seedling ID needed

[Lanier_Lurker]

I was on English Ivy patrol the other day clearing out some of that menacing stuff, and I uncovered a number of seedlings underneath that had been trying to fight their way through.  Most of them were easy to identify, but this little guy stumped me.

I *hope* it is blackgum, because I will transplant it if so.

What made this seedling stand out among all of the similar looking black cherry seedlings was that there are no serrations on the leaf edge.

I know that seedling identification can be tricky, but maybe this won't be so bad. 

[WDH]

That is what it looks like to me, too.  However, it could be paw paw, Asimina triloba.

[Dodgy Loner]

I'm almost certain that it's a Nyssa sylvatica.  Easy way to tell it from pawpaw: crush a leaf and smell it.  If there's no distinguishable odor, it's blackgum, but if there's a very strong odor of bell peppers, it's pawpaw.

My favorite trees to smell are:

Black/yellow birch stems (wintergreen)
Carolina laurelcherry leaves (Maraschino cherries)
Northern whitecedar leaves (citrus)
Sassafras twigs (has been described many ways, but I think they smell like fruit loops)
Anise leaves (licorice)
Walnut hulls/wood (only a sawyer or woodworker would understand why I love this smell )
Black cherry inner bark (same reason I like the walnut smell)

Anybody else have a favorite tree to smell

[Lanier_Lurker]

Well, the little guy only has 3 leaves - so I hate to yank one off of him for the sniff test. 

It seems probable enough that it is blackgum, so a rescue transplant is in order.  In fact, I may pot it for the summer in some fertilized potting mix and plant it in the fall.

Obviously, I have at least one mature nyssa sylvatica around here somewhere.  I'll have to find it.  All of the specimens I have found so far are sapling size or smaller (like this little guy).  Are they monoecious or dioecious?

As far as sassafras goes, don't count out the leaves.  They have a similar smell.

[WDH]

If it is blackgum, the leaves should be shiny and smooth.  If it is paw paw, the leaves should be dull and a little velvety.

I, too, bet on blackgum.  They are usually very hardy, so hopefully the transplant goes well.

[Tom]

Anybody else have a favorite tree to smell

Southern Yellow Pine.... Specially in the Spring.

[Dodgy Loner]

I love the smell of heart pine.  Makes me think of the many times I split fat lighter kindling to get the fireplace roaring in the winter time when I was growing up . 

[SwampDonkey]

Balm-of-gilead smells sweet as honey this time of year. Not my favorite smell though, but pleasant.

I like the blossoms of a basswood tree. Kinda smell like a orange orchard in blossom. I also like the smell of fresh cut balsam fir and eastern (northern) white cedar branches.

Apple blossoms aren't too bad either.

[Dodgy Loner]

I forgot all about cedar until you mentioned it, SD!  Of course I love eastern redcedar, but I think the smell of Port-Orford Cedar is my favorite.  It smells strongly of ginger, but, of course, it's hard to come by around here .

[WDH]

The smell of walnut as you saw it.  Unique.  The sweet spicy smell of cherry as you saw it.  The wintergreen smell of a crushed black birch twig.

[Lanier_Lurker]

Well, I must not have done a good job digging it up and potting it.

It died.   

But, I am pretty sure it was not a blackgum.  After staring at it for a few days after I potted it I realized it looked almost exactly like the numerous persimmon seedlings I have popping up all over the place.  It just happened to be ahead of the crowd in its development.

I think it was a persimmon.

[WDH]

Sorry to hear that the little Diospyros is gone......

[Lanier_Lurker]

No worries.

The others I potted are doing fine. 

I have about a dozen.

[WDH]

I will sleep better tonight knowing that .

[LeeB]

Any pics of a black gum handy so I can increase my pitifully small knowledge base?

[Lanier_Lurker]

Any pics of a black gum handy so I can increase my pitifully small knowledge base?

Same here.  I am not confident that I can readily identify them.

[SwampDonkey]

I'd like to find some  basswood seedlings, first year seedlings. The leaves are different shape than later years. No, don't mean the cotyledons. They have 5 lobed (palmate) cotyledons.

My basswood are flowering now.

[tonich]

Yeah, the cotyledons are zero year leaves. 

[Texas Ranger]

I look forward to the smell of the piney woods when we come back from up nawth.

[Lanier_Lurker]

My favorite trees to smell are:

Black/yellow birch stems (wintergreen)
Carolina laurelcherry leaves (Maraschino cherries)
Northern whitecedar leaves (citrus)
Sassafras twigs (has been described many ways, but I think they smell like fruit loops)
Anise leaves (licorice)
Walnut hulls/wood (only a sawyer or woodworker would understand why I love this smell )
Black cherry inner bark (same reason I like the walnut smell)

Anybody else have a favorite tree to smell

I mentioned this in another thread a while back.

I sectioned and split a sourwood (7 or so inches in diameter) that someone decided to drop on the vacant lot right across the street.  I think it may have been getting into the power lines.

Anyway, it was still fairly green when I got to it.  The smell of that stuff was a definite surprise.  It was similar to fresh raw pumpkin, with a slight fresh cut sugarcane edge to it.

Very interesting indeed.

[WDH]

It was similar to fresh raw pumpkin, with a slight fresh cut sugarcane edge to it.

Very interesting indeed.

Yes very interesting.  A sourwood that does not smell sour.   This may be a case for Sherlock Holmes..........

Anyone watching the new Sherlock Holmes series on PBS?

[SwampDonkey]

I liked the old 1940's Holmes (Basil Rathbone), with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, the best.