NC7 Woody Ornamental Trials

Plant Descriptions of Accessions Offered in 2002

 Abies nordmanniana (Steven) Spach  PINACEAE.  Caucasian fir.  This fir, a native of Asia Minor and the Caucasus is a fine textured, densely branched tree with a narrow, pyramidal shape.  Under cultivation, the Caucasian fir grows to 40 to 60+ feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide. It typically holds living branches to the ground.  Needles are 1 to 1.5 inches long and dark green in color.  Two white stomatal bands run on the underside of the needles.  Upper needles are shorter and point forward.  This tree is reported to be one of the easiest firs to grow, growing on acidic, neutral to somewhat alkaline conditions, and sandy, loamy or heavier clay soils.  It can grow in full shade to full sun.  This fir prefers moist but well drained soils.  It is unknown how well it will handle Midwest summer heat.  The literature and our experience with the seedlings in containers suggest this accession is slow growing.

Ames 26016 was supplied as bare root seedlings (P-2) in March of 2000 by Lawyer Nursery, Inc.   The seedlings were potted at NCRPIS and grown on for another year.  Lawyer Nursery obtained seeds from trees growing in the Northern Caucasus Mountains of Georgia near the town of Ambrolauria.  Pictures of this species can be found on the internet at: http://www.arborea.se/abiesnor.htm .           

Probable hardiness USDA Zone 4.  Plants offered are approximately 1 foot tall.

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Cornus sanguinea L.  CORNACEAE.  Bloodtwig dogwood.  This dogwood has been cultivated in Europe for centuries, and may be a useful addition to your local area’s dogwood palette, especially for areas north and west of Ames.  The name of this plant is a bit of a misnomer; only the first-year stems show moderate to slight blood-red colors and are more typically green.  Bloodtwig dogwood is a multi-stemmed, rounded, spreading shrub reaching from 6 to 15 feet in both height and width.  Creamy white flowers appear in late May and early June on 2 inch diameter flat-topped cymes.  In August and September, the drupes mature to a shiny purplish black.  Fall colors of our containerized plants were a nice combination of many shades of red.  Pictures of these plants and the parent plants in the Ukraine can be found at: 
http://www.ars-grin.gov/~nc7ao/TempFiles/NC72002PlantPics/Cornus_A25500&01.html .

Ames 25500 and A25501 were collected as seed by Mark Widrlechner, Bob Schutzki, Vasiliy Yukhnovskyy, and Victor Sviatetsky in September 1999. 
    Ames 25500 was collected in Kiev, Ukraine from large arching shrubs up to 16 feet tall along the edge of a road bank near a lake across a street from the Dendrology Building, National Agricultural University campus.  The plants were in partial shade, 5 to 10% slope with a southwestern exposure, and growing in sandy loam soil with good drainage.  The latitude was 50 deg. 22 min. 59 sec. North, Longitude: 30 deg. 30 min. 14 sec. East.  Elevation: 140 meters.  Associated vegetation included Carpinus and Quercus.
    Ames 25501 was collected from Kharkiv Province, Ukraine near Krupchany at the edge of a forest.  The parent plants were growing in partial shade, 0 to 1% slope with a western exposure in clay loam soil with good drainage.  Latitude: 50 deg. 04 min. 20 sec. North, Longitude: 35 deg. 48 min. 51 sec. East.  Elevation: 200 meters.  Associated vegetation included Quercus robur and Acer campestre.
    While we do not expect that these 2 accessions to pose a threat to natural habitats, given their attractive fruits, we have advised evaluating cooperators that it would be worthwhile to monitor plantings for natural reproduction of these accessions and to report such reproduction to us if observed.

Probable hardiness USDA Zone 4.  Plants offered are approximately 2.5 to 3 feet tall.

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Cotinus coggygria Scop.  ANACARDIACEAE.  Smokebush.   Although easily obtained in the trade, it is hoped this accession from the Ukraine may show better adaptation to colder and drier climatic conditions.  Smokebush is a multi-stemmed shrub that can grow up to 15 feet tall and wide.  The most ornamental feature of smokebush is the show provided by the sterile hairs on the flower pedicels and peduncles of panicles that sometimes reach 8 inches in length.  These hairs give the plants a “smokey” appearance from June through September.  Our plants also had a display of brilliant red and purple fall colors.  A picture of this display can be found at:
http://www.ars-grin.gov/~nc7ao/TempFiles/NC72002PlantPics/Cotinus_NA69997.html .  This plant is best used in massings and hedges but its branches may not be dense enough for effective screening.  Smokebush has a coarse winter texture.

