Igiri Tree

Description
Scientific Names: Idesia polycarpa
Synonyms: Idesia Maximowicz
Common Names: Igiri Tree
Plant Type: Large-size deciduous tree.
Height: 40-60 feet.
Native Habitat: Hills and mountain forests above elevations of 2000 m above sea level. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.
Native Range: Eastern Asia including China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.
Cultivation: Prefers a neutral to slightly acid loamy soil, but tolerates a chalky sub-soil if the top soil is deep. Succeeds in full sun or semi-shade. The dormant plant is hardy to about -15°c, though the tree is somewhat hardier if the wood is thoroughly ripened by a long hot summer. The young shoots in spring can be damaged by late frosts. A very ornamental plant. The flowers have a most delicious perfume, which can be wafted far and wide by warm breezes. Trees produce fruit regularly. Dioecious, male and female plants must be grown if fruit and seed is required. Female plants can produce some fruit in the absence of a male plant.
Flowering Time: June to July.

Idesia polycarpa is the single species in the Idesia genus (Flacourtiaceae family). Forms a very fast growing, deciduous shade tree, it's native to eastern Asia in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Talk about plant-size some records include; 6 years - 25 x 25 feet, 20 years - 50 x 30 feet, largest on record - 60 x 80 feet ( rarely over 50 feet with a trunk up to 2.8 feet wide). Excellent tree for large landscaping such as parks where trees can be massed for effect. The leaves are large, heart-shaped, 8–20 cm long and 7–20 cm broad, are very large and tropical looking . The foliage is bronze purple at first, turning glossy deep green above and blue-white beneath during summer, persisting very late into the fall though usually remaining green until falling. The attractive foliage is borne on red stalks.

 

The flowers are small, yellowish green, fragrant, and born in panicles 13–30 cm long, are followed by very attractive hanging clusters of bright-red berries during fall persisting well into winter. The berries are borne on female trees only so multiple trees are required for berry production. If used as a street tree, just a single or 2 males trees can pollinate the remainder of the block of trees. Some birds like the berries while others don't so the persistence of the berry crop may vary from year to year depending on bird populations.

The bark is also very attractive, smooth and very light gray. The Igiri Tree is hardy to about -15°c, though the tree is somewhat hardier if the wood is thoroughly ripened by a long hot summer in full sun preferring fertile, well drained acid loam (though tolerating alkaline or just about any soil). It's heat and drought tolerant and actually prefers hot humid summers. Very easy to grow, it is wind tolerant even in coastal areas and is virtually immune to insect pests and disease. The Igiri Tree is easy to transplant while dormant, small trees can even be transplanted bare root.

 

Uses
The fruit is edible either raw or cooked. The fruit is a many seeded berry with a pulpy flesh. Idesia polycarpa is occasionally grown as an ornamental tree in other temperate regions including Europe.

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Halesia

Description
Scientific Names: Halesia
Common Names: Silverbell
Plant Type: Small to large deciduous tree.
Height: 20-40 feet can form, but be much larger mountain.
Native Habitat: Halesia grows mostly in the mountains. Growth is best in moist, fertile, well-drained, slightly acidic soils with lots of organic matter. Plants prefer full sun or partial shade on cool, sheltered sites. Halesia transplants well as balled and burlapped or container-grown stock. It can be propagated by seed, root and greenwood cuttings and air layering.
Native Range: Halesia grows mostly in the Piedmont and mountains of the Carolinas, eastern Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. It's distribution extends beyond this central area in small populations scattered over the southeastern Coastal Plain, western Virginia, West Virginia, southern Ohio, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, western Kentucky, Tennessee, central Arkansas, and southeastern Oklahoma. Halesia grows in moist soils along streams in the understory of hardwood forests.
Cultivation: Halesia can burn sensitive to drought and fertilizer. Give it a moist loamy soil with good drainage, and go light on fertilizer. A mulch can help preserve moisture during dry periods. Direct sunlight increases the flower, but too much sun can cause stress in hot, dry climates. The system can be several strains or trying to grow as a shrub, but can be trained usually in the form of a tree. Seeds need both warm and cold stratification and can be difficult to work with.
Conservation Status: Native to Kentucky. Silverbell is ranked as a plant of conservation concern (threatened) by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission.
Related Species:

• Halesia diptera
• Halesia macgregorii
• Halesia monticola
• Halesia parviflora
• Halesia tetraptera

Flowering Time: April-May.

