Leaf and
Tree Finder
Red Hickory (Carya ovalis)
Red Hickory
– Hickory wood is often used in the creation of
sporting goods--for example, in the shafts of golf
clubs, tennis racquets, or even baseball and
softball bats. In addition, hickory is often used to
form the handles of "striking-tools," such as
hammers, picks, et cetera. Finally, hickory can be
used as a plywood face or veneer--and recently,
rustic hickory has become more and more in
demand as "distressed" hardwood flooring has
increased in popularity.
Black Willow (Salix nigra)
Black willow roots are very bitter, and have
been used as a substitute for quinine in the
past. Ethnobotanical uses of black willow by
various Native American tribes include
basketry, and treatment of fever, headache,
and coughs. The bark of the tree contains
salicylic acid, a chemical compound similar to
aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid).
River Birch (Betula nigra)
Native Americans used the boiled sap as a
sweetener similar to maple syrup, and the
inner bark as a survival food. It is usually too
contorted and knotty to be of value as a timber
tree.
Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)
Green Ash is one of the most widely planted
ornamental trees throughout the United States.
It is very popular, used in making electric guitars
because it can be somewhat lighter than white
ash without sacrificing too much in tone.
American Sycamore (Platanus
occidentalis)
Humans use American Sycamore wood for
many uses, including furniture, flooring,
butchers' blocks, particle board, boxes, crates,
and baskets.
White Oak (Quercus alba)
White Oak is used for barrels. The USS
Constitution is made of White Oak.
White Basswood (Tilia heterophylla)
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
The wood of red maple is soft and may be used for smaller materials such as clothes
hangers, clothespins, box veneer, interior finish, and some types of furniture.
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus
virginiana)
Eastern Redcedars are used by people in many ways. The wood of this tree is
very attractive, and workable, so it is used for fenceposts, poles, paneling,
furniture, woodenware, pencils, bedding for pets, and chests. It has some
insect-repelling properties, so it is used to help repel clothes moths. Shavings
are put into closets, or liners.
Yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
The wood is light, soft, easily worked, with
wide cream-colored sapwood and greenishyellow heartwood. It is used for lumber, trim,
veneers, flake and chip boards, plywood, core
stock of furniture, paper pulp and fuel. Sprouts
and buds are a major food of deer, and birds
and squirrels eat the seeds. The flowers are an
important nectar source for honey production.
Red Mulberry (Morus rubra)
The tree branches pruned during the fall
season (after the leaves have fallen) are cut
and used to make durable baskets supporting
agriculture and animal husbandry.
Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica)
Black gum wood is heavy, strong, and soft. It is
used for furniture, lumber pulp, gunstocks, and
flooring. Because of its brilliant autumn color,
it is sometimes planted as an ornamental. The
flowers are the source of a honey.
Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda)
Loblolly Pine is the most important and widely
cultivated timber species in the southern
United States. Because it grows rapidly on a
wide range of sites, it is extensively planted for
lumber and pulpwood.
Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
• The fruit of Prunus serotina is suitable for making jam and
cherry piesThe wood of P. serotina is also used for cooking
and smoking foods, where it imparts a unique flavor.
Water Oak (Quercus nigra)
Water Oak has been used for timber and for
fuel by people in the southern states since the
17th century. The wood is generally sold as
"red oak", mixed with the wood from other red
oaks.
Post Oak (Quercus stelleta)
The wood of post oak, commercially called
white oak, is classified as moderately to very
resistant to decay (16). It is used for railroad
ties, lathing, siding, planks, construction
timbers, mine timbers, trim molding, stair
risers and treads, flooring (its highest volume
finished products), fenceposts, pulp, veneer,
particle boards, and fuel. The bark provides
tannin, decorative and protective mulch in
landscaping, and fuel.
American Elder (Sambucus canadensis)
Only the blue or purple berries of elderberry
are edible. Edible berries and flower are used
for medicine, dyes for basketry, arrow shafts,
flute, whistles, clapper sticks, and folk
medicine.
American Elm (Ulmus americana)
The wood of American elm is moderately
heavy, hard, and stiff. It has interlocked grain
and is difficult to split, which is an advantage
for its use as hockey sticks and where bending
is needed. It is used principally for furniture,
hardwood dimension, flooring, construction
and mining timbers, and sheet metal work.
Some elm wood goes into veneer for making
boxes, crates, and baskets, and a small
quantity is used for pulp and paper
manufacture.