Family key feature: pinnately compound, alternate leaves with highly modified female ament.

Very large seeds that are high in fats and proteins, cached by animals.

Very large family-- important for timber, primarily for furniture and flooring

Wide spread in eastern deciduous forests-- most forest communities contained members of this family

Family key feature: involucre-- bracts surround nut

• At one time perhaps most important hardwood in North America (Castanea dentata)- timber (durable wood), nuts used for food— American life (poems, songs), tannin from bark and wood
• Virtually eliminated by fungus (non-native pest) disease causes cankers on trunk, first notice in Bronx Zoo (1904), spread rapidly eliminating huge populations
• Today survives as stump sprouts (importance of vegetative propagation), no remedy

• Most important Angiosperm genus in N. America. Eastern US is an oak forest with few other angiosperms mixed in.
• Strong wood and long lifespan made them admired and worshipped in some cultures. Often historic trees in US—permanence.
• Use primarily for furniture—very large vessels restricted to outer portion of ring.

Genus key features:

• male ament: pendent, flexible
• terminal buds: clustered
• involucre: bracts fused, partially surround one nut (cap of acorn)

 

Subgenera:

white oaks

subgenus key features:

• bark: soft, light colored
• leaves: rounded lobes
• vessels: open in heartwood

 

true white oaks: deep lobes
chestnut oaks: shallow lobes

Quercus garryanna

red oaks

subgenus key features:

• bark: hard, dark colored
• leaves: lobes (if present) with bistle tips
• vessels: closed in heartwood

Large family (Olive) with diverse characteristics, Lilacs are a familiar example used as an ornamental

Family key feature: No unifying feature

Fraxinus

only important genus of forest trees in N. America

wood was used for furniture, but well known for use in sports equipment e.g., baseball bats, pole vaults, skis, hockey stick

50 genera, 450 species scattered around world, few in N. Am.

Family key feature: No unifying feature

Tilia - Linden (Basswood)

ca. 30 species in e. NA, Mex, Europe, central China and so. Japan.

Used for timber, ornamentals, honey, bark with tough fibers used for cords (ropes) by people, leaves used for fodder

Genus key features: Tilia sp.