Halesia was named for the Reverend Stephen Hale (1677-1761), a physiologist and author of Vegetable Staticks (1727). The species is found in scattered populations over much of the eastern United States, as far north as West Virginia, south to northern Florida, and west to Oklahoma. But it is thinly distributed over much of its native range, and is becoming rare in many areas. Some botanists treat Halesia monticola as a variety of Halesia tetraptera. This taxon is much larger, up to 20-40 feet tall, with larger leaves up to 20 cm long and flowers up to 3 cm long. It is cultivated as an ornamental tree.

In the landscape, this Silverbell functions more as a huge low-branched shrub with several trunks, forming an open, transparent structure almost as wide as it is tall. Its mature bark is strikingly veined in gray and black, and its pest- and disease-resistant leaves are pleasantly oval. Come winter, its showy, Four-winged fruits (hence the name Halesia tetraptera) dangle like deflated punching bags, and are often fodder for birds. But for ten days in spring, the Silverbell is no less than a benediction for humanity, with white, breathless bells that hang on angel hair-thin stalks and seem to enlighten anyone or anything beneath them.

Uses
Attractive, small tree or large shrub for the shrub border or woodland garden. Interesting design for the lawn. Grows well with rhododendrons and azaleas. Usually used as a flowering tree.

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Ginkgo biloba

Description
Scientific Names: Ginkgo biloba
Common Names: Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo
Plant Type: Large-size deciduous conifer tree.
Height: Grow an average 20–35 m (66–115 feet), with some specimens in China being over 50 m (164 feet).
Native Habitat: Many specimens are found along stream banks, rocky slopes, and cliff edges.
Native Range: Ginkgo biloba and other species of the same genus had spread throughout the world is expressed, but their numbers declined rapidly in two million years ago. For centuries, considered extinct in the wild, but now known to remain in two small province of Zhejiang in East China and in the Tian Mu Shan Reserve.
Conservation Status: After the declared extinct and then rediscovered, now this species has been widespread in cultivation.
Cultivation: Easily grown in average, medium moisture soil in full sun. Prefers moist, sandy, well drained soils. Tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions including both alkaline and acidic soils and compacted soils. Also tolerant of saline conditions, air pollution and heat. Fits well to most urban areas.
Bloom Time: April.

Ginkgo biloba are large trees, normally reaching a height of 20–35 m (66–115 feet), with some specimens in China being over 50 m (164 feet). The tree has an angular crown and long, somewhat erratic branches, and is usually deep rooted and resistant to damage from wind and snow. Young trees are often tall and slender, and sparsely branched, the crown becomes broader as the tree aged. A combination of disease resistance, insect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes Ginkgo durable, with some specimens claimed that more than 2,500 years old.

Ginkgo biloba is a deciduous conifer, the unique, two-lobed, somewhat leathery, fan-shaped leaves with diverging (almost parallel) veins features. Ginkgo is the only surviving member of a group of old trees probably inhabited the earth up to 150 million years old. Ginkgo is dioecious (separate male and female trees). Female trees are very undesirable because they produce seeds encased fleshy, fruit-like coverings that are at the end of the term in the fall, messy and emit a noxious, foul odor after falling to the ground and open columns. As a result, nurseries today generally sell only male cultivars. 'Autumn Gold' is a purely male variety usually always at the end of the term to 40-50 meters with a symmetrical, broadly spreading habit. In autumn, the leaves turn bright yellow fall, then, sometimes within a very short time (1-15 days). Ginkgo is also commonly called Maidenhair Tree, which refers to the resemblance of the fan-shaped leaves to maidenhair fern leaflets (pinnae).

Reproduction method is quite unique, Ginkgo disseminates neither spores (like the ferns), nor seeds (like the graminaceous ones) but something intermediary: the ovule. The ovule is the entirety of the female germ cells i.e. the oosphere (haploid) and additional (nucellus). They have large ovules, are filled with reserve, that Ginkgo drops on the ground rather tardily in season. Formed with the higher pole of the ovule is constituted a mini cavity filled with liquid: the pollinic space. This room is a tiny opening, the micropyle, which produces a viscous drop to a grain of pollen trap when it is presented and the micropyle is closed then. Finally, pollen germinates and then generates real spermatozoïde the female swim against the cell and penetrate to merge with it.

