Common Trees of Alabama
By: Kimberly Dockery
Northern Red Oak
The Northern Red Oak is an important source for hardwood lumber. It is
native to the Northeastern United States and southern Canada, and lives as far
south as southern Georgia and Alabama. The leaves on the Northern Red Oak
are elliptical shaped with seven to eleven shallow lobes. The upper side of the
leaf is a dull green with a dull light green underside that has tufts of hair in
angles along the mid-vein. In the fall, the leaves of this deciduous tree turn
brown or a dark red. The bark of this tree is a dark grey or blackish color. It is
rough and furrowed with scaly ridges. The inner bark of this tree is reddish in
color. Wood harvested from this tree is often used for flooring, furniture,
railroad cross ties, fence posts, and pulpwood. In forest stands, the Northern
Red Oak begins to bear fruit about age 25. The acorns are between 5/8 to 1
1/8 inches long and are egged shaped. The cup is reddish brown with tightly
overlapping scales. It takes two years for the fruit to mature.
Southern Red Oak
The Southern Red Oak is a deciduous tree primarily found in the
southeastern United States. However, it can extend as far north as southern
New Jersey and Ohio and has far south as Florida, and as far west as
Oklahoma. Leaves on the Southern Red Oak are dark green and smooth on
the upper side. The underside of this leaf has yellowish hairs. Leaves can
either have three lobes, which is found on younger trees or five to seven
lobes. It is often identified by its inverted bell-shaped leaf base as seen in the
picture. The coarse grain wood of this tree is often used for lumber, flooring
and some furniture making. Bark on this tree is thick and is brownish black
in color. It is deeply furrowed with small pebbly scales. The fruit on the
Southern Red Oak is a nearly globe-shaped acorn. It is about 1/2" long with a
slightly hairy, saucer-shaped cup. It takes two years for the fruit to mature on
this tree.
White Oak
The White Oak is native to eastern North America. This span covers all the
way north to southern Quebec and as far south as northern Florida. It can be
found as far east as Minnesota and as west as eastern Texas. Leaves on the
White Oak have a deep dark green upper surface and often turn red or even
purple in the fall. The undersides of these leaves are light green in color. The
leaves have seven to nine lobes and are oblong in shape. In the spring, when the
leaves first begin to appear, they are soft pink in color. The bark color can vary
from dark grey to white. It is often appears fissured and scaly. Smooth patches
are not uncommon on mature trees. The bark can also have a “scaly”
appearance as seen in this picture as the tree ages. When cut, the wood has a
light color and is often used for flooring because it is very strong. The acorn of
the white oak is oblong and the bowl shaped cap covers ¼ of the fruit.
Maturity takes one growing season and the cap always detaches at this time.
Hickory
The hickory is known for is hard wood and is often used to make tools and
equipment. It is also used when cooking meat to give it a smoky taste. The
hickory tree is in the walnut family. There are 17-19 species of Hickory trees
and about a dozen of these trees are native to North America. Hickory leaves
have a compound structure. The amount of leaflets found depends on the
species. The top side of the leaf is generally a dark green with a lighter green
underside. The leaves turn bright yellow in the fall. The bark of the hickory
tree varies from tan to grey in color depending on the species and has an
angled pith. With most species of hickory, when the tree is young, the bark is
smooth. As the tree ages, the bark develops scaly ridges. The fruit of the
hickory has a globular or oval nut. The fruit has a four-valved husk that is about
a ¼ inch thick and naturally opens in the fall upon maturity.
Sweetgum
The sweetgum tree is second in production to the oak family. The wood is
used for flooring, furniture, and for paper pulp which is often used to make
baskets. Long ago, pioneers scraped a resin-like solid from the bark to make
chewing gum. The sweetgum tree is easily identifiable by its star-shaped leaf.
