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American Elm
Ulmus americana

One of the grandest of American trees, the vase shape, and bright yellow fall colors make this a distinctive landmark tree. This most dignified tree was nearly wiped out by the Dutch Elm disease. This new resistant strain will grow anywhere in the U.S. with adequate water.

Also known as the Water, White or Soft Elm, this large graceful tree has a vase-shaped crown and a thick rounded base. Its far-reaching branches provide wonderful shade in the manner of the great oaks. It belongs to the Ulmaceae Family, which includes hackberries and elms. It is the americana species of the Ulmus genus, which is Latin for elm, and is the most grandiose of the 20 native US species. It can grow to 140' with an 8' trunk diameter.

The leaves are dark green, 3-6" long and grow in two rows. They are elliptical shaped, sharp at the points with toothed edges. They turn a bright yellow in autumn. The bark is light gray and deeply furrowed with scaly ridges. The wood is hard, heavy, and tough. Because of its durability, it was once used for the hubs of wagon wheels and the Iroquois used the bark for canoes and for making rope.

Its native habitat ranges from central Canada to central Texas and east to the Atlantic. It prefers rich, well-drained and moist soils but will adapt to most conditions anywhere in the US. It will grow successfully in the West with sufficient water. It is valued for timber, wildlife habitat, and as a shelterbelt.

The American Elm was once an abundant tree but has been decimated by the Dutch Elm disease caused by a fungus accidentally introduced about 1930. Trees are immune from the disease until they are about ten years old. The seeds in this kit are from a resistant strain of American Elm.

Blue Spruce
Picea pungens

One of America's favorite evergreens, this tree has sweet smelling, prickly blue-green needles. It has a broad spread and grows to about 120'. Though indigenous to the West, it adapts well to all climates anywhere that evening temperatures dip below 50° several months per year.

The Blue Spruce is one of the most admired and widely known of all North American evergreens. A mountain tree, it has been successfully planted over most of the USA and throughout Europe. It is also known as the Silver or Colorado Spruce and is part of the Pine family. A straight growing tree with horizontal branches, its limbs droop slightly to form a clustered appearance. It can grow to 115' in height and its needles are blue-green, short (1/2- 1 1/2"), slightly curved, and very stiff and pointy. The scientific name pungens comes from the Latin word meaning, "to prick". The needles give off a pleasant, resinous smell when rubbed between the fingers.

The papery cones of the Blue Spruce are 3-4" long, a light chestnut color, and are the female "flowers" of the tree. In the Spring, the scales of the cone expand to catch wind-blown pollen from the male flowers, which are on the same tree but different branches. Soon after being fertilized, the cones turn down and become pendulous.

The Blue Spruce is America’s favorite Christmas tree and is used extensively in landscaping. It is also planted in reforestation efforts and shelterbelts. During winter, varied birds and wildlife feed from its needles, twigs and seeds and nest in its branches.

Natural Habitat of Blue Spruce: Rocky Mountains & the Southwest often near streams. Best in fertile soil with abundant moisture. Once established can withstand drought and temperature extremes.

Dawn Redwood
Metasequoia glyptostroboides

First called a "fossil tree" because it was believed extinct, this fast growing tree is now a favorite ornamental. A deciduous conifer, it has a full pyramidal shape, grows to 120' high and turns a bright copper color in the fall. Will grow throughout the U.S. with adequate water.

Also called Water Larch. A deciduous conifer native to central China and is fast becoming a favorite North American ornamental. The Dawn Redwood has been called "a living fossil" because it was first discovered in Japan by Miki in 1941, then found growing in the wild in China. The species is over 50 million years old. It is a member of the Taxodiaceae (Redwood) family, which includes the Baldcypress. The genus name comes from the Greek word meta (meaning together or near) and Sequoia because of botanical similarities with the Giant Sequoia and Redwood. It was introduced to the United States and Europe around 1948. It grows in a full pyramidal shape up to 120' high and 25' spread. It is one of the few cone-bearing deciduous trees. In the Fall, the needles turn a bright copper color. The needles are bright green, about 1/2" long and soft. It is Unisexual, having both male and female flowers on the same tree. The cones contain about 5-9 winged seeds and are about 1" in size. The cones ripen in early December and shed the seeds shortly afterward. The Dawn Redwood is a hardy tree growing in such diverse climates as Maine, Alabama, and California. The average seed germinates is 5 days. It transplants easily and can be grown from cuttings. Prefers moist, well-drained soils and full sun. An excellent ornamental and good for screening.

