Rowan

Common Names: Rowan, American Mountain Ash (for americana), European Mountain Ash (for acuparia)
Latin Names: Sorbus americana or Sorbus aucuparia or some other variety
Type: Tree
Origin: Native?

Edible: Fruit is not good raw but good cooked such as in jam, jelly, and syrup.

Other uses: Medicinal uses. Wood can be used for wood carving. Bark can make a red brown dye.

Note: Unsure of species on this one. Too far south for americana and aucuparia  but haven't found a species in Florida. Haven't seen the fruit yet. These trees are still small and along our tree line.

Rowan (June)

Rowan (June)

Rowan (June)

Cedar ?

Common Names: Cedar, red cedar, eastern redcedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, pencil cedar, and aromatic cedar
Latin Names: Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana or Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola or Chamaecyparis thyoides
Type: Tree
Origin: x

Edible: x

Note: In tree line behind pond. There are a couple small trees there but only about 5-6' tall. Some type of conifer. Could be eastern red cedar (app says this) or southern white cedar but need to wait until there is some sort of berry.

Cedar (July)

Cedar (July)

Waxberry

Common Names: Waxberry, bayberry
Latin Names: myrica ?
Type: Tree
Origin: Native

Edible: Fruit is supposed to be edible but unsure of exact species.

Could be:
Myrica cerifera is a small evergreen tree or large shrub native to North and Central America and the Caribbean. Its common names include southern wax myrtle, southern bayberry, candleberry, bayberry tree, and tallow shrub. It sees uses both in the garden and for candlemaking, as well as a medicinal plant.

Waxberry (May)

Waxberry (May) - small tree

Waxberry (July)

Myrtle Oak

Common Names: Myrtle oak

Latin Names: Quercus myrtifolia

Type: Tree

Origin: Native

Edible: x

Myrtle oak (June)

Palm ?

Common Names: Cabbage palm, palmetto, blue palmetto, carolina palmetto, common palmetto, swamp cabbage

Latin Names: Sabal palmetto

Type: Tree

Origin: Native

Or Pindo Palm - Butia capitata ...or something else. App says golden cane palm or African oil palm or Canary Island palm

Edible: Heart of the palm is edible but this kills the tree. They say that the fruit outside the seed is edible or can be chewed. If Pindo, can make a jelly from the fruit.Young leaf buds are edible raw or cooked. Oil from the seed is like coconut oil.

--> Fruit part of the seed is very thin and woody. Couldn't eat it.

Other uses: Palm leaf stalk used for fiber. Leaves used to make mats, hats, and baskets. The wood has specific uses.

Note: Tree is drought tolerant, salt tolerant, cold hardy, pest and disease free.

Online I've found a procedure to germinate the seeds. Starting a trial. Took fresh seeds (just fell off tree. However most seeds had already been eaten by wildlife & bugs. None of the seeds looked dark like online pictures. They looked more like green seeds but they had already dropped off the tree and few seeds were left in the tree. Removed the outer skin/fruit on them and soaked in water for 24 hours).

Palm (June)

Palm (June)

Palm (June)

Palm - fruit (June)

Palm (late June) - fruit almost gone

Palm (late June) - fruit w/ seed
inside

Palm (late June)
- Fruit/nut almost all eaten and on the ground

Oak ?

Common Names: White Oak???

Latin Names: Quercus bicolor

Type: Tree

Origin: Native

Edible: x

Notes: Grows very large and some trees are several hundreds of years old. Can grow as wide as it is tall. Online information says the trees don't produce acorns until it is at least 50 years old, germination rate is only 10%, and the amount of acorns vary every year. Our 2 trees in the front yard are in their 20's (planted as an acorn by the previous home owners) and produce lots of very large acorns in the last two years and we see lots of seedlings below the tree. We've planted several acorns and are starting new trees. The biggest problem has been that deer eat the seedlings.

Barks has a series of holes around the circumference on both trees in the front and the tree in back. Believed to be yellow-bellied sapsucker holes.

***Not sure of oak species. Neighbor says this is White Oak but it doesn't seem to fit into normal northern U.S. distribution and leaf shape is wrong. App says Pendunculate oak or sessile oak. ***

Quercus michauxii Nuttall - Swamp chestnut oak?

? Oak (May)

? Oak (May)

? Oak (May)

? Oak (May)

? Oak (May)

? Oak (June)

? Oak (April)

? Oak (April)

Loblolly Pine

Common Names: Loblolly pine
Latin Names: Pinus taeda
Type: Tree
Origin: Native

Edible: Needles can make a tea and considered high in vitamin C. Comment made online is that pregnant women should not use this tea. The needles need to be chopped small and the water should be hot, not boiling. Seedlings can be added to a salad.

Other uses: Sap is considered antifungal & antibacterial. Whole trees are logged and used for wood, mulch, and turpentine. Sap was used as a glue.

