by Piedmont Region Urban Forestry Specialist Ann Huyler
FIA (Forest Inventory & Analysis) Coordinator Byron Rominger and Rural Forestry Coordinator Chisolm Beckham led a two-day course May 26 – 27 about tree identification for FIA foresters and anyone else happy to learn or relearn more than 100 tree and shrub species found in South Carolina.
Day One
At least 20 people showed up to identify trees May 26. FIA foresters from the Coastal, Pee Dee, and Piedmont regions arrived, including our new FIA intern from Kentucky, Macey Dumas. Members of the SCFC Headquarters staff joined in, too, including Privacy Officer Dana Austin, HR Recruiter Jordan Hughes and Assistant Environmental Education Coordinator Shelby Bentley. In addition, two staff members from the Center of Heirs’ Property, Forester James Williams and Project Forester Asija Rice, came on board, with Asija having attended a few of our Tree ID courses prior. Plenty of non-FIA people came to take the course, and everyone braved the hot and humid weather.
Headquarters
For the first tree walk, Byron and Chisolm guided us around SCFC Headquarters, pointing out trees and teaching the characteristics that help determine each species.
Oaks in the red oak group have bristle tips on their leaves and take two years to develop acorns, such as the blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica), which bends over the back road to Harbison State Forest.
Oaks in the white oak group do not have bristle tips and develop their acorns in one growing season, such as the big two-trunk post oak (Quercus stellata), which shades part of the back parking lot.
Saluda Shoals Park
A sudden rain squall initiated an early break for lunch, and afterward we toured Saluda Shoals Park.
On a lovely trail loop, we learned to identify blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) by removing a leaf and checking the leaf scar for 3 tiny dots that indicated where the xylem and phloem (water and food pipes) enter the leaf from the stem.
We saw the sulfur yellow buds of the bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) and the three leaf shapes of sassafras (Sassafras albidum): oval, two-lobed (mitten-shaped) and three-lobed (T-rex foot-shaped).
Day Two
Lexington County Heritage Preserves
We explored two Heritage Preserves in Lexington County Wednesday: Shealy’s Pond and Peachtree Rock. Shealy’s Pond was a sandy site, home to slash pine (Pinus elliottii), with its bright rusty-orange and gray-brown platy bark, and sand post oak (Quercus margaretta), a diminutive version of post oak with leaves that are smaller and more leathery, with the undersides velvety with soft pubescence.
Peachtree Rock held the most surprises.
The trail heading down to the famous sandstone formation started through thick undergrowth of sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), fetterbush (Lyonia lucida), and southern deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum), topped by young mockernut hickory (Carya tomentosa) and big boled black oak (Quercus velutina).
As we went down the trail, we identified horse sugar (Symplocos tinctoria), whose leaves really do taste sweet, and sweet bay (Magnolia virginiana), whose leaves do not, until we got to the rocks and the waterfall.
Then, the plant ecosystem changed to maple leaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) and serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), with a delightful presence of spotted wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata).
Our 100 tree and shrub species quota could have been filled by Peachtree Rock.
But after lunch, Byron and Chisolm took us to Harbison State Forest and down a service road to a wet, green grassy field. There we saw black walnut (Juglans nigra), an understory of pawpaw (Asimina triloba) and the biggest cherry bark oak (Quercus pagoda), whose root flare extended up the trunk at least 4 feet.
We identified many more tree and shrub species than were mentioned here. Byron and Chisolm excel at teaching tree identification, providing a depth of leaf detail; scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) leaves have a petiole half as long as the leaf, and a breadth of tree species history; slash pine is more susceptible to fusiform rust than other pines, leading to its population decline in forests and plantations.
The Tree ID Course imparted a wealth of tree information from gentlemen who clearly love sharing their knowledge of the trees and forests of South Carolina.