FAMILY: Taxodiaceae (Redwood) which includes the Baldcypress.

LEAVES: Deciduous, opposite in arrangement, linear, flattened, straight or slightly curved, pectinately arranged, 1/2" long and 1/16" broad on mature trees; upper surface is bright green with a narrow grooved midvien, lower surface bearing obscure lines of stomata, lighter green. Copper-brown in Autumn.

BUDS: Non-resinouse (opposite), usually in pairs at the base of deciduous branchlets but sometimes solitary between branchlets; ovoid or ellsoid, about 1/4" long, scales light reddish or yellowish brown with a linear keel, appearing stalked.

STEM: Branchlets of two kinds, persistent and deciduous; the persistent --bright reddish brown when young, shallowly ridged, carrying the deciduous branchlets, numerous vegetative buds and a few leaves; the green deciduous branchlets are up to 3" long, usually arranged distichously, more or less horizontal, ribbed with the long decurrent bases of up to 50 or 60 or more leaves.

SIZE: 70 to 120' in height by 25' spread, 40 to 50' high in 20 years under good growing conditions.

HARDINESS: Zone 4 to 8

SHAPE: Pyramidal, conical, regular with a single straight trunk in youth. Maintains a feathery-pyramidal growth habit. Branches grow almost horizontally.

RATE: Fast (50' in 15 to 20 years)

TEXTURE: Fine in leaf, less so when defoliated.

BARK: Reddish brown when young, becoming darker, fissured and exfoliating in long narrow strips: base buttressing and developing irregular fluted character.

LEAF COLOR: Bright green above changing to brown in fall; can be an excellent orange-brown to red-brown.

FLOWERS: Monoecious (separate but on same tree); Unisexual; male flowers in racemes or panicles (clusters at end of branches), female solitary.

FRUIT: Cones pedulous, on long stalks, globose or cylindrical, female solitary, 3/4 to 1" long and wide, dark brown, mature the first year, seeds small like those of arborvitae. Contains 5-9 winged seeds. Cones ripen in early December and shed their seeds in late December and early January. Seed wings are minute.

CULTURE: Hardy. Easy to transplant performs best in moist, deep, well drained, slightly acidic soils; is not well adapted to chalky soils; full sun; may grow late into summer and early fall and is damaged by an early freeze; best sight is a low hill rather than a low area. Seldom requires pruning due to neat, uniform, conical habit.

LANDSCAPE VALUE: Lovely ornamental. Good for screening.

PROPAGATION: Seeds, if viable, will germinate to a degree, but one-month cold stratification improves and unifies germination; can be grown from cuttings. About 5 days.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: The genus was first discovered from fossils by Miki in Japan. Later they we found growing wild in China. About 50 million years old. Also called Water Larch. The name is derived from the Greek meta, together or near, and Sequoia, referring to their botanical similarities. Sometimes called a living fossil. Fast growing, disease, and insect free tree. Little timber value since the wood is soft, brittle and weak.

NATIVE HABITAT: Native of (central China) eastern Szechuan and western Hupeh, China. Introduced to the U.S. in 1947-1948.

Douglas Fir
Pseudotsuga taxifolia glauca

Growing to 330' tall, the Douglas Fir is one of the largest trees. The Fir was the first Christmas tree because its great height was thought to bring clear vision in the face of the New Year. With dark blue-green needles and a broad, full shape, this tree will grow in all the U.S. except the Deep South coasts.