Notes: Southern yellow pine

Loblolly pine (May)

Loblolly pine (May)

Loblolly pine (June)

Loblolly pine (June)

Loblolly pine (April)

Water Oak

Common Names: Water oak, potted oak, duck oak, punk oak, orange oak, possum oak
Latin Names: Quercus nigra
Type: Tree
Origin: Native

Edible: The acorns can be eaten and this was a staple food for Native Americans. The seed is dried, ground into a powder and used in stews as a thickener or to make bread. The seed is full of bitter tannins so it must be leached (soaked in running water) either as a seed or in the powder form. The seed can be roasted and used as a coffee.

Other uses: Acorns eaten by animals. Wood is used and normally sold as red oak or used as a fuel.

Note: It is a red oak. The water oak has a variety of leaf shapes that are said to depend on the age of the tree, amount of sunlight, and soil. We have at least a couple of different leaf shapes.

Water oak (April)

Water oak (April)

Water oak (April)

Water oak (May)

Water oak (April)

Water oak (April)

Red Maple

Common Names: Red maple, swamp maple, water maple, soft maple
Latin Names: Acer rubrum
Type: Tree
Origin: Native

Edible: Maple syrup can be made from the tree but must be tapped very early before the buds come out. The sugar maples is a better source than red maple. Inner bark can be dried, ground, and then used as a thickener. The inner bark can also be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. Young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked.

The seeds can be boiled and eaten hot or roasted. The wings must be removed first. Sometimes it can be bitter, so they have to be leached like an acorn (soak in several changes of cold water or boiled changing the water). Dried seeds can be ground to make a flour.

Other uses: Wood is used for furniture and is less expensive than sugar maple because it is softer. The inner bark is used as a dye. The bark can be used for medicinal purposes.

Red maple (May)

Red maple (May)

Red maple  - leaves (May)

Red maple - trunk (June)

Live Oak

Common Names: Live oak, southern live oak, Virginia live oak, bay live oak, scrub live oak, plateau oak, plateau live oak, escarpment live oak
Latin Names: Quercus virginiana
Type: Tree
Origin: Native

Edible: Cooking oil from the nuts (boil the internal nut to get the oil). The leached seed can be cooked to use as a thickener or roasted to be eaten whole. Roots of seedlings form an edible tuber like a potato.

Sources say that the live oak acorn is one of the mildest acorn (less tannic). However, acorns must be leached to remove the tannic acid both the improve the taste and so the acid won't damage our kidneys (!). Process:
- Put acorns in water. Any floaters should be thrown away. Dry the ones that sink (oven, frying pan, or just in the sun).
- Shell the acorns to get the nuts inside.
- Dry and coarsely grind the nut. Put in a net bag and into a pot of water. Keeping changing the water until the water stays clear. This may take up to a week (!).

Other uses: Medicinal purposes from various parts of the tree. Wood is hard and strong. The wood used to be used in ship framing. Leaves were used to make rugs. Bark can make dyes (tannin) or used as an astringent.

Notes: Can live for hundreds of years. Acorns eaten by many animals.

Live oak (June)

Live oak (June)

Live oak (May)

Sweetgum

Common Names: Sweetgum, American sweetgum, American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood
Latin Names: Liquidambar styraciflua
Type: Tree
Origin: Native

Edible: Can chew the dried resin which is harvested in the fall. The gum is supposed to be fragrant but bitter.

Other uses: Animals eat the seeds. Wood is a major crop in Southeastern U.S. The resin is amber color and smells good. The resin and bark is used medically.

Notes: Leaves can be colorful in the fall.

Sweetgum (June)

Sweetgum (April)

Sweetgum (June) - bark

Sweetgum (April)

Sweetgum (April)

Sweetgum seed (May)

Sweetgum seed (April) - from last year

Wild Black Cherry

Common Names: Wild black cherry, black cherry, rum cherry, mountain black cherry
Latin Names: Prunus serotina
Type: Tree
Origin: Native

Edible: Fruit is edible raw but is said to be bitter and must be pitted. The fruit can be cooked for jam and jelly. It is said the bark can be used as a spice and/or to smoke meat or fish, and to flavor teas but no confirmation on that. Other than the fruit, the plant (leaves, stems, and pits) is considered highly toxic.

Other uses: Birds and deer like the fruit. Some sites say that the leaves can be poisonous to livestock. Wood is used for furniture. Inner bark can make a cough syrup. Attracts birds and butterflies.

Notes: Have only seen a few fruit. There wasn't much fruit to it, mostly a seed. Located along a tree line near the pond.

Wild black cherry (May)

Wild black cherry (May)

Wild black cherry (April)

Wild black cherry (April)

Wild black cherry - unripe (May)

Wild black cherry (June)