NA 69997 was collected as seed by Mark Widrlechner, Bob Schutzki, Vasiliy Yukhnovskyy, and Victor Sviatetsky in September 1999.  The plants were growing as a mass of 10 feet high shrubs at the edge of a pine/oak forest at the southwest edge of Okhtyrka, Sumy Province, Ukraine.  The plants were in full sun, 0-1% slope, and in extremely sandy, dry soil.  Latitude: 50 deg. 15 min. 47 sec. North, Longitude: 34 deg. 50 min. 43 sec. East.  Elevation: 116 meters.  Associated plants included Pinus sylvestris , Quercus robur, and Euonymus.

Probable hardiness USDA Zone 4b.  Plants offered are approximately 2 feet tall.

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Duetzia glabrata Kom.  HYDRANGEACEAE.  Smooth Deutzia.   The literature is sparse on this shrub.  Smooth Deutzia is native to the Korean peninsula, northeast China, and the Russian Far East.  The Flora of China reports this species is found in “mixed forests, thickets, mountain slopes; 300-1300 m.”  Rehder reports this shrub can grow to 10 feet tall.  Our 4 year-old specimens are 4½ feet tall, vigorous, upright shrubs that produce loose, many-flowered 1.5 to 3 inch wide corymbs of approximately ½ inch wide white flowers in late May.  Although moderately coarse in winter appearance, smooth Deutzia has striking, peeling light tan bark on older-growth stems.  Our plants do sucker, but only to a moderate degree.

NA 70067 was collected from Jilin Province, China in August, 1994 by collectors from the University of Helsinki.  The plants were growing in an undisturbed cool-temperate forest near a small rivulet in the Mt. Changbai area, Hong shi forest, Antu Xian.  Latitude: 42 deg. 20 min.  North, Longitude: 129 deg. 10 min. East.  Our three original plants were donated by The Morton Arboretum , and plants sent to cooperators are rooted cuttings of those three plants.

Probable hardiness USDA Zone 4.  Plants offered are approximately 1.5 feet tall.

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Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.  FAGACEAE.  Durmast Oak.   A native to Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, the durmast oak is similar in appearance to the English oak.  Morphological differences from English oak include the nearly stalkless acorns, the lack of auriculate leaf  bases, and longer stalked leaves.  Mature durmast oaks are large, stately trees with thick trunks and wide canopies.  Rare in the trade, they can be found in U.S. arboreta where mature trees typically reach heights of 80+ feet.  The seedlings offered did show signs of powdery mildew this past summer, but this was observed occurring last fall on seedlings growing in Danish nurseries as well.  When growers were asked about it, they replied that the symptoms lessened as the trees matured.

Ames 26147 was grown from seed donated in 2000 by Vasiliy Yukhnovskyy of the National Agricultural University of Ukraine.  He collected the acorns from the Svaliava region of the Carpathians, near Poliana, Ukraine.  The habitat was a natural forest.  Latitude: 48 deg. 39 min. North, Longitude: 22 deg. 58 min. East. 

Probable hardiness USDA Zone 5.  Plants offered are approximately 2 feet tall.

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Shepherdia argentea (Pursh) Nutt.  ELAEGNACEAE.  Silver Buffaloberry.  This shrub is native from Newfoundland to Alaska, south to Maine, Ohio, northern Mexico and Oregon.  It typically grows 6 to 10 feet tall, and the summer foliage is silver-green to gray-green.  Flowers are small, yellow, and inconspicuous.  The mature drupe-like fruit is red from June through August.  It is well adapted to poor, alkaline soils and droughty conditions.

Ames 23668 is a single-plant selection propagated by cuttings taken from a fastigiate seedling from a population of Shepherdia ‘Sakakawea’ (PI 478005) that was distributed for trial in 1996.  PI 478005 was donated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service at the Bismarck, ND Plant Materials Center and was known to be well adapted to the northern Great Plains.  The single-plant selection propagated was about 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide.  Because there are so few gray-leaved fastigiate shrubs in the trade, we hope this characteristic carries true with the plants offered to cooperators.

Probable hardiness USDA Zone 2.  Plants offered are approximately 2 to 4 feet tall.

