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1. key points about Quercus phellos
• common, intolerant, fast-growing pioneer on alluvial bottomlands where it attains
large size (7 ft. dhb, 130 ft. height) so tolerant of poorly drained and droughty
soils
• valuable timber tree for lumber and plywood, marketed as “red” oak (and in this
subgenus)
• an outstanding shade tree for urban and rural landscapes because of form and
texture, often the most abundant planted tree in some southern cities
• acorns important to wildlife

2. key points about Quercus nigra
• common, intolerant, fast-growing pioneer on
alluvial bottomlands and moist uplands
• also a “red” oak, wood used for lumber, plywood
and fuel; widely planted as shade tree

3. key points about Liquidambar styraciflua
• intolerant, fast-growing pioneer on poorly drained uplands and old fields, best
growth in alluvial bottomlands
• regenerates aggressively by seed and root and basal sprouts
• one of more important commercial hardwood species, especially for plywood and
pulpwood for paper
• planted for mine land reclamation
• widely planted as urban and rural shade tree but fruit can be a nuisance

4. key points about Ilex opaca
• very tolerant, slow-growing, subcanopy species of bottomlands and lower slope
positions
• very salt (spray and runoff) tolerant
• wood is white, very hard, shock resistant – used for veneer, cabinetry, handles,
carvings, and specialty uses
• largest of native Ilex species that include evergreen and deciduous shrubs,
depending on region
• an exceptional evergreen ornamental where hardy, especially female varieties
(need both sexes for fruit display); many varieties available

5. We’ll cover the four most important
pine species of the Southeast:
Pinus echinata – shortleaf pine
Pinus taeda – loblolly pine
Pinus elliottii – slash pine
Pinus palustris – longleaf pine
needle and cone length increases
from top to bottom of this list

6. key points about Pinus echinata
• moderately shade tolerant to intolerant tree on wide range of soils except littleleaf
disease can be a problem on poorly drained sites; best growth on well-drained
alluvial soils
• occurs from the Coastal Plain through Piedmont, into the southern and central
Appalachians (the only pine in this group in the mountains, and abundant west of
the Mississippi River)
• can sprout at the base when young and main stem is injured
• wood important for lumber, plywood, and pulpwood
• southern pine beetle can be devastating but has high resistance to fusiform rust
which devastates many southern pines

7. key points about Pinus taeda
• moderately shade tolerant, aggressive, fast-growing pioneer that
dominates cutover and abandoned farmlands in region; prior to such
disturbance was mostly found on alluvial bottomlands where it has a
large stature
• extensively planted in plantations for wood products and for land
restoration
• leading commercial timber species in the southern US, wood used for
lumber, poles, and pulpwood for paper
• old-growth stands of this and other southern pines are critical habitat
for federally-listed red-cockaded woodpecker
• fusiform rust and southern pine beetle can be very serious
• much genetic “improvement” research done on this species to
improve its growth and wood quality

8. key points about Pinus elliottii
• intolerant, very fast growing tree on the Coastal Plain of Deep South
• prior to fire suppression in region, naturally restricted to wet depressions; now
aggressively colonizes cutover and abandoned farm lands
• fusiform rust most serious problem
• one of two southern pines used for naval stores; wood used for pulp and timber
• var. densa, South Florida slash pine, is not important commercially but is common
in places like the Everglades (rocklands); exhibits a grass stage similar to longleaf
pine

9. • intolerant (most of all southern pines), fast growing (once out of grass
stage) tree on well-drained, acidic, often sandy soils with low organic
matter, primarily on Coastal Plain
• also found on poorly drained soils on slopes and in depressions
(although called “flatlands”)
• has long (5 to 10 years) grass stage during which there is little height
growth
• a fire-climax, once the dominant in extensive wiregrass-longleaf pine
savannas that have nearly all been eliminated from the region;
prescribed burning an essential management tool
• one of two southern pines used for naval stores; timber regarded as
exceptional, especially old growth
• pine-straw also valuable
• highly susceptible to brown spot needle blight
• state tree of Alabama
key points about Pinus palustris

10. key points about Taxodium distichum
• moderately tolerant, long lived (to 2700 years!) fast-growing, very large tree of bottomlands and
permanently flooded areas (“deepwater swamps”)
• can sprout at base and along the bole if main stem is damaged
• under flooded conditions produces “knees” or pneumatophore (“breathing roots”) – their function
is not believed to be physiological but they are often a striking feature surrounding the tree
• very valuable timber species, wood is rot resistant
• planted as an ornamental, including much further north of range, on wet to dry sites
• nutria are serious pest where baldcypress is planted for reforestation
• pondcypress is either T. d. var. imbricarium or Taxodium ascendens

11. key points about Chamaecyparis thyoides
• intolerant to moderately tolerant species of freshwater swamps and bogs, usually
on organic (peat) soils and in pure stands
• usually within a few hundred miles of eastern seaboard although intolerant to
salinity
• can reproduce by stem layering
• wood highly rot resistant, valuable for posts and log cabins; logs historically
“mined” from swamps
• planted as ornamental, including its few varieties, but deer devastate

