Hood College Tree Walk

1. Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus), Non-native

It is unfortunate that this tree doesn’t have a more prominent position on campus because it is a spectacular species when allowed to flourish without being encumbered by neighboring trees or structures.  Gymnocladus, the genus name for the coffee tree, breaks down to mean naked branch in Greek and it’s one of the ways to recognize this tree in the winter.  As you can see in the photos-- the coffee tree has the largest compound leaf of any tree in North America at up to three FEET long.  All that foliage sprouting off the branches means there is no space for very fine twigs and branches so the twigs on the coffee tree are very stout.   This gives it a unique appearance in winter that is not very attractive when young, but in an old tree, it can be stunningly beautiful and unique, looking like something out of a Tim Burton movie.

The tree gets its common name because the seeds nestled in the giant pods look enough like large coffee beans that early settlers gave it a try, roasting the beans and making a coffee-like beverage.  It is likely there were some casualties during the experimentation phase because if the roasting is done improperly or not at all, the beverage would be poisonous. 

 One doesn’t find Kentucky coffee trees in the wild very often.  Along with species such as the osage orange and honey locust, they belong to a group called “ecological anachronisms”  meaning out of place and time, ecologically.  Members of these tree species coevolved with now extinct megafauna, where mega means large and fauna means animals.  North American giants such as a 400 pound beaver,  a camel, four species of giant ground sloth ranging from 800 to 1200 pounds and the 6 ton wooly mammoth are all included in this group, just to name a few.  Those guys could wolf down some giant seed pods and gobble up some mega-fruits, so they spread the seeds of these trees far and wide.  Now, these ecological anachronisms are limited in distribution for want of some megafauna to do their part in this biological relationship.  We usually just find them in floodplains now unless humans plant them.  Want to learn more about this fascinating story?  Click here:  Trees That Miss the Mammoths

This tree can be found at coordinates: 39.420154 N, 77.41913 W  and on the map of all trees on the Hood Tree Walk

3. English Walnut (Juglans regia-Juglans), Non-native

The walnut genus, means “jupiter nut” in Latin.  What a fitting name for these immense, delicious and nutritious nuts since Jupiter was king of all the gods in ancient Roman mythology.  Walnuts are truly nuts fit for a king!  In ancient times, walnuts, like many fruits and nuts, were symbols of fertility.  In fact, in Song of Songs 6 of the Christian bible, there is a verse where one is looking down on a valley of nuts and it’s widely believed the nut trees in that valley were English walnuts-- Juglans regia, also known as the Persian walnut.  When you buy a bag of walnuts at the grocery store for your cookies, salads or trail mix, it is the nut of this beautiful non-native walnut tree, which is much milder in flavor than our own native black walnut.  English walnuts that supply our American market are mostly grown in the San Joaquin and Sacramento areas of California.  This particular English walnut tree was probably planted by the original residents of The President’s House.  

This tree can be found at coordinates: 39.42061 N, 77.41839 W and on the map of all trees on the Hood Tree Walk.

5. Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima), Non-native

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…This lovely holiday tune was written in 1945, a time when you could still find a few American chestnut trees and the fall harvest of the tasty nuts were available to give rise to festivals and inspire songs and literary references.  However, when we brought Japanese chestnut trees here around the turn of the last century, we accidentally brought a little hitchhiker here as well, a pathogenic fungus that would, in less than 50 years, wipe out pretty much every single American chestnut on the continent, about four billion trees.  This is an excellent example of how the very human desire to have it all has often causes havoc in our natural ecosystems.   Now, we have Japanese honeysuckle, kudzu, Asian bittersweet, zebra mussels, marmorated stinkbugs, emerald ash borer and cane toads to deal with, causing untold millions of dollars to be spent on control of these species that arrive here with no diseases, predators or other natural controls.  We’ve thankfully learned a lot since those days, but must be constantly vigilant about bringing species to new locations where they could quickly become a serious problem.

Chinese chestnut trees have been exposed to the chestnut blight fungus for a very long time and thus have been able to evolve defenses against it so they thrive here in the United States. Scientists are working on a hybrid of Chinese chestnut and American chestnut trees that can withstand the blight and integrate into our forest ecosystems, providing all the resources our wildlife used to enjoy. These three lovely Hood campus trees have been producing a bountiful harvest for many years to the delight of the local wildlife--fat squirrels that can be seen eating and hiding the plump, shiny nuts in September.  First, they have to wait until the spiny husk splits open and drops the seeds because that husk is just rude.  In-the-know humans can share in this bounty, too.  Just score the nuts and pop them into the oven or, roast in a pie pan over an open fire.  Make sure you sing when you do, to get the full experience!

This tree can be found at coordinates: 39.42081 N, 77.41771 W and on the map of all trees on the Hood Tree Walk

7. Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), Non-native

Lagerstoemia is a genus of trees and shrubs with about 50 different species worldwide ranging in size from 2 to 100 feet tall at maturity.  The classic southern species is L. indica, which can be seen blooming with intense color from late July through September all over Frederick.   Not only desirable for its beautiful colors and long bloom period, it is also well-loved for its winter interest to boot due to the beautiful peeling bark and undulating form of the mature trunks.  Once you learn to recognize the trunks, you will likely begin to notice this tree or shrub pretty much everywhere throughout the year.  It’s a staple member of any southern garden but over the many years of human cultivation, botanists have created cultivars that thrive in our climate, as well.  It’s relatively easy to grow and maintain, blooms reliably with no fertilizer and needs very little care.  As a matter of fact, people often believe it needs more care than it actually does, so they give it a rather brutal pruning (known as a crepe murder) when in fact, it would be better off with more tentative pruning or, just left alone to grow naturally.   Some extracts of crepe myrtle have purported medicinal value.  This genus does not serve as a significant nectar source, nor does it host any of our native butterfly species, however the seeds do seem to have some wildlife benefit for birds in the winter.  

