Shade Trees for the Plains 



KENTUCKY COFFEETREE, a native, 

 is used as a street or yard tree in the 

 central and southern Plains. It prefers 

 a deep, moist soil but adapts itself to 

 drier sites as well. The trees may grow 

 as tall as 50 feet and may live 40 to 50 

 years. The leaves give light shade and 

 are said to possess an ingredient poi- 

 sonous to flies. The cofFeetree is sus- 

 ceptible to cotton root rot and should 

 not be used on infested soils. 



THE CHINESE ELM has much the 

 same habit of growth as the Siberian 

 elm, but the flowers open late in the 

 summer. It is small and half-evergreen 

 from Oklahoma southward. It is like 

 the Siberian elm in adaptation to soil 

 conditions. 



Other species of elm, such as the 

 Scotch elm and English elm, and such 

 native species as rock elm and slippery 

 elm, can be used especially in the east- 

 ern part of the Plains. The first two, 

 however, are almost as readily sus- 

 ceptible to frost injury as Siberian elm, 

 and the latter two are considerably 

 less drought-resistant. None of these 

 has been widely used as street trees. 



SUGARBERRY, or sugar hackberry, a 

 native tree, is useful in the southern 

 Plains. It is a smaller tree than the 

 common hackberry but grows up to 

 25 feet tall. It is not so frost-hardy as 

 common hackberry. It will grow on 

 dry soil and is drought-resistant. It is 

 not widely used. 



Netleaf hackberry, also a native, is 

 not widely planted. It grows up to 35 

 feet in height. It is drought-hardy but 

 not especially frost-hardy. It grows 

 naturally on rocky or gravelly soil. 



THE BLACK LOCUST is suitable for 

 parks and lawns in the central and 

 southern Plains. A native, it does well 

 on sandy soils and is moderately frost- 

 hardy and drought-resistant, and long- 

 lived, 40 to 60 years. The trunk is 

 commonly attacked by wood-rotting 

 fungi that follow borer injury. The 

 wood rots materially reduce the length 

 of life of the tree and are especially 



common in the southern Plains. Black 

 locust is highly susceptible to chlorosis 

 and to cotton root rot. The wood 

 makes good fence posts. 



COMMON HONEYLOCUST is valuable 

 in the central and southern parts of 

 the Plains. It grows well in most kinds 

 of soils but prefers deep and rich loam. 

 It lives 40 to 50 years. It is not so sub- 

 ject to borer injury as black locust, but 

 trees on droughty soils are commonly 

 attacked. Twig girdlers are common 

 on this native species in the southern 

 localities. It is susceptible to cotton 

 root rot, but is drought-resistant and 

 frost-hardy. It is less susceptible to 

 chlorosis than the black locust. Its seed 

 pods make good cattle feed. It grows 

 well in street or yard plantings ; in fact, 

 it is one of the best trees for the central 

 West. 



A thornless variety of the common 

 honeylocust is gaining favor. It has 

 most of the desirable characteristics of 

 the common honeylocust. 



SILVER MAPLE can be used in the 

 eastern part of the northern and cen- 

 tral Plains, but is not recommended 

 where better trees will grow. Under 

 most favorable conditions this native 

 tree may reach an age of 70 years. Not 

 particularly drought-hardy, it prefers 

 rich bottom-land soil but will do fairly 

 well on fertile upland soil. Silver maple 

 is subject to a number of insect at- 

 tacks, mostly foliage destroyers such 

 as bagworm, green worm, and blad- 

 der gall mites. Foliage is frequently 

 infected with various leaf spot fungi, 

 which are generally of minor impor- 

 tance. Twig borers are also common 

 and may cause considerable damage. 

 Trunk rots are common but occur 

 most frequently in drought-weakened 

 trees. A fungus disease, Verticillium 

 wilt, occurs occasionally and some- 

 times kills the trees. Silver maple is 

 susceptible to chlorosis, which is caused 

 by lack of iron. It is best suited to 

 growth in the eastern third of the area 

 but will grow farther west when it is ar- 

 tificially watered. It often is subject to 