Uses
The tree is widely cultivated and introduced, since an early period in human history, and has various uses as a food and traditional medicine. Good choice for a variety of uses, including lawn tree, street tree or shade tree. Also effective in city parks and near commercial buildings. Extracts of Ginkgo leaves contain flavonoid glycosides and terpenoids (ginkgolides, bilobalides) and have been used pharmaceutically. Ginkgo supplements are usually taken in the range of 40–200 mg per day. Recently, careful clinical trials have shown Ginkgo to be effective in treating dementia but not preventing the onset of Alzheimer's Disease in normal people.

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American Persimmon

Description
Scientific Names: Diospyros virginiana
Common Names: American Persimmon, Common Persimmon, Eastern Persimmon, Florida Persimmon, simmon and possumwood
Plant Type: Slow-growing tree of moderate size found on a wide variety of soils and sites.
Height: Grows to 20 m (66 ft), in well-drained soil.
Native Habitat: Valleys and dry uplands in clearings and mixed forests. It's best development is in the rich bottom lands of the Mississippi River and its tributaries and in coastal river valleys.
Native Range: Common Persimmon  is found from southern Connecticut and Long Island to southern Florida  westward through central Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, and central Illinois to southeast Iowa and south through eastern Kansas and Oklahoma to the Valley of the Colorado River in Texas. Best growth is in the bottom lands of the Mississippi River Valley.
Conservation Status: NatureServe lists Diospyros virginiana as Critically-Imperiled in Connecticut and Iowa, and Imperiled in New York. Officially the species is listed as Threatened in New Jersey and of Special Concern in Connecticut.
Cultivation: American Persimmon can survive on poor sites, but for best growth and fruit production, give it good soil and plenty of sunlight, and keep it well-watered for the first couple of years. Spraying for insects or diseases normally isn't necessary to get good quality fruit. Because of its potentially deep tap root, a small specimen may be easier to plant. Seeds require about three months of cold moist stratification in order to germinate. If planted in the fall, they should come up the following spring.
Related Species: The only closely related species United States is the Texas Persimmon (Diospyros texana), which is found in central and southern Texas and northern Mexico. His small black fruit is edible when fully ripe, but may stain the mouth, teeth and hands.

The genus name for the American Persimmon means "Fruit of the Gods". This is a reference to the lovely golden-orange fruits that often hang on the tree after the leaves fall in autumn. When they are ripe, these fruits are very sweet. But they must be fully ripe. If you try to eat too quickly, will probably pucker your mouth the bitter taste of tannin. Nevertheless, a ripe fruit is a real treat. Native Americans enjoyed them, and they are a popular food for wild turkey, mocking birds, deer, raccoons, foxes, squirrels, rabbits and other wildlife. They can be made into puddings, preserves, beer, and brandy, and can also be dried for winter food. Most American Persimmon trees are either male or female, but some are self-fertile. The fruits are usually about 1 cm in diameter, but nurseries sell special cultivars that produce more. The size of a crop, especially on wild trees, usually varies from year to year.

A fruit is soft as it matures, and the skin begins to wrinkle. To avoid the competition of flora and fauna, you can choose them for a few days early, just after they begin to soften, and let them ripen on a windowsill. Some people say they do not get ripe until after the first frost, but that's not always true. A self-fertile variety called Meader can produce its first ripe fruits as early as mid-August in warm climates. Besides the fruit-bearing potential, the American Persimmon make a nice mid-sized yard tree. The large drooping leaves give a soft look, and the dark checkered bark of trees provides winter interest. The bell-shaped flowers are pistillate an attractive creamy-yellow, very fragrant, and an excellent nectar source for bees.

A grouping of a number of trees can be a good animal plants. The tree is strong and flexible, growing rapidly, and the deep taproot gives good drought resistance. It can survive in the shade, but grows and fruits best in sun. Seedlings planted in good soil and a sunny location can begin fruiting in about 6-8 years. As wild as effectively distributes its seed, American Persimmon is still fairly common in some areas. But in other regions the species is scarce. A disease called persimmon want (Cephalsporium diospyri) has slain some wild trees in the upper South, and can spread to other areas.

