Akebia trifoliata (Thunb.) Koidz. Three-leaflet Akebia. This monoecious vine can grow to 6 m or more. Leaves have three leaflets each, are broad-ovate to ovate, 3-7 cm long, emarginate, and usually rounded or truncate at base. They are glaucescent or greenish beneath. Pistillate flowers are maroon-red, 2-2.5 cm across; staminate flowers are more numerous, pale purple, on pedicels 1-3 mm long. Fruit are 6-8 cm long and pale purple. Hortus Third reports that the fruit are "edible but insipid."
Ames 19101 is a clonal selection propagated from a single six-year-old, 2.0 m tall by 1.0 m wide vine, grown at the North Central PI Station. It has attractive dark blue-green foliage, and should be considered for trellises, fences and other structures. The parent plant was received from the Dawes Arboretum in 1992. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 4b.
Alnus hirsuta (Spach) Rupr. Manchurian Alder. This tree selection is reported to be very vigorous and a rapid grower and attaining a height of 20 m This tree's habit is broad-pyramidal and with attractive silvery, gray bark. Whereas other Alnus accessions at the North Dakota State University Arboretum have declined or died back severely from periodic drought stress, this accession has withstood droughty conditions very well. Leaves are broad-ovate to elliptic-ovate, 8-14 cm long, acute, rounded at base, coarsely doubly serrate and shallowly lobed, dark green above, glaucous and rufous-pubescent beneath; petiole 2-4 cm long, pubescent.
Ames 23248 (NDSU Selection 7888) is a clonal selection propagated from a seedling planted in the NDSU Arboretum The plants were donated by Dr. Dale E. Herman for testing in the NC-7 Regional Woody Ornamental Trials. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 3b.
Callicarpa dichotoma (Lour.) K. Koch. 'Issai'. Purple Beautyberry. This shrub grows 1.0 to 1.2 m high with a slightly greater spread. Branches arch and touch the ground at the tips. Leaves are medium green and borne in one plane the length of the stems. Leaves are elliptic or obovate, 3-8 cm long, acuminate, cuneate, coarsely serrate except toward the base and apex, glandular beneath and light green. Petioles are 2-4 mm long. Cymes of pinkish-lavender flowers are 1.2-2 cm broad and borne on stalks above the foliage from June to August. Bright lilac-violet fruits are 3-4 mm across and displayed throughout October. Very likely should be treated as an herbaceous perennial in much of the North Central region. Beautyberries tend to get a ratty appearance in our region if they don't receive a bit more maintenance. Cutting them back to the ground in winter or early spring insures the new growth will not have to compete with last year's winter-injured stems.
Ames 23833 is a Japanese selection obtained from Spring Meadow Nursery, Inc., Grand Haven, Michigan. It received the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit . Compare this cultivar with Callicarpa dichotoma PI 564827 that was distributed in 1993. The cultivar name, 'Issai,' means, "fruiting at a young age." Probable hardiness USDA Zone 5b as woody plant, perhaps 4b as a dieback shrub.
Cercis chinensis
Bge. Chinese Redbud. This
species, while often a tree in the wild, is usually a small, erect, multistemmed
shrub of up to 3 m tall in cultivation. Leaves are suborbicular, 7-12 cm
long, deeply cordate, glabrous, lustrous above. Flowers are rosy-purple,
1.5-1.8 cm long, and plants bloom about the same time as C. canadensis.
Fruit pods are 7-12 cm long, narrow. This shrub is very handsome in bloom,
as showy or showier than C. canadensis, and the leaves are quite
handsome throughout the growing season.
Ames 2924 is a clonal selection propagated from a 13-year-old specimen at the Plant Introduction Station. This specimen withstood -32F (-36C) during the winter of 1995-6 with some stem dieback. The original plant was propagated from seed collected from an unknown location in China in 1983 and donated in 1984 by the Chicago Botanic Garden. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 5a.