The leaves are dark and glossy on top and paler on the underside with little
hairs. The leaves alternate with five to seven lobes. In the fall, the leaves turn
yellow, red, orange, and purple. The bark of the sweetgum tree is grey in color.
Young sweetgum trees have smooth bark with warty projections. As the tree
ages, the bark becomes deeply furrowed separated by scaly ridges. Twigs and
newly formed branches of the sweetgum have a corky appearance. The fruit of
the sweetgum tree are spiky green balls that turn brown with age. They are a
little over an inch wide. Each prickly point opens to let seeds out. Up to 50
seeds can be found in one fruit. The seeds are often distributed by the wind.
Dogwood
The dogwood tree is known for its beauty. It can live up to 80 years and is
native to Eastern North America. There are about 30-50 different species of
dogwoods. The leaves on the dogwood tree have a bright green surface and a
pale green underside. They are oval in shape and grow approximately five
inches long and two inches wide. In the fall, the leaves turn a beautiful purple
color. The dogwood tree blooms in the spring and is known for its striking
flowers that are usually yellow or white in color with rust-colored tinted tips.
The flowers consist of a yellow cluster of flowers in the middle surround by
pedal-like bracts. Flowers stay on the tree for two to three weeks. Following
the flowers are bright red football shaped fruits about a 1/2 inch long. The fruit
is loved by birds and other small animals. The bark on the dogwood tree
resembles that of alligator skin. It has reddish brown or reddish grey patches
separated by fissures. The bark of the dogwood was formally used by Native
Americans to reduce fevers. Wood from this tree is highly resistant to
cracking.
Yellow Poplar
The yellow poplar is also often called a tulip tree and is a member of the
magnolia family. The average height of this tree is 70 to 90 feet. The leaves are
tulip shaped, alternate, and simple. There are four lobes on the leaves and each
lobe is separated by notches. The leaf is smooth on both surfaces. The leaves
are dark green above and a lighter or pale green underneath. In the fall, the
leaves turn bright yellow or gold in color. Once the tree is 15 years old, it
begins the flowering process. From April to June, this tree produces a tulip
shaped light greenish-yellow flowers. The cone shaped fruit, clusters usually
persist on branches. The flowers are often hard to see because they emerge in
the upper part of the tree’s canopy. The bark on younger trees is often smooth
and light ashy grey in color with very shallow light furrows. With age the bark
becomes very thick having deep interlacing furrows and narrow rounded ridges.
The wood from this tree is fine grained and used for cabinets and furniture
framing.
Shortleaf Pine
The shortleaf pine is native to the Eastern United States and can be found in
22 states. This conifer tree can reach heights up to 100 feet tall. The needles
form in bundles of two or three mixed together and are about three to five
inches long. The needles are dark yellow green in color and are flexible. The
bark is scaly and dark on young trees which eventually turn into flat scaly
plates.Very small resin pockets may be present within the bark. The shortleaf
pine does not generally bear seeds until 20 years of age. The fruit of the
shortleaf pine is a cone that is greater than an inch long. The cone is oblong in
shape and is wider at the base than at the tip. It is also hard and dry with
scales and spines. This tree is important to commercial timber. The wood is
used for carpentry, construction, as well as for the manufacture of various
wood products.
Loblolly Pine
Since the growth rate for this tree is rapid, it is prized for lumber and
pulpwood. It is the most commercially important forest species in the southern
United States. This tree grows to a height of 90-110 feet tall. The dark green
needles of this tree are in bundles of three and grow five to nine inches long.
The needles usually last up to two years before they fall. They are generally stiff
and sometimes slightly twisted. The seed cones for the loblolly pine are green,
but when ripened turn rusty brown in color. They are three to five inches in
length and 1 to 1.5 inches wide. At the tip of each scale there is a sharp spine.
Cones drop their seeds in fall or winter, but remain on the tree for another
year. Mature bark is thick and bright reddish brown in color and divided by
small fissures into broad flat topped plates covered with thin scales.