Street Trees for Central Florida S - Leu Gardens€¦ · limit which trees can be used smartly and...

Street trees are an integral part of anyurban landscape. Street trees are treesthat are used along roads and highways.Often this location encompasses thearea between the sidewalk and the road.Street trees provide needed shade aroundhot, paved areas. They provide habitatand sometimes food to urban wildlife.They can also help “green-up” an areaand improve aesthetics. Not all trees aresuitable street trees. There are manyfactors to consider when planting streettrees. Some can get much too large orhave damaging roots that can causeproblems years into the future. Treesalong a street have to be able to toleratesometimes harsh conditions. Soil can belimited and of poor quality. The soilnear a street often has a high pH level sothe tree has to be able to tolerate alkalinesoil. Irrigation is sometimes not availableor adequate enough. Trees should be ableto tolerate periods of drought. Highpollution levels from vehicle’s exhaust onbusy streets can cause problems to thetrees. The height of the tree must betaken into consideration if there arepower lines overhead. Too many times atree that will eventually grow too tall isplanted under or near power lines. Thiscauses maintenance problems in thefuture. Too often the tree is then pruned

into a grotesque shapeor it has to be removed.As a general guide, ifthere are power linesoverhead, it isrecommended not toplant a tree that willgrow taller than 15feet. All these factorslimit which trees canbe used smartly andsuccessfully alongstreets. Below are sometrees that can be usedas street trees incentral Florida. Someare strictly shade trees;others produceornamental flowