small leaved trees native to north carolina

Putrid

Hello,



I’m new here and I have not bonsaied anything yet I’ve just been doing a lot of research and tree searching on my own property. I’m looking to for good trees in the wild that already have a good taper to or would make good candidates to alter so that they grow a thick tapered trunk as the years go by.



I’d like to know of some trees to look for that have small leaves and are native or something I’ll likely be able to find here in North Carolina.

The locust here grows very fast and I know a new one that has managed to survive in total darkness but can the leaves be trained smaller?

I also have access to a few holly bushes that have 4in to 7in wide trunks with a good taper but if I cut them down to a third of the total tree i will they survive or do they need to have some green foliage or branches left behind?



I’d love to hear suggestions of other trees/shrubs, let’s call it material to look out for.

The land I am browsing has a lot of old fields that used to be for growing tobacco with wooded areas all around them that have been left alone for several years. There are also swamp like areas with some interesting stuff and there are pond, creek and river sites.

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cray13

Welcome Putrid,

I'm relatively new to Bonsai as well and have been focusing on collecting local species. I've lived here in NC for most of my life so am pretty familiar with the species we have. If you have access to old tobacco fields you'll probably find tons of Eastern Red Cedars (Juniperus Virginiana). These guys can make pretty good bonsai. They are called cedar, but they are actually part of the Juniper family. They tend to be the first trees to grow in an old field. You'll often find them at the edge of the field or along fence lines etc... as a matter of fact, you may see fence posts on old farms that are actually made of easter red cedar trunks. The farmers would clear the fields and these cedar trunks made excellent fence posts becausee of their natural reistance to rotting... they last a lot longer than other types of wood.

Around creek and river sites you may find American Hornbeam which make excellent bonsai as well. I have a creek running through the edge of my property and I was able to collect four hornbeams earlier this spring.

You'll also probably find a lot of Sweetgum or Liquidambar styraciflua. This tree resembles maples and I've heard can make a decent large bonsai. Apparently the leaves don't reduce as well as some of the maples. You may actually mistaken this tree for a maple. If you crush a leaf in your hand you'll notice a pungent odor.

Anyone else know of good local stuff to bonsai here in NC?

Aaron_K

Bald Cypress anyone?

All the best,

Aaron

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rockm

Eastern Red Cedar (ERC) and Sweet gum make for tricky bonsai. They're not easy to make into convincing bonsai. ERC is common, but it's rarely worth the effort to collect--upright branching, bad foliage, no trunk taper are all as common on this species. Sweet gum has huge leaves and can be a little trickly to collect once buds start moving.

There are vastly more species in N.C. that are better suited for both first time collection and bonsai purposes. Carolina hornbeam is a terrific bonsai subject. Black haw is another, hackberry, high bush blueberry, wild wisteria, beech, black cherry, Virginia pine, shadblow (amalanchier), hophornbeam, bittersweet vine, live oak, bald cypress, any species of native elm to name a few. Also ANY small leaved, shallow rooted woody plant is potential bonsai material. Species isn't my first consideration in collecting trees here in Va. That can be dealt with later. What I look for is a nice trunk and root flare. The first third of the tree up from the ground is the most important part of my decision--will if look gooda s a bonsai? If I think it will, THEN I start considering collection, care and growth habits of the species.

Alasdair

I haven't got a clue about NC, but...



All junipers are actually a member of the cedar family

Al

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cray13

Thanks for chiming in rockm. I knew someone could provide a more comprehensive list...



ok Al,

You got me curious so I did my research. Apparently cedar and red eastern cedar are not even in the same family. So NO junipers are members of the cedar family. Apparently, all junipers are actually members of the cypress or Cupressaceae family.

Here is what I discovered.

CEDAR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar)
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinaceae)
Genus: Cedrus

JUNIPERUS VIRGINIANA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_virginiana)
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Cupressaceae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupressaceae)
Genus: Juniperus
Species: J. virginiana

So basically, the red eastern cedar has "cedar" in its name, but isn't a cedrus at all.

Bottom line... care for a red eastern cedar as you would any other juniper... and maybe call it Juniperus Virginiana to avoid any confusion.

All of these scientific classifications are confusing. Just call it a tree .

Putrid... I would go with rockm's advice about the Red Eastern Cedar. He is much more knowledgeable than I.

Putrid

I found this one today; Is this the bubble gum, do you think you can help identify it?
What are my options to making this trunk thicker and to get a little taper How low could I cut it with it survuving and should I wait untll fall?



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cray13

Pretty sure that's a sweet gum. Pull a leaf off and crush it into a little ball in your hand and then smell... if it smells pungent then it's a sweet gum. A maple leaf doesn't have much of a smell at all compared to a gum.

Alasdair

Oops, that's what i meant. I've been using the Wiki myself in putting together a taxonomic chart of tree species. There are so many of them! The whole conifer side has been confusing me a little. cypress not cedar. How stupid am i. Never mind, ignore me.

Al

__________________
I can feel another "I wish that was my tree" moment coming on...
Currently studying BSc Plant Biology at the Universty of Wales, Aberystwyth