By its others names of Douglas Spruce, Douglas Yew and Oregon Pine, one begins to realize what a botanical puzzle this tree has been. The Douglas Fir is actually neither Spruce, Yew nor Pine and was given the Greek name Pseudo-tsuga describing it as a "false hemlock with a yew-like leaf". It was first "discovered" on Vancouver Island By Dr. Archibald Menzies in 1791, and rediscovered in 1827 by the Scottish botanist, David Douglas. Douglas sent seeds back to the British Isles where they were widely planted and given his name.

Part of the Pine Family, (which includes Pines, Firs, Spruce, Cedars, and other conifers), the Douglas Fir is second only to the Giant Sequoia as the largest tree, growing 80-325' tall, with trunk diameters of 2-17'. It is a very straight evergreen with upward growing branches that can become slightly droopy with age. It has a dense crown with a conical shape & short blue-green needles (3/4 - 1 1/4"). Its cones are narrow and egg-shaped with scaly seed leaves.

The Douglas Fir is one of the most important timber species in the world, being a very strong wood, and it is the biggest timber producer in the United States. It is a popular Christmas Tree and ornamental and is widely used in reforestation and windbreak plantings. Wildlife feed off its foliage and seeds.

Natural Habitat of the Douglas Fir: There are two main varieties of this tree. The coastal variety forms vast forests in the moist well-drained soils from British Columbia to Central California. The Rocky Mountain variety is a hardier tree growing in drier, rockier soils ranging from Canada to Mexico. Elevation: 0' to 11,000'. As little as 15" of rain per year to 100" of rain. Adaptable to all but the most swampy soils. High resistance to cold. Moderate resistance to drought.

Flowering Catalpa
Catalpa speciosa

"The Earth laughs in Flowers" and this large, picturesque ornamental with large heart shaped leaves has beautiful clusters of white to purple flowers and long bean-like seed pods. It is an easy and undemanding tree and will grow 30’ to 50’ tall almost anywhere in the U.S.

This beautiful ornamental has large heart shaped leaves that are almost tropical in appearance. They can grow to 12 inches long and 8 inches wide, are thick and smooth on top and hairy on the bottom. It has showy white to purplish flowers that grow in erect pyramidal clusters at the ends of the twigs. The long seed pods can grow to 20 inches and give it its often dubbed name: Indian Bean Tree.

Called Catalpa by the Cherokees, the Latin speciosa was added by biologists to indicate its ornamentality.

It is a broad tree when grown in the open, distinctive with crooked trunk and picturesque irregularity.

Normally growing from 35 to 70 foot tall, with a trunk diameter of 10 to 20 inches, this tree will grow almost anywhere and under most all conditions. It is an undemanding tree and one of the easiest to sprout. In its natural range in the Ohio Valley, trees have been known to grow to 100 feet and five feet in diameter.

A deciduous tree, its leaves are purplish when young and have purplish veins on their undersides, attracting honeybees. The leaves are light yellowish-green in maturity.

Flowers bloom in early summer and are followed in autumn by the long conspicuous seedpods which mature as green capsules 10 to 20 inches long and about ½” thick. The pods turn dark brown in winter, staying on the tree, and split open, liberating their flat seeds in early spring.

Bark is rather thin, grayish and vertically scaled. Its wood is course grained and soft. Not strong, but durable in contact with the soil, it is most often used as fence posts in commercial application.

Growth Distribution Map

Giant Sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum

The noblest of a noble race, this tree is the largest and oldest of the world’s fauna and nearly the largest and oldest living being. Many living trees are 1200 to 2000 years old and 4000 year old stumps have been found. Normally will grow 300’ high and 15’ diameter. Will grow in most of the U.S.A. and makes an excellent Bonsai.

A tree of myth and magic, the Sequoia is the largest of all flora and represents one of the oldest living individuals on earth. Sacred to ancient and current lovers of the bond between humans and the natural world, the romance and grace of the Giant Sequoia hold the West’s history as living constants in the landscape.

Called by John Muir “the king of all conifers” and “the noblest of a noble race”, these trees have been known to be 400 foot tall, 30 foot in diameter and 4000 years old. Flourishing trees now standing in California groves were swaying in the Sierra Nevada winds when Christ walked the earth. More commonly they grow 250 foot tall and 15 to 20 foot in diameter at 1000 years old.

