Plant Descriptions of
Accessions Offered in 2005
Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliot. ROSACEAE. ‘Morton’ Black Chokeberry. During the last ten years, this suckering shrub species has become very common in our region. And for good reason, as it has attractive white flowers in spring followed by shiny black fruits in autumn. Its fruits often attract songbirds and mammals. During the latter part of the fruit display, its glossy, dark green foliage can turn shades of orange and red creating even more aesthetic interest.
We have tested two populations of black chokeberry in the past: a large form (PI 323957), that is quite showy, but at a scale that can overwhelm a typical residential planting, and a wild population (PI 545687) from Michigan. Generally, these populations perform best in moist, organic soils that are neutral to acidic, but they have proven more widely adaptable to a range of different soil types.
This clone, ‘Morton’, was selected for its relatively fine texture, more compact growth habit, heavy fruit production, and wine-red fall color by Kris Bachtell at the Morton Arboretum from a wild population originating from Henpeck Bog in Kane County, IL. It is one of the selected introductions of the Chicagoland Grows program and is being marketed under the trademark Iroquois Beauty TM.
Ames 27371 was donated as rooted cuttings by Tim Woods from Spring Meadow Nursery, Grand Haven, MI. If you wish to test this accession, please sign and return the non-propagation agreement found at the end of this list.
Probable hardiness to USDA Zone 3. Plants offered are between 40 and 50 cm tall.
Cephalanthus occidentalis L.
RUBIACEAE. Buttonbush. Although native to our region, this shrub
is scarce in Midwestern landscapes. It
has two strong attributes that argue for its increased cultivation. First, it produces many showy, white spherical
inflorescences in the summer that are extremely attractive to butterflies and
other pollinating insects. Second, it is
one of few native shrubs that thrive in standing water (although it can be
successfully grown on drier sites, too).
Limiting its use are its large, ultimate size (often more that 2 meters
tall and wide), and its mature habit, which is open and somewhat
irregular. Surprisingly, this species
has never been evaluated in our Trials.
Ames 27336 was grown from seed collected in the fall of 2003
by Dr. Mark P. Widrlechner and Jeff Carstens from a wild population growing
along old ox-bows of the North Skunk River in the Chichaqua Wildlife Habitat
Park located in Polk County, IA.
Probable hardiness to USDA Zone 4. Plants offered are between 60 and 70 cm tall.
Foresteria neomexicana A. Gray. OLEACEAE. Grey desert olive (columnar selection). This is a highly branched, typically spreading shrub, which may sucker from the base on light soils. It can be used to make thickets or dense hedges to 4 meters tall. Leaves are oblong and grayish-green, and its bark is smooth and light gray to brown. Flowers appear in March to May in dense sessile clusters. In some years, the flowers appear before the leaves and briefly give an effect similar to the flowering of Cornus mas. Plants are dioecious. Bluish-black fruits ripen between June and September and are attractive to birds.
Grey desert olive (also known as New Mexico privet) is found along streams, hillsides, and mesas at elevations between 910 and 2,100 meters in pinyon-juniper, southwestern woodlands, and desert grasslands of northern and central Arizona and New Mexico, southern Utah and southwestern Colorado, and also in the Mojave Desert, chaparral, and oak woodlands of Arizona and southern California. As one might expect given this native range, the species is drought tolerant, but is also better adapted to high humidity conditions than are many other western shrubs.
This clone was selected for its narrow, upright growth habit by Dr. Mark P. Widrlechner from a seedling population of ‘Jemez’ (PI 596380), released in 1978 by the USDA-NRCS Los Lunas Plant Materials Center, Los Lunas, NM, and currently under evaluation in our Trials. We hope that it can help expand the limited range of columnar shrubs for the North Central States.
Ames 27629 was propagated from stem cuttings taken from the
selected plant growing at the North Central Regional Plant Introduction
Station. After 10 years, the parent
plant is now 2.4m tall and only 0.5m wide.
Probable hardiness to USDA Zone 4. Plants offered are between 80 and 90 cm tall.
Lonicera reticulata Raf.
CAPRIFOLIACEAE. Grape Honeysuckle. This
shrubby vine (formerly known as L.
prolifera) has terminal clusters of cheerful, tubular yellow or
yellow-purple flowers that appear in June and July, followed by bright red
berries. On flowering stems, its upper leaves are united at their
bases. Waxy-white leaf undersides contribute to the plant's ornamental
quality. This species is usually twining, but in open situations may
develop a shrub-like growth habit. The species is native from Ohio to
Tennessee, west to Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin. In Minnesota and Iowa,
this plant grows on limestone and should be adapted to calcareous soils.
Ames 27304 was collected as seed in the fall of 2003 by Dr. Mark P. Widrlechner and Jeff Carstens from a single, very vigorous vine with heavy fruit production growing in a black walnut tree along Bear Creek in the South Bear Creek Wildlife Area located in Winneshiek County, IA. It should be compared to Ames 23678, a clonal selection from Illinois that was distributed for testing in 2000.
Probable hardiness to USDA Zone 3. Plants offered are between 60 and 100 cm tall.
Populus alba L. SALICACEAE. White Poplar. Large, old white poplars with their silvery foliage that rustles even in a light breeze add a cooling touch to old farmsteads during hot Midwestern summers. With their fast growth and distinctive, light-colored spotted bark, they attract attention and continue to be planted. However, they often develop irregular spreading forms with many broken branches and so many root suckers that people often rue the day they planted them. This clonal selection was introduced to the United States in 1969 via a donation made by the Korean Institute of Forest Genetics, Office of Forestry, Omokuse, Suwon, South Korea. In forestry test plots in Ames, Iowa, it has developed into an attractive tree with a regular, wide-pyramidal form, strong branch angles, and relatively little cankering or other stem injury. Its leaves are somewhat less lobed than many other selections, hinting that it might be of hybrid origin, or at least of different stock than typically seen in North America. Not sure how much of a problem root suckering will be under sod, but we did find evidence of suckering in the clean-cultivated test plot.
PI 343437 was propagated from root cuttings collected in
early spring 2004 from trees established by Dr. Richard Hall, Iowa State
University, Dept. of Natural Resource Ecology & Management, who indicated
that Iowa State University had received this clone from the Forest Service in
Rhinelander, WI, as part of a Populus
assemblage made in the early 1970s.
Probable hardiness to USDA Zone 3. Plants offered are between 90 and 105 cm tall.
Links:
Back to list of 2005 plants
All Accessions Evaluated from 1984-Present
NC7 Woody Ornamental Trial Homepage
NC7 Plant
Introduction Station Homepage
Please send questions or comments to Mark Widrlechner at nc7mw@ars-grin.gov