13. key points about Pinus flexilis
• intolerant, long-lived pioneer of exposed sites near
timberline, and other dry sites downslope
• replaced downslope (in subalpine zone) by subalpine fir
and Engelmann spruce
• important primarily for watershed protection and source of
food for small animals (e.g, Clark’s nutcracker – can carry
about 125 seeds to 14+ miles away)
• nice ornamental in eastern US where it grows much larger
and more upright

14. key points about Pinus ponderosa
• intolerant, fast-growing, long lived, drought tolerant tree of lower montane
and upper foothill zones where it often occurs in savanna-like stands; has
deep taproot
• one of largest Pinus species in world, biggest in California and Oregon
forests (will revisit)
• most widely distributed Pinus species in North American, at relatively low
elevations in western mountain ranges
• most economically important Pinus species in U.S., furnishing more
lumber of any other pine species
• due to fire suppression over its range, many stands have become stagnant
and are now potentially catastrophic fire hazards
• at least three varieties recognized, i.e., var. scopulorum (Rocky Mountain
pp), var. ponderosa (typical variety, of Oregon, California, and adjacent
areas), and var. arizonica (Arizona pine)
• mountain pine beetle especially serious problem
• state tree of Montana

15. Key points about Pinus contorta
• intolerant, fast-growing, aggressive pioneer following fire in the montane
and subalpine zones
• occurs over greatest range of ecological conditions of any conifer in
North America
• very dense stands that form following fire subject to overcrowding and
stagnation
• a fire climax, cones persistent and (usually) serotinous
• four geographical varieties recognized, including var. latifolia, the Rocky
Mountain lodgepole (will revisit others in appropriate regions)
• bark beetles (especially mountain pine beetle) are very serious pests, and
in dense stands create a significant fire threat; dwarf mistletoe and
Comandra blister ruts also a serious threat
• common name refers to use for tipi structures made by Plains Indians
• provincial tree of Alberta

16. key points about Picea engelmannii
• named after George Engelmann (hence the spelling), a noted German-
American physician and botanist of 19th century
• shade tolerant (but less so than its common associate, subalpine fir), long-
lived climax of subalpine zone with subalpine fir, becoming prostrate near
timberline where it is maintained by stem layering
• important for watershed protection
• abundant, often in pure stands throughout the Rockies at higher elevations,
really the “blue spruce” of the Rockies
• Engelmann spruce bark beetle can be very damaging
• beautiful conifer for northeastern landscape but rarely planted outside of
botanical gardens and arboreta
• hybridizes with white spruce where their ranges overlap (Canadian Rockies)

17. key points about Picea pungens
• moderately shade tolerant tree found primarily on lower slopes
and not far from streams in the montane zone, typically on site
that are not as dry as those dominated by ponderosa pine
• geographical range restricted to region around Colorado, not
nearly as abundant as Engelmann spruce in the Rockies
• in natural stands often green and developing an open crown, not
silvery blue and dense like the varieties (grafted) planted in the
eastern US
• not commercially important for timber but important for
protection of riparian (streamside) habitats
• well adapted to eastern US climate so an important landscape
tree, especially the silvery-blue varieties

18. key points about Abies lasiocarpa
• very tolerant, slow-growing climax of the subalpine zone,
usually with Engelmann spruce, often on soils that are too wet
or too dry for this spruce; ecologically similar to balsam fir but
much bigger and longer lived
• maintained by stem layering at timberline
• little commercial value; important for watershed protection
• the exclamation mark of the subalpine zone (referring to its
tight, spire-like form)
• corkbark fir, of southern Rockies, is A. l. var. arizonica

19. key points about Abies concolor
• tolerant, long-lived, drought tolerant, large tree of montane
zone, often with ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir, eventually
replacing these species if fire is absent in these stands
• like most firs, fire sensitive
• much bigger in the Sierras (will revisit), but smaller than
associated giant sequoias
• can be seriously damaged by mistletoes and fir engraver beetle
• wood used for construction lumber plywood; occasionally
planted for Christmas trees
• most heat and drought tolerant Abies for planting in eastern US

20. key points about Pseudotsuga menziesii
• moderately tolerant, fast-growing, long-lived tree on moist
but well-drained sites
• subclimax in montane to mid subalpine zones in Rockies;
can form pure stands following disturbance
• two varieties, i.e., glauca of the Rockies and menziesii of
PNW and California; glauca more modest size compared to
menziesii
• harvest of menziesii in PNW makes this species the single
most important lumber producing species in U.S.; old-
growth here is subject of much debate among natural
resource managers
• glauca commonly planted variety in eastern US for
landscaping and Christmas trees

21. key points about Pinus edulis
• intolerant but climax of xeric foothill zone, generally
with juniper species
• large, edible, nutritious seed (“pine nuts”); one of a
number of pinyon species that provided food to Native
Americans of Southwest
• wood important for fuel; cut living trees exude resin
used to make baskets watertight
• state tree of New Mexico

22. key points about Cupressus arizonica
• tolerant, slow-growing tree found on relatively moist lower
slopes and along streams in foothill zone
• one of many Cupressus species in southwest and western US,
none commercially important for timber
• used locally in that region for Christmas trees, planted in
eastern US where cold hardy