The bright, deep green foliage is scale-like and overlapping in the manner of cedars. The small cones are 2 to 3 inches long, woody and egg shaped.

The bark is reddish-brown, very thick and rough in its outer layer, and thin and tight in its inner layers, with deep vertical breaks, giving the tree a fluted appearance and a large buttressed base.

In the first several hundred years in open territory, branches will reach nearly to the ground.

The sequoia’s wood, practically off the market in present day, is brittle, various in grain, and rose-purple to white in color. Its long life is in some measure owed to its resistance to disease and fungus. It also has no pitch tubes as in most pines, for insects to enter.

Giant Sequoia will grow in much of the US with cool winters and sufficient water. It also makes an excellent bonsai and may be grown indoors for many years with lots of sunlight.

Ponderosa Pine Pinus Ponderosa Definer of the "Great Timber" region of the West, this long-needled, majestic tree can grow to 230'. Its cones are favorite Christmas decorations. Will grow anywhere is the U.S. with full sun and well-drained soil. Also know as the Blackjack or Western Yellow Pine, this evergreen was first reported by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804. Twenty-two years later it was named by the famous Scottish Botanist, David Douglas, for its heavy or "ponderous" wood. The Ponderosa was mistaken for two different trees due to the differences between the younger and older of its kind. For the first 80-100 years, the bark of the Ponderosa is smooth and a dark brown-black, leading to the name Blackjack Pine. Later, the bark of the older tree is an orange-brown color with deep ridges. Its growth area is often known as the "Great Timber" region because of its tall majestic stance. It is the most common pine in North America and is widely distributed. This distribution leads to different varieties or subspecies of the Ponderosa. The seeds in this kit are Western variety, though it is capable of growing in 90% of the country. Depending on its environment, the Ponderosa grows from 60 to 230' high with a diameter of 21/2 to 8'. Its needles grow 2 or 3 to a bundle and are 4-8" long- stout, stiff, and dark green. Its cones are conical or egg-shaped and 3-6" long, very woody and a favorite Christmas decoration. Birds and other wildlife consume the seeds. Ponderosa is the primary commercial tree species of this country, used to make 2x4’s and plywood products. The Ponderosa is a fine, attractive tree at any age and makes a good bonsai. Natural Habitat of the Ponderosa: The western variety is found mostly in the mountains at elevations of 4000-12,000 feet. It has moderate resistance to drought, high cold resistance, likes slightly acidic and well drain soil. Intolerant of shade. Good for ornamental, timber, windbreaks and reforestation.

Red Maple
Acer rubrum

"The Tree of Calm" according to the ancients, except in the autumn when its bright yellow, orange, and red leaves create a spectacular display. The far-reaching rounded crown provides superb shade and excellent ornamentation. Will grow everywhere in the U.S. with adequate water.

Also known as the Scarlet Maple or Water Maple, this tree lives up to its name in every season. In the fall, its brilliant scarlet leaves are tinged with orange and yellow, and it produces one of the great autumn shows in forests throughout the east. Small but conspicuous clusters of ruby-red and orange flowers open in March or April considerably before the leaves appear. The leaves themselves are tinged with red, turning a brilliant deep green by mid summer. Its winged fruit and branches also have a reddish tint.

The Red Maple can attain a height of 125' with a 5' trunk diameter. It has a broad, round crown with a long clear trunk. Its easy to identify leaves are palm-shaped, simple, with 3-5 triangular lobes growing opposite each other. They are doubly toothed, about 3- 4 inches long and equally as wide. The male and female blossoms are often on the same tree but sometimes on different trees. Bark on the young tree is smooth, becoming gray and ridged with age. Birds, squirrels, and other small animals eat the fruit.

Red maple wood is hard, close grained, and tinged with red. It is valued for furniture, flooring, interior finishes, and gunstocks. Early settlers used the bark extract to make ink and dyes.

Natural Habitat of the Red Maple: Eastern and Midwest North America from Newfoundland to southern Florida. It has been widely planted throughout the west. Likes moist fertile soil. Adjusts well to harsh seasons.