#ecoindicator

[cammyouplant]

Ulmus americana / American Elm

PLANT COMMUNITY: Red maple swamp, spontaneous urban growth

NATIVE REGION: Newfoundland to Florida, west to the foot of the Rockies

MATURE SIZE: Height 60-80′, spread 1/2 to 2/3′s the height

HABITAT/GROWING CONDITIONS: Anthropogenic, forests, meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes, floodplains, swamps, woodlands; rich, moist soils

ECO-INDICATOR: Rich and moist sites

HARDINESS ZONE: 3-9

LEAF COLOR: Lustrous dark green in summer, yellow in fall

FLOWER COLOR: Perfect, greenish red flowers

FRUIT COLOR: Greenish samara with reddish tinge

VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:  American elm can be planted for erosion protection and as a windbreak.  Its shallow and widespreading roots make it fairly windfirm.  

SOURCES: Wessels, Reading the Forested Landscape; Dirr, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants; https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/ulmus/americana/; https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/ulmame/all.html

[cammyouplant]

Quercus ilicifolia / Scrub Oak

PLANT COMMUNITY:  New England barrier beach

NATIVE REGION:  Canada, Eastern US

MATURE SIZE:  Height of 12-30′; deciduous gangly shrub or small tree

HABITAT/GROWING CONDITIONS:  Disturbed areas, scrublands, woodlands, barrens, rocky ridges; acidic, sandy or gravelly soils

ECO-INDICATOR: Poor, dry, burned sites

HARDINESS ZONE:  N/A

LEAF COLOR:  Upper surface shiny dark green, lower surface pale green to gray with dense woolly pubescence; reddish-purple in fall

FRUIT COLOR:  Acorn cup is reddish-brown; ovoid, light brown nut with faint stripes and minute pubescence

VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:  Bear oak was successfully used in a rehabilitation effort on the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, New York, and may warrant consideration in other revegetation projects. Before planting seedlings, the site was covered with a 16-inch (40-cm) layer of highly compacted clay-shale subsoil to minimize gas and water exchange with landfill contents. Next the site was covered with 30-inch (75-cm) layer of sandy mineral soil and a small amount of composted leaf mulch.  It is a valuable early-successional tree that stabilizes and shades bare soils.

SOURCES: Wessels, Reading the Forested Landscape; https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/queili/all.html; https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=QUIL; https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/quercus/ilicifolia/