This tree can be found at coordinates: 39.42256 N, 77.41970 W and on the map of all trees on the Hood Tree Walk.

9. London plane (Platanus acerifolia), Non-native

The Platanus genus includes several prominent species—the American sycamore, the oriental plane tree and this hybrid between the two:  the London planetree or London plane.  Early explorers, botanists and settlers passionately collected seeds from the newly discovered Americas and routinely sent them back to their colleagues and garden enthusiasts in the centuries after Europeans began to explore the Americas.  Sometimes, related species were able to hybridize and this is exactly what seems to have happened between the oriental plane tree and the North American tree called a sycamore.  Let’s look first at the oriental plane tree.  Trees with a long and established cultural significance, the Platanus orientalis, or oriental plane tree is often found in locations important to people such as meeting places or, near the central water sources for the town.  Growing a wide and spreading crown and enormous, long lived trunks, it’s not unusual to find that one of these historical trees has lived for more than 500 years.  Kew Gardens in London has thirteen trees designated ‘Heritage Trees’ and one of them is a plane tree.  

The “Hippocrates Tree,” where the famous Greek philosopher taught his medical students, is an oriental plane tree.  Platanus occidentalis, or American sycamore is a tree native to North America, often found growing in riverine environments since they tolerate flooded roots.  Also very long-lived, coming in at around 250 years, the American sycamore has the same peeling bark, hanging fruits balls and large leaves so it’s no surprise that the hybrid of the two can easily be mistaken for a sycamore tree.  Often planted as street trees,  Platanus x acerifolia, or London plane trees have been planted for hundreds of years in urban environments because they are exceptionally tolerant of soil compaction and air pollution.  They are the predominant street tree in many cities all over the world.  You can distinguish between a London plane and a sycamore by looking at the leaves, fruits and bark.  London planes have more deeply lobed leaves and their seed balls hang in pairs or trios whereas sycamores have shallow lobes and seed balls that hang singly.  The peeling bark of a native sycamore is usually very white, whereas the bark of a London plane peels to reveal more grayish or creamy bark.  To contrast this tree with a native sycamore, take a walk along Carroll Creek in Baker Park where a number of native sycamores grow in close proximity to the water and there is another London plane on the tree walk near the swimming pool.

This tree can be found at coordinates: 39.42289 N, 77.41920 W and on the map of all trees on the Hood Tree Walk.

11. Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa), Non-native

A very popular landscaping tree, kousa dogwood trees have remarkable year -round interest with their copious white blooms in late spring,  layers of lush green foliage with bright red berries in summer,  flashy red fall color and then a winter focus on their extraordinary, colorful peeling bark resembling camouflage.  Being very easy to grow successfully in just about any landscape situation also adds tremendously to their wide appeal.  This tough little tree is more resistant to diseases and stress than our native flowering dogwood while still providing some wildlife value, even though it’s non-native from Asia.  Interestingly, what we generally call blossoms on the dogwoods are actually not blossoms at all.  The true blossoms of all the different species of dogwoods are actually very tiny but Mother Nature has located them in the center of very large modified leaves called bracts, which are bright white and attract the attention of hungry pollinators.  These showy bracts draw them into the center where the actual blooms are located so that pollination can occur. 

 Resembling raspberries, the abundant fruit of kousa dogwood can be up to an inch wide and are edible by people as well as wildlife.  It’s best to open the fruit and suck the pulp out, avoiding the grainy and somewhat bitter skin and then spitting out the seeds.  The berries can also be used to make wine and the young leaves are edible as well making this tree an excellent choice to plant in preparation for a zombie apocalypse! 

This tree can be found at coordinates: 39.42337 N, 77.41901 W and on the map of all trees on the Hood Tree Walk.

13. American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), Native

A tree of many aliases, the American hornbeam tree has such unusual form that one of its most apropos regional nicknames is musclewood.  Note the smooth bark and the sinewy form of the larger upper limbs looking for all world like a well-muscled arm as it extends from the main trunk.  On a younger tree, the entire tree would look like this, but this is an unusually old specimen so its trunk is large and has become scaly.  Other common names include blue beech, ironwood and water beech.  The Latin name is the loveliest to say aloud:  Carpinus caroliniana, probably because the first specimen named by European botanists or explorers was located in the Carolinas.  This happened often when Europeans first began to explore this continent so many plant species have names such as “virginiana” and  “pennsylvanica” along with caroliniana, indicating where these species were first encountered.  Another of its common names is ironwood because the wood is incredibly dense and hard making it an excellent choice for bowls and other dishes, levers, wedges and handles for striking tools such as axes.  It has a rich, red color and would make gorgeous furniture if only the tree grew to a larger size or the wood were simply more available.

Looking like dangling hops, the seed pods of American hornbeam can be seen in late summer and fall and along with the catkins comprising the spring blooms, make an important food source for wildlife.  Because the tree often retains its leaves in the winter, these trees also provide an important source of shelter for animals looking for a little protection from the winter elements.  Note this lovely specimen is the Frederick County Champion American hornbeam at time of publication.  Check it out on the mdbigtrees.com website.

This tree can be found at coordinates: 39.42388 N 77.41735 W and on the map of all trees on the Hood Tree Walk.