naturalized areas, meadows, shade tree, wildlife food, wind break, specimen plant

Notes: named after Nicholas Garry, deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay company (1822-1835)



















Botanical Name: Quercus ilex

Common Name: holly oak

Family: Fagaceae

Distribution/Origin: Mediterranean

Leaf: dark green surfaces, pale whitish grey undersides with dense short hairs, variable shape, older leaf margins are entire while young are somewhat toothed/spiny

Bud: alternate, small, tawny in color, with recurved scales

Flower: drooping male catkins, 4-7 stamens longer than petals, pistillate flowers with bracts

Fruit/Seed: acorn, pointed, short peduncle, enclosed by scaly cup

Stem/Bark: plated bark, squarely fissured

Size: 66-89' height, up to 65' spread

Habit: multibranched, irregular branching pattern

Form: rounded, large

Soil conditions: well drained, wide range of soils

Moisture: even moisture

Sun: sun to semi shade

Exposure:

Landscape use: clipped to a hedge for windbreak, woodland garden canopy

Notes: hard and tough wood used since ancient times for pillars or wagons















Botanical Name: Quercus rubra

Common Name: northern red oak

Family: Fagaceae

Distribution/Origin: North America

Leaf: simple, lobed, pinnate venation, glabrous surface, elliptic to ovate, cleft margins

Bud: dark red at terminals, small and brown with small scales, alternate

Flower: green catkins

Fruit/Seed: brown acorns, edible, not showy, cup is saucer shaped and shallow, solitary or in pairs

Stem/Bark: smooth, lightly fissured, grey to brown

Size: 72-98' height, 45-82' spread

Habit: spreading, stiffly upright

Form: rounded

Soil conditions: average soils, well drained

Moisture: medium

Sun: full sun

Exposure:

Landscape use: specimen plant, autumn interest, food for creatures, parks, gardens

Notes: wood grain is so open that smoke can be blown through it end grain to end grain on a flat-sawn board, unless treated properly it is unsuitable for outdoor construction

Botanical Name: Sarracenia purpurea

Common Name: pincher plant

Family: Serraceniaceae

Distribution/Origin: North America

Leaf: trumpet shaped pitchers (modified leaves), irregular, hairs inside tubes to trap insects, interesting patterns and colors (helpful in attracting prey)

Bud:

Flower: simple, globular

Fruit/Seed: 5 chambered capsule

Stem/Bark:

Size: 1-1.5' height, 1-2' spread

Habit: upright, evergreen

Form: basal

Soil conditions: acidic soils, heavy, leeching, mucky constantly damp but not watery

Moisture: wet

Sun: full sun

Exposure: cold climates

Landscape use: bloom time May-June, specimen plant, reduce insect populations, water plant, rain garden

Notes: feeds on insects for nitrogen by luring them in to cups with chemicals they smell which paralyzes them, can help reduce insect populations. Also the floral emblem for Newfoundland and Labrador














Botanical Name: Viburnum x bodnantense

Common Name: Bodnans viburnum

Family: Adoxaceae

Distribution/Origin: garden origin

Leaf: lightly serrate, elliptical, glossy surface, pinnate venation

Bud: opposite, ovoid

Flower: fragrant, clusters of white to pink cymes, hermaphrodite

Fruit/Seed: red-blue-black flattened drupes, containing single seed, sometimes absent

Stem/Bark: grey to brown, fissuring, lightly exfoliating

Size: up to 9' height and 8' spread

Habit: suckering, multistemmed, leggy branches, bushy

Form: loosely rounded, upright

Soil conditions: well drained, average, moderately fertile

Moisture: even moisture

Sun: full sun to partial shade

Exposure:

Landscape use: blooms November to March, woodland garden, borders, beds

Notes: hybrid between V. farreri x V. Grandiflorum, and is popular for the strongly scented flowers