Cornus amomum ssp. obliqua Raf. Pale Dogwood. This shrub grows to 1.8 to 3.0 m tall with a similar spread. While similar to C. amomum in appearance, it is usually more loosely branched and the stems are purple to yellowish red. Leaves are elliptic-ovate to oblong, 5-8 cm long, acuminate, cuneate, dark green and glabrous above, glaucous beneath with grayish white or brownish hairs on the veins. Yellowish-white flowers are in cymes 4-5 cm across. Fruit varies from a striking iridescent blue to nearly white.
Ames 13698 is a clonal selection propagated from a 7-year-old, 2.5 m tall specimen at the Plant Introduction Station that has purple to russet fall foliage with excellent leaf quality throughout the season. Plants of this accession were donated to the National Plant Germplasm System by the Cary Arboretum in New York. The accession was originally collected in the wild in Iroquois County, Illinois. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 3b.
Cornus pumila Koehne. This is a dense shrub that slowly grows up to 2 m tall. Leaves are crowded, broad-ovate, 4-8 cm long, short-acuminate, abruptly contracted at the base, dark green above, paler beneath and appressed-pubescent. Newest leaves may have wine-red tips and edges, with wine-red inter-veinal areas in young leaves; mature leaves are a dark green. Dense, long-peduncled cymes are 5-7 cm broad. The white inflorescences are club-shaped. The fruit is black.
Ames 21899 is a clonal selection from two clonally identical plants established in 1994 at the Plant Introduction Station. These two plants withstood -36C during the winter of 1995-6. The original plants were received as rooted cuttings from the Morton Arboretum. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 4b(?).
Fraxinus rhynchophylla (Hance) Hemsl. This tree grows to 15 m tall in the wild. This species has been rarely tested in the US. Leaflets are usually 5 per leaf, broad-ovate or obovate, rarely oblong-obovate, 6-15 cm long, acuminate, rarely obtusish, coarsely crenate-serrate, rarely subentire, usually pubescent on the veins beneath, rarely glabrous. The rachis is usually rufous-pubescent at the nodes.
Ames 22266 was propagated from seeds obtained in 1994 at the Song Shan Forest preserve, Yanqing County, Beijing Municipality, China. Parent plants were growing in full sun on well-drained soils above a boulder field. The climate at the collection site would suggest good drought and heat tolerance. The seedlings offered showed some purple fall color. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 6.
Hydrangea paniculata Sieb. Panicle Hydrangea. This upright shrub or low-branched small tree can grow up to 8 m tall and 7 m wide; but is often 4 m tall or less. Our selection appears to be even smaller (see below). The leaves are opposite though sometimes whorled on flowering stems, elliptic or ovate, acuminate, rounded or cuneate at base, 5-12 cm long, serrate, sparingly pubescent or nearly glabrous above, setose-pubescent beneath, especially on the veins. The July flowers are in large panicles 15-25 cm long, white. Fruit are capsules with the calyx-limb about the middle.
PI 479429 was clonally propagated from a 1.2 m tall, 13-year-old specimen at the Plant Introduction Station. It was selected for its reduced height and compact form. Original seed was collected from the SW slope of Mt. Iwo, Hokkaido, Japan (latitude: 43 deg. 36 min. North; longitude 144 deg. 26 min. East) in 1982. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 4b.
Lycium chinense Mill. Chinense Matrimony-vine. This rambling, usually thornless shrub has arching and often prostrate branches to 4 m long. Branchlets are light yellowish gray. Leaves are rhombic-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3-8 cm long, acute or obtusish, broad-to-narrow-cuneate, and bright green. Flowers are purple, about 1 cm long. Fruit are ovoid to oblong, 1.5-2.5 cm long and scarlet to orange-red.
Ames 23679 was clonally propagated from cuttings obtained from the Morton Arboretum This species is noted for its appearance in fall and winter when its long branches are laden with fruit. The Morton specimen was trained to a trellis. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 5a.
Platanus acerifolia 'Liberty'. This vigorous, single-stemmed tree can attain a height of 20 m Leaves are remotely 5-lobed. Bark of young trees is greyed-orange. Fresh bark revealed by natural bark shedding in summer is yellow-green and after one year greyed-green. Leaves are remotely 5-lobed and the length of the leaf blade is about 70% of the leaf width. Fruit balls generally are 1 or 2 per stalk, sessile with short distance between balls. Pedigree of this accession: P. orientalis (Turkey) P. occidentalis (Maryland).