Uses
The fruit is rich in vitamin C. The unripe fruit is astringent. The ripe fruit can be eaten raw, cooked or dried. Molasses can be made from the flesh. A tea can be made from the leaves and roasted seed is used as a coffee substitute. Other popular applications include desserts, such as persimmon cake, persimmon pudding and persimmon candy. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and very dense grain. The average number of rings per 5.5 cm (14 in each). Density of light-brown bark is 0.79, a 0.028 m³ block weighs about 22 kg. Because of its hardness, smoothness, and even the texture, it is particularly desirable for turnery, plane stocks, shoe lasts, shuttles, and golf club heads. Persimmon is sometimes planted for its edible fruits. Dried fruit is added to baked goods and occasional fermented with hops, corn flour, wheat bran or a kind of beer. The dried, roasted, ground seeds are used as a substitute for coffee. Seeds and fruits are generally low in crude protein, crude fat, calcium and nitrogen but high in tannin and extract. The inner bark and unripe fruit are sometimes used to treat fever, diarrhea and bleeding. Indelible ink is made from fruit. Persimmon is valued as an ornamental because of its hardness, adaptability to a wide range of soils and climates, its glossy leaves, are abundant crop of fruit, and immunity against diseases and insects. It was introduced in Europe. The tree is suitable for erosion control on deeper soils because of its deep roots, but this same property makes it difficult to plant. Persimmon flowers are useful in the production of honey.

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American Chestnut

Description
Scientific Names: Castanea dentata
Common Names: American Sweet Chestnut, American Chestnut, Chestnut
Plant Type: Deciduous hardwood tree.
Height: it reached up to 30–45 m (100–150 ft) tall and 3 m (10 ft) in diameter.
Native Habitat: Mostly upland forests. Dry, gravelly or rocky, mostly acid soils. This species is virtually extinct in America due to chestnut blight.
Native Range: The original range ran in a broad irregular swath from upper New England south to Alabama and Mississippi, Eastern North America - Maine and Ontario to Michigan, Georgia and Arkansas.
Conservation Status: In the first half of the twentieth century, this magnificent tree was almost completely wiped out by Chestnut Blight (Cryphonectria parasitica). Accidentally brought from Asia to New York in the 1890, the disease that required only a few decades to spread throughout the tree native range. Only a few rare trees in that area still survive along with some old stumps sometimes send their roots to shoots. Almost all of the known healthy trees are isolated specimens were planted in western states and other areas not affected by the disease. But there's a good chance that the American Chestnut can be saved and even re-established in the old range. By working with genetic material from living trees, scientists hope that the disease-resistant strains to develop. In one approach, the hybrid offspring of a resistant Asian species repeatedly crossed with pure American species, and the Asian boom features gradually bred over several generations. It is thought that this process could ultimately lead to a 98% pure American form.
Cultivation: Prefers a good well-drained slightly acid loam but succeeds in dry soils and in warm sunny places. Once established, it is very drought tolerant. Very tolerant of highly acid, infertile dry sands. Averse to calcareous soils but succeeds on harder limestones. Although very hardy, this species really live in areas with hot summers. A tree at Kew in 1985 was 15 m long and prosperous. At one time widely cultivated in North America for its edible seeds, it is now virtually extinct in the wild due to chestnut blight. There are several named varieties. Trees may become resistant, some suck ring state in America to produce fruit. Suckers often reach 4-6 m high for the indulgence of fire blight, but rarely manage to produce fruit. An excellent soil-enriching understorey in pine forests. Flowers are produced on wood of the growth in the current year. Plants are fairly self-sterile. They hybridize freely with other members of this genus. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.
Related Species: Allegheny Chinkapin (Castanea pumila) is a small tree from the southeast. It produces similar but smaller nuts. The species has some resistance to the disease, but can still be affected.

Castanea dentata was once the most populous species in the eastern United States, possibly numbering in excess of four billion individual trees. Many of these were real giants, to 30-45 m (100-150 ft) high and 3 m (10 ft) in diameter. Pioneers often built their huts of the rot-resistant wood, and the plants were also very valuable for wildlife. Unlike most other mast-producing trees, but generally only large plants from two to four year intervals, the chestnut is a heavy annual bearer. The nutritious nuts were a pre-primary winter food for many birds and mammals, including turkeys, bears, deer, pigs and squirrels. The events in the first half of the twentieth century, this magnificent tree is almost completely wiped out by Chestnut Blight (Cryphonectria parasitica). Now there's a good chance that the American Chestnut can be saved and even re-established in the old range. By working with genetic material from living trees, scientists hope that the disease-resistant strains to develop. In one approach, the hybrid offspring of a resistant Asian species repeatedly crossed with pure American species, and the Asian boom features gradually bred over several generations. It is thought that this process could ultimately lead to a 98% pure American form.

