The following definitions will help with
interpreting tree descriptions:
- Site
- A specific tree planting location. Each site
is influenced by a different combination of factors including
soil physical qualities, aspect, moisture, soil fertility and
others. Most trees will grow best on sites with deep loamy soil,
plentiful moisture, full sunlight and room to develop.
- Tolerance
- The ability of a tree to withstand some
condition, such as shade, drought, soil compaction, high winds
or flooding. A tree may tolerate less than ideal growing conditions
but may not necessarily thrive there.
- Hardiness Zones
- Indicate the average annual minimum
temperatures and are used to show the geographic limits of cold
hardiness. The zones are broken into 10 degree intervals, with
each zone split into an 'a' (north) and 'b' (south) subzone based
upon 5 degree intervals. The USDA Hardiness Zone Map divides Missouri
into six subzones, from '4b' in northwest Missouri to '7a' in
the Bootheel.
- Flowers and Fruits
- Some trees have male and female
flowers on the same tree, while others are separate sexed. If
fruiting is an important consideration, learning whether a tree
is male or female is necessary.
- Cultivar
- Is a cultivated variety of a particular species
that has a distinctive feature such as flower color, fruit, form,
leaf color or disease resistance. Cultivars carry names such as
'Green Mountain' maple. Cultivars should perform in very predictable
ways.
Definitions for other terms used in this
book:
- Balled and burlapped
- Plants that are dug with a ball
of soil around the roots, which is then wrapped with burlap or
other material.
- Bare rooted
- Plants that are dug and handled with little
or no soil on their roots. The plants are stored so the roots
are kept moist and the tops dormant. They should be planted before
growth begins.
- Blight
- A disease that kills young growing tissues.
Blights may affect leaves, twigs and smaller limbs.
- Cankers
- Fungus diseases which kill localized areas
of tissue on branches and the trunk. Growth of healthy wood around
a canker creates a sunken area at the site.
- Container grown
- Plants grown and marketed in containers.
Common container sizes range from one to five gallons. Container
grown plants may be planted year-round.
- Galls
- An abnormal swelling of plant tissues. Galls
may be caused by insects, mites, nematodes, fungi or bacteria
and can be found on leaves, twigs and roots.
- Leaf blotch
- Irregular areas of diseased tissue on
a leaf.
- Leaf scorch
- Browning and shriveling of leaves due
to very hot weather.
- Rust
- A fungus disease that infects both a host and
an alternate host before completing its life cycle. A common example
is cedar-apple rust.
- Sun scald
- Injury or death to the bark and cambium
caused by a rapid drop in temperature. Sun scald is actually a
freezing injury.
- Watersprouts and suckers
- Vigorous, upright shoots
that grow from buds in older wood. Watersprouts are found on the
trunk and older branches. Suckers arise below the ground from
the trunk or roots. Both should be removed as soon as possible.
- Wilt
- A deficiency of water in the leaves. Wilting
may be caused by low soil moisture or by parasites. The wilting
caused by parasites is due to toxins which they produce; later
the water-conducting vessels may become plugged by bacterial or
fungus growth, or by proliferation of neighboring cells.
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