The Waters of Sky Meadows

(Photos courtesy of Virginia Big Tree Database)

Trees of the Eastern Mountains and Piedmont Region

Red maple (Acer rubrum). FAC. is a wide-ranging native tree that is very well adapted to most soil and site conditions. Red maple is adapted to wet sites where it associates with black ash, cottonwood, and black gum. Some forested wetlands are referred to as maple swamps due to their stands of red maple. Red maple is one of the most common trees in the region. Red maple is available in quantity for revegetation work and landscaping. It is a valuable riparian buffer plant due mostly to it’s tolerance of wetter soils.

Silver maple (Acer saccharinum). FACW. one of the fastest growing deciduous trees of the eastern and mid-western forests. Silver maple is adapted wherever adequate moisture is assured, but grows best on well drained but moist river bottom soils. The species is one of only a few that has the growth rate for serious consideration for biofuel production. Silver maple is ideal for riparian forest buffer installations due to its common presence in such sites. It is susceptible to a wide range of insect and disease problems and is highly susceptible to ice damage.

Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica). FACW. Green ash is one of the most flood tolerant tree species in the region. The tree is fast growing on moist bottomlands, and is extremely hardy to climatic extremes once established. Green ash is used as a windbreak and is extensively planted as a shade and ornamental tree. Green ash borer and carpenter worm can be a serious problem in this tree species.

Box elder (Acer negundo). FAC+. Boxelder is a unique maple species with compound leaves and is a common tree of floodplains and swales and is natively a tree of river bottoms and disturbed sites on heavy, wet soils, often seasonally flooded. It is used for pulp and rough lumber, usually mixed with other bottomland species, and has been used for boxes and crates, low-quality furniture, and interior finishing. Boxelder produces sap high in sugar content and can be used to produce syrup sometimes called "mountain molasses." The boxelder bug is a common associate of boxelder throughout most of its range. The nymphs feed mainly on female (pistillate) trees in leaves, fruits, and soft seeds.

Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). FACW-. It is most commonly found in the floodplains of larger streams and rivers. American sycamore is a good planting where a large, fast-growing tree is desired. American sycamore is recommended for planting on all types of strip-mined land, and it is useful in rehabilitation of various sites with saturated soils. Diseases of sycamore have become more important with its increased culture in plantations.

Pin oak (Quercus palustris). FACW. Pin oak is a generally distinctive oak and one of the more common trees of forested wetlands in the region. This tree grows under a wide range of site conditions, but is a true bottomland tree. Even though the wood is heavy, strong, and hard, pin oak is typically used for fuel wood, wood pulp, and railroad ties, since it tends to warp. Livestock must be kept out of tree and shrub planting areas. Insect and diseases include gypsy moth and oak wilt. Entire stands may be killed by prolonged flooding.

Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica). FAC. Black gum is a very adaptable species, occurring on dry upland ridges and in seasonally flooded swamps. This species is not a reliable indicator of wetland conditions, but is often common as an understory species in forested wetlands. Reestablishes well in erosion prone areas like burned over forest, abandoned fields, rolling hills and cold mountain swamps. Its wood is used for light, nonsplitting woodwork such as in docks and wharves; veneer, containers, crossties and pallets. Tupelo leaf miner (Antispila nyssaefolia) and forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria) attack blackgum causing growth loss and occasional mortality.

Black willow (Salix nigra). FACW. Black willow is the largest willow species, and a common pioneer tree species in emergent wetlands. Black willow has little shade tolerance and is gradually eliminated as forested wetlands mature. One of the greatest services of the willows is as a soil-binder. Growing along the banks of countless streams, their fibrous roots help to prevent the soil from being washed away. A number of insect species attack black willow but few cause serious damage.

River birch (Betula nigra). FACW. River birch is commonly found in wetland floodplains of larger streams and rivers in the region. It fits well into buffer installations along with its companion species and has been used successfully in strip mine reclamation and in erosion control. River birch has no serious insect pests and is considered borer resistant. The principal leaf disease of river birch is anthracnose leaf blight caused by Gloeosporium betularum.

Swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor). FACW. Swamp white oak is a consistent though mostly a minor component of wet forest communities. Provides great wildlife forage. The trees can grow well in areas that are dry, poorly drained and wet, or even occasionally flooded, and they will tolerate significant soil compaction. Oak anthracnose can be damaging to individual trees but is generally not fatal.

Pumpkin ash (Fraxinus profunda). OBL. is a large tree of swamps and bottom lands where it often develops a swollen or pumpkin-shaped butt. Pumpkin ash is found locally along swamp margins and river bottoms. Pumpkin ash produces high-quality factory lumber and dimension material and is an important source of handle and implement stock. Pumpkin ash is very susceptible to fire. It is moderately susceptible to dieback during drought on the wettest sites.

