Shrubs & Trees

Common Name	Scientific Name	Details	Photos
American Beech	Fagus grandifolia	A common large tree of the park woods, a large section of them can be seen east of Phillips-Hawkins Hall. The smooth sivery bark is often marked by student graffitti. The leaves become golden in the fall and to not fall off the tree till early spring.
Ash, Green or Red	Fraxinus pennsyvanica	Scattered individuals throughout park woods, easily confused with White Ash. Look for 3 -7 leaflets on compund leaves, prominant buds at end of leaf, edges of leaflets can be smooth or toothed.
Ash, White	Fraxinus americana	Scattered individuals throughout the park woods. Do differentiate between White and Red ash, look for 5-9 leaflets, leaflets are usually smooth.
Basswood	Tilia sp.	Scatterd individuals found in park woods.
Black Cherry	Prunus serotina	Found scattered throughout woods, most found along Gray Drive south of Renyolds Hall.
Black berry or Raspberry	Rubus sp.	A large a difficult genus, several species may be in the park.
Black Locust	Robinia pseudo-acacia	Scattered individuals in park woods and along margins of fields. Has big groupings of fragrant white flowers in the spring.
Black Tupelo or Black gum	Nyssa Sylvatica	Scattered individuals found in park woods south of Cone Hall. Ends of branches look spider-like.
Black Willow	Salix nigra	Common small tree along creeks and in park fields.
Buckeye	Aesculus sylvatica	A couple of individuals can be found along the drive south of Renyolds Hall (near the Pawpaws).
Chestnut, Chinese	Castanea mollissima	There are a few planted individuals in the fields of the park and around campus. The distinct spiny fruit and sharply toothed leaves make this low widespread tree stand out.
Dogwood	Cornus florida	A common understory tree with white flowers blooming in early spring.
Elm, slippery	Ulmus rubra	A species of elm native to eastern North America. Other common names include Red Elm, Gray Elm, Soft Elm, Moose Elm, and Indian Elm.
Euonymus, Winged	Euonymus alatus	Commonly cultivated shrub, can be found in many areas of the park woods. Has distinctive barklike “wings” on its branches.
Heavenly Bamboo	Nandina domestica	Commonly planted as an ornamental on campus. Can be seen by the music building, and Phillips-Hawkins Hall.
Hickory, Pignut	Carya glabra	Scatterd individuals throughout park.
Hickory, Shagbark	Carya ovata	Scattered individuals, easily identified by distinctive shaggy bark.
Holly, American	Ilex opaca	Widely planted on campus as an ornamental, found throughout the park. Can be a shrub or tree. May have red berries in the fall.
Holly, Grape	Mahonia bealei	Commonly planted as an ornamental on campus, escaped individuals can be found scattered throughout park woods. Does not get bigger than a shrub. Has distinctive blue-purple berries in the fall months.
Maple, Sugar	Acer saccharum	The most common of the maples in our park.
Mimosa or silktree	Albizia julibrissin	Exotic. Found at scattered locations in park, often by stream edges. Fine feathery leaves and fragrant pink blossoms in the late spring early summer.
Mulberry, white	Morus alba	A large shrub or small tree common at weedy locations at wood edges and along stream in the fields. You can eat the berries when they arrive in the late spring and turn red/black.
Oak, Black	Quercus velutina	Scattered individuals in the park woods, mostly north of Grogan Hall.
Oak, Southern red or spanish	Quercus falcata	One of the principle canopy trees of the park woods. The main difference between this and the white oak is the lobes on the leaves come to points.
Oak, White	Quercus alba	One of the principle canopy trees of the park woods and commonly planed elsewhere as a shade tree..
Oak, Willow	Quercus phellos	Scattered individuals in the park woods, most commonly seen as the HUGE shade trees found in the fields and to the west. These trees are in the oak family, but the leaves are more like the willow tree (hence the common name).
Pawpaw	Asimina triloba	Found along streams and along drive south of Renyolds Hall.
Redbud or Judas Tree	Cercis canadensis	A characteristic understory tree of the park woods along with the dogwood. Has little pink flowers that bloom in early spring and heart shaped leaves.
River Birch	Betula nigra	Planted as an ornamental on edges of park and along the stream. Has the distinctive shaggy bark. Not to be confused with the paper birch which although on campus is not within the park boundries.
Royal Paulownia or Empress tree	Paulownia tomentosa	This invasive exotic tree has been recently appeared on the path to the music building on the east side of Grogan Hall. Easily spotted with its very fast growth and large fuzzy leaves.
Southern Magnolia or Bull Bay	Magnolia grandioflora	Comonly planted as and ornamental, escaped individuals can be found in the park woods. Big White flowers in late spring. Thick leather like leaves that stay on all winter.
Spicebush	Lindera benzoin	One individual on campus along wast side of Renyolds hall.
Sweetgum	Liquidambar styraciflua	Common tree found in the park woods. Has distinctive star shaped leaves, and spiky seed balls.
Sycamore	Platanus occidentalis	Common tree in the park. The leaf size is your biggest clue to this tree. the leaves can span 15-18 inches at it widest width.
Tuliptree or tulip- poplar or yellow poplar	Liriodendron tulipifera	One of the principle canopy trees in the park woods. Has distictive yellow green flowers in the pring, and distinctive leaf shape. A very large specimen is found near Renyolds Hall by the stream,roots pictured here.
Walnut, black	Juglans nigra	Scattered individuals in the park, by open areas. Compound leaves with 13-23 leaflets. Has large green nuts that turn black in the fall.

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Photos