Home

Calypso Orchid Award

Non-Native Plants

Interpretive Signs

Photo Gallery

Articles

Links

THE BRUCE TRAIL CONSERVANCY

Guide to Non-Native Trees and Shrubs Found Near the Bruce Trail

These species are invasive as well as non-native and are thus detrimental to our goals of naturalization and restoration

Scots (Scotch) Pine (Pinus sylvestris)

Tree:                         To 30 m. Orange-red bark when mature, fissured with loose scaly plates.

Buds:                        Ovoid, sharp-pointed, 6-12 mm, usually non-resinous

Needles:                   4 – 8 cm long, bundles of 2, twisted, blue-green in colour

Cones:                      Conical to ovoid, 2.5-7 cm long, usually in clusters, pointing back along the stem. Seed scales raised. Green in 2^nd spring, turning brown by end of season, released slowly over winter.

An introduced species. Easily identified by the short twisted needles (the similar Jack Pine has straight needles). Once widely planted but now replaced by Red Pine. Growth habit is much more branched and irregular than red pine.

Norway Spruce (Picea abies)

Tree:        Large, up to 40 m.

Buds:       Conical, non-resinous, tight fitting                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Needles:  Straight, stiff, dark green, 12-24 mm.

Cones:     Large, cylindrical, 10-18 cm long, green at first then becoming brown with age.

An introduced species, widely planted as an ornamental. Easily distinguished by its long, sweeping  lower branches and large seed cones that grow from branch tips.

European (Common) Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)

Shrub:                       To 6 m

Leaves:                   3-6 cm, alternate or opposite, dark green, shiny, remain on shrub until late in fall. Typically have folded tip

Spines:                    Only where twigs divide

Flower:                    Small, greenish-yellow

Fruit:                        Purple-black berry-like fruits, hanging, 5-6 mm, August/September, 2-4 stones

Introduced, very common in all parts of the Trail. Fruits are cathartic or laxative, but some birds can tolerate them.

Silver (White) Poplar (Populus alba)

Tree:        A large tree 15-25 m tall, introduced from Europe.

Buds & Twigs: Covered with short white hairs.

Leaves:   Thick leathery leaves are dark green above and silvery white below. 3-5 lobes.

Flowers:  Catkins. Releases cottony mass in spring.

Fruit: Seed catkins 10-15 cm long

Bark:        Pale green to gray-brown.

This distinctive non-native tree has become naturalized in many places and it readily sprouts from stump and roots. Silver poplar hybridizes with native aspens making identification difficult.

Norway Maple (Acer platanoides)

Tree: Medium sized tree up to 20 m high. Very similar to sugar maple (features in brackets)

Buds & Twigs: Terminal bud large and plump(slender)

Leaves:   Similar to sugar maple: upper dark green (yellowish-green), undersurface lustrous green , green or yellow in fall (orange or red). Milky latex exudes from cut leaf stalks and twigs (no latex).

Flowers: Large, 10 mm across (small, 5 mm) in erect (drooping) terminal clusters.

Fruits:      Wings spread very wide.

Bark:        Very dark gray (gray), with regular, firm, low intersecting ridges (irregular vertical strips)

This tree was introduced from Europe for street plantings and has become naturalized in many places. The key distinguishing feature is the latex mentioned above which exudes from cut surfaces.

Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

Tree:        Medium-sized tree up to 25 m high

Buds & Twigs: No terminal bud, lateral buds tiny. Twigs narrow, brittle, smooth. Two spines beside each bud persist for years, variable in size, especially large on new trees and shoots of older trees.

Leaves:   Alternate, pinnately compound, 7-9 leaflets, 2 spines at base of each leaf.

Flowers:   Showy, white, pea-like, fragrant, in drooping clusters 14 cm long. Appear early summer.

Fruits:       Pods, husk thin walled, several on a central stalk. Seeds, dark bean-like.

Bark:         Smooth, brown, with age becoming thick and deeply furrowed.

This member of the bean family is sometimes called false acacia. It is native to the eastern U.S. but has been widely planted in southern Canada. It reproduces easily by root sprouts forming colonies. Found along fencerows and roadsides, especially in the Niagara and Iroquoia sections of the Trail. The tree is attacked by the locust borer which spoils the wood for most purposes and has reduced its popularity for landscaping.

Bruce Trail Conservancy Environment Committee

Environment Committee