White ash (Fraxinus Americana). FACU. The wood of white ash is valued for its strength, hardness, heavy weight, and elasticity. White ash is the most valuable timber tree of the various ashes. It also has been used in re-vegetating disturbed sites. Ash decline (or “ash dieback” or “ash yellows”) is the most serious problem affecting white ash. White ash is sensitive to ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, and associated acid deposition. Most of recent ash decline has occurred in areas with high levels of these gases.

Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata var. laevigata) FACW. is a common medium-size tree of moderate to fast growth, is most often found on clay soils of broad flats or shallow sloughs within the flood plains of major southern rivers. The tree is planted as an ornamental and as a street tree in residential areas in the lower South. Sugarberry mixed with hackberry supplies the lumber known as hackberry. Small amounts are used for dimension stock, veneer, and containers, but the main use of sugarberry wood is for furniture. The bark is thin and easily injured by fire. Ice also causes heavy damage to the crowns, breaking the main stem and branches which reduces growth and creates wounds that allow entrance of rot-causing fungi. There are some other diseases of the twigs and leaves, but none are of major importance.

Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides). FAC. Cottonwood makes its best growth on moist, welldrained, fine sandy loams or silt loams. It is planted on strip mine spoils for erosion control and wood production. Eastern cottonwood can be seriously damaged by wood boring insects that attacks the main stem, branches and root system. Many leaf feeding insects can also reduce the growth and vigor of young trees.

Red mulberry (Morus rubra). FACU. Red mulberry is found in floodplains, river valleys, and moist hillsides. It is fire intolerant. However, it colonizes post-fire sites when sufficient moisture is available. Red mulberry was used by several Native American tribes to treat a variety of ailments. Grown in its native habitat and using local seed stock, red mulberry should not be prone to debilitating pests.

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). FACU. Flowering dogwood is an important understory species in the eastern deciduous and southern coniferous forests. It is also found on floodplains, slopes, bluffs, ravines, gum swamps, along fencerows, and in old-field communities. Flowering dogwood has been planted on abandoned strip mines and used for urban forestry projects. Extreme soil moisture and flooding is detrimental to the survival of flowering dogwood. The tree can be uprooted in saturated soil. Excess water also leaves this plant susceptible to pests and diseases. The fruit of flowering dogwood is poisonous to humans.

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). FACU. It is extensively utilized for fencing, mine timbers, and landscaping ties. This tree also serves as a good erosion control plant on critical and highly disturbed areas. Black locust is adapted to a wide variety of soil types, but grows best on sites that are deep, well drained, and derived from limestone. There are 2 primary insects inflicting damage on black locust: locust leaf miner and black locust borer. Heart rot is the only noteworthy disease effecting black locust.

Slippery elm (Ulmus rubra). FAC. Sometimes called red elm, gray elm, or soft elm, this tree grows best and may reach 40 m (132 ft) on moist, rich soils of lower slopes and flood plains, although it may also grow on dry hillsides with limestone soils. It is abundant and associated with many other hardwood trees in its wide range. Bark beetles and wood borers generally cause little damage to vigorous trees although some can ultimately kill weakened or diseased trees. They also introduce stain and rot organisms into dead trees and manufactured products. The spread of Dutch elm disease is the most detrimental effect of bark beetle feeding. Slippery elm wood, although considered inferior to American elm, is used commercially for the same products: furniture, paneling, and containers. The seeds are eaten by birds and small animals.

Black ash (Fraxinus nigra). FACW. Black ash most commonly grows in moist to wet muck or shallow organic soils, especially in swamps, floodplains, terraces, ravines, and on small, poorly drained upland pockets. It is cold tolerant, good for wet soils, and relatively tolerant of atmospheric pollution. Black ash usually is mixed with eastern white cedar, tamarack, black spruce, balsam fir, American elm, red maple, and silver maple. A study based on an extensive survey of defects in Ontario forest trees concluded that black ash is the most defective of eight deciduous species. Deer browse heavily on young black ash and if poplars are scarce, beaver will cut down ash between 25 and 51 cm (10 to 20 in) in stump diameter.

Shellbark hickory (Carya laciniosa). FACU. Shellbark usually occurs on deep bottomland soils of rivers and creeks but can less commonly occur on dry, sandy soils and open cedar glades in northern portions of its range, at elevations of 20-300 meters. The wood of shellbark hickory is hard, heavy, strong, and very flexible, making it a favored wood for tool handles. It also is prized as fuelwood and charcoal. Although numerous insects and diseases affect hickories, shellbark hickory has no enemies that seriously threaten its development or perpetuation as a species.

Indicator Code	Indicator Status	Designation	Comment
OBL	Obligate Wetland	Hydrophyte	Almost always occur in wetlands
FACW	Facultative Wetland	Hydrophyte	Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands
FAC	Facultative	Hydrophyte	Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands
FACU	Facultative Upland	Nonhydrophyte	Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands
UPL	Obligate Upland	Nonhydrophyte	Almost never occur in wetlands