There is also interest in the possibility of developing resistant strains of the few trees that still survive in the disease-affected area, but right now nobody knows if it is feasible. Another possible solution to the problem is a disease-resistance gene to be inserted directly into the DNA of the American tree. This could produce a nearly 100% pure American form. It is important to preserve as much of the natural species diversity as possible, and for this reason scientists want to eventually develop a number of resistant strains. To clear the way for future work in this direction, aims to collect and preserve genetic material from a large number of surviving trees.American Chestnut is a powerful fast-growing tree. It is also to adapt to different soils and climates, and established plants can withstand drought. But because of its size and relatively rough appearance and the possible thorny nest of nut shells, it might be best suited for a woodlot or semi-wild area. If a large crop of nuts is desired, a number of trees be planted to ensure good pollination. Trees begin to bear when only a few years old.

Uses

The nuts were once an important economic resource in the United States, are sold on the streets of towns and cities. Chestnut are edible raw or roasted, but most preferably roasted. Nuts of the American Sweet Chestnut are now sold in many stores instead. Seed can be consumed raw or cooked. Rather on the small side, but these are the sweetest seeds of any species in this genus. The seed contains about 7% fat, 11% protein. It can be dried, ground into powder and then be added to cereals when making bread, cakes etc. A delicious oil can be extracted from the seed by crushing the nuts, boiling them in water and then skimming off the oil as it comes to the surface. It can be used as a topping for various puddings. The roasted nut can be used as a coffee substitute and a chocolate substitute can also be made from it.
The wood is straight-grained, strong and easy to cut and split, and it lacks the radial end grain found on most other hardwoods. The tree was particularly valuable because the market grew at a faster rate than oaks. Are rich in tannins, the wood was highly resistant to decay and therefore used for various purposes, including furniture, split-rail fences, shingles, home construction, flooring, piers, plywood, paper pulp, and telephone poles. Tannins were extracted from the bark for tanning leather. Although the larger trees are no longer available for milling, there is much chestnut wood is reclaimed from historic barns to be converted into furniture and other items.

In medicine a warm water infusion of the leaves has been used to calm the respiratory nerves and promote expectoration. The infusion has also been used in the treatment of whooping cough but modern opinion is that the leaves are no more than a mild astringent.

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Japanese Maple

Description
Scientific Names: Acer palmatum
Common Names: Japanese Maple, Smooth Japanese Maple
Plant Type: Deciduous tree.
Height: 6-10 m, rarely 16 m.
Native Habitat : Often growing as an understory plant in shady woodlands and in temperate areas.
Native Range: Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, Russia and Southeast.
Conservation Status: Cultivated as an ornamental plant, usually used as a bonsai.
Similiar Species: Acer duplicatoserratum, Acer japonicum, Acer pseudosieboldianum, Acer shirasawanum, Acer sieboldianum.

Acer palmatum, called Japanese Maple or Smooth Japanese Maple is a species of woody plant native to Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, Russia and Southeast. There are many different cultivars of maple that are selected and they are grown worldwide for their attractive leaf shapes and colors. They are very popular and are relatively expensive due to their size trees. Acer palmatum is a deciduous shrub or small tree reaching heights of 6-10 m, rarely 16 m, often growing as an under story plant in shady woods. It may take several trunks close to the ground. In practice, it is often the shape of a hemisphere (especially younger) or takes a dome-like shape, especially as an adult. The leaves are 4-12 cm long and broad, palmately lobed with five, seven or nine acutely pointed lobes. The flowers are produced in small Cymes, individual flowers with five red or purple sepals and five whitish petals. The fruit is a pair of winged Samaras, Samara each 2-3 cm long with a 6-8 mm seed. The seeds of the Japanese Maple and similar species require stratification to germinate.

Uses
When the Swedish doctor-botanist Carl Peter Thunberg traveled to Japan late in the eighteenth century, he is eliminated from drawings of a small tree that would eventually become synonymous with high art of oriental gardens. He gave it the species name palmatum after the hand-like shape of its leaves, similar to the ancient Japanese name Kaede and Momiji, references to the hands of the frogs and babies respectively. For centuries gardeners have developed cultivars of Japanese maples in Japan and around Korea and China. They are a popular choice for bonsai lovers and have long been a subject in art.

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