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Sorbus aucuparia L.  ROSACEAE.  Mountain Ash.  A native to Europe and western Asia, the mountain ash is a popular landscape tree in parts of the United States with cooler climates and where adequate moisture prevails.  However, its susceptibility to pests and diseases in hotter, humid climates limits its range of adaptability.  Ornamental features include its relatively small size (25 to 40 feet tall), late spring clusters of white flowers, feathery appearance of the pinnately compound leaves, and late summer clusters of bright orange-red berries that persist after leaf fall.  A picture of the autumn color of the plants offered can be found at:
http://www.ars-grin.gov/~nc7ao/TempFiles/NC72002PlantPics/Sorbus_A25546.html .

The plants offered for evaluation through the NC-7 Trials were grown from seed collected from trees growing on a path at the National Agricultural University in Kiev, Ukraine, USDA Zone 5b.  Collected by Mark Widrlechner, Bob Schutzki, Vasiliy Yukhnovskyy, and Victor Sviatetsky in September 1999, the trees were located in partial shade, 0 to 5% slope, sandy loam soil with good drainage.  Latitude: 50 deg. 23 min. 11 sec. North, Longitude: 30 deg. 30 min. 35 sec. East.  Elevation: 140 meters.  Associated vegetation included Acer, Quercus robur, and Syringa .  From the location and vigor of the parent plants, it is hoped this population will prove more robust at some of the more humid and warmer NC-7 Trial sites.  While we do not expect that this accession poses a threat to natural habitats, given its attractive fruits, we have advised evaluating cooperators that it would be worthwhile to monitor plantings for natural reproduction of this accession and to report such reproduction to us if observed.

Probable hardiness USDA Zone 3.  Plants offered are approximately 2.5 to 4 feet tall.

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Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz  ROSACEAE.  Wild Service Tree.  This tree, native to Europe and the Mediterranean, has a handsome, rounded growth habit with a strong, “formal” branching pattern, and strongly lobed, waxy, bright green leaves.  In late spring it produces small whitish flowers in terminal clusters.  Autumn fruits are brown.  Mark reports that many of the trees he saw in the Ukraine had showy bright orange to red autumn foliage.  Mature trees can reach heights of 40+ feet with a 30 feet wide crown.  In Europe it is used as a shade and street tree.  In the wild, it is often found on limestone-derived and clay soils growing with oak, cherry, and other Sorbus species. 

Ames 26148 and 26149 were collected as seeds from cultivated plants in Ukraine by Vasiliy Yukhnovsky of the National Agricultural University of Ukraine in October, 2000. 
Ames 26148 was collected in the National Botanical Garden, Kiev, USDA Zone 5b.  Latitude: 50 deg. 26 min. North, Longitude: 30 deg. 31 min. East.  Elevation: 120 meters.
Ames 26149 was collected in the Dendrology Garden at the National Agricultural University, Kiev.  Latitude: 50 deg. 22 min. 59 sec. North, Longitude: 30 deg. 30 min. 14 sec. East.  Elevation: 140 meters.

Probable hardiness for both accessions USDA Zone 5a?  Plants offered are approximately 2 to 3 feet tall.

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Ulmus parvifolia Jacq.  ULMACEAE.  Chinese Elm ‘Dynasty.’   Selected by the late Dr. Frank Santamour at the U.S. National Arboretum , this Chinese elm has many attributes that make it a promising addition to the growing list of elm cultivars.  ‘Dynasty’ is a vase-shaped, fast-growing elm with a small, rounded crown.  It typically grows to only 20 to 40 feet tall, but may grow as tall as 60 feet.  Leaves are approximately 2.5 inches long, and dark green in summer.  They can turn a nice dark red in autumn.  The National Arboretum reports that the bark of ‘Dynasty’ has the ornamental exfoliating bark but with less color contrast than is typical of Chinese elms.  ‘Dynasty’ has proved to have good resistance to Dutch elm disease, and elm leaf beetle and Japanese beetle infestations.  It is moderately fast growing.

Cuttings of PI 486339 were donated to NCRPIS by Frank Santamour in 1999.  Plant numbers were increased by rooting cuttings taken from the donated stock plants.  An article announcing the release of ‘Dynasty’ can be found in HortScience (Frank S. Santamour, Jr., “‘Dynasty’ Chinese Elm,” HortScience 19(6): 898-899).  If you do not have access to this article, and would like a copy, please let us know, and we will be happy to mail you one.

Probable hardiness is unclear, perhaps USDA Zone 5a.  Plants offered are approximately 3 to 4 feet tall.


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Links:
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All Accessions Evaluated from 1984-Present
NC7 Woody Ornamental Trial Homepage
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Please send questions or comments to Mark Widrlechner at nc7mw@ars-grin.gov