PI 479708 was clonally propagated from cuttings taken from two field-grown clonally identical specimens at the Plant Introduction Station. Those two original specimens were obtained from the National Arboretum in 1992. This accession is resistant to sycamore anthracnose disease and to trunk decay caused by wounds. Our observations confirm that this accession is much more tolerant of anthracnose than are local sycamores. Probable hardiness USDA Zone to at least 5a.
Pterocarya stenoptera DC. Chinese Wingnut. This tree is broad-spreading, rounded, and often with several stems near the base. In cultivation, it grows up to 16 m high and, if grown as a specimen, has a similar spread. When the trunk is injured, some root suckering may result. Leaves are 20-40 cm long. Leaflets are 11-23 per leaf, oval-oblong, acute or sometimes obtusish, serrulate, 4-10 cm long, slightly pubescent on the midrib and veins beneath. Fall color is yellow to yellow-green. The species is monoecious; in June, male plants have 15 cm long greenish catkins; female plants have up to 50 cm long catkin-like inflorescences. Fruit are 1.5-2 cm long nutlets oblong to oblong-lanceolate with upright 2-3 cm long wings and hang as racemes 20-30 cm long. Racemes hang on slender, pendent 36-60 cm long spikes. The fruit are very graceful and of interest in the fall when they turn from green to yellow and finally brown.
PI 596388 was obtained from cuttings from a field-grown seed population at the Plant Introduction Station. The field specimens, planted in the spring of 1989, are approximately 12 m tall and, remarkably, showed little or no injury to a minimum temperature of -36C during the winter of 1995-6. The original seed, donated by the Holden Arboretum in 1985, was obtained from the wild at Kwangnung Forest Research Station, Kyong Gi Do, Namyongju Gun, South Korea growing along a stream in a flood plain. These trees might be considered for parks, schools, golf courses and as street trees. They can be broad-spreading and used as an alternate to honey locusts, ashes, and maples. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 5a.
Salix exigua Nutt. 'Silver Sands'. Sandbar Willow. This native shrub grows up to 2 m, suckers, and can form thickets. Leaves are subsessile, linear to linear-lanceolate, nearly entire, gray-green, silky. One-year old stems are orange; second and third years' growth is yellow. Winter and summer form is medium to medium-fine in texture.
PI 596532 was donated by Michael Knudson who received propagules in 1983 from Dr. Dale Herman who in turn received this accession from Bill Smith of Smith Nursery, Charles City, Iowa. This cultivar is recommended for use in riparian plantings. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 3.
Taxus hunnewelliana Rehd. 'Richard Horsey'. Hybrid Yew. This evergreen shrub grows up to 1.0 m high and 8.0-10.0 m across. Bark of older branches is a rich reddish-brown and fissured to expose darker areas. Wood of current year's growth is bright olive-green and glabrous. Leaves are decussate, compressed horizontally, petiolate, simple, entire, lanceolate, acute, mucronate. Leaf bases are decurrent. Leaves are 1.0-2.0 cm long and 2.0-2.5 mm wide on second year growth and persist for four years. Fruits are one seeded, 8-10 mm long, red, pedicilate, solitary, axillary and with one to several on second year growth.
Ames 23251 was donated as rooted cuttings from Dr. Dale Herman, North Dakota State University. This cultivar is noted for its dense branching habit and dark green winter color. This is an interspecific hybrid between Taxus cuspidata and T. canadensis. As a source of winter hardiness, the T. canadensis parentage probably makes this accession the hardiest Taxus cultivar. It was originally chosen by Dr. George L. Slate from a selected group of seedlings grown in Durand-Eastman Park, Rochester, New York. It was named by the National Arboretum at the suggestion of Dr. Slate in honor of Richard Horsey of the Rochester Parks Department. Probable hardiness USDA Zone 3b.
Please send questions or comments to Mark Widrlechner at nc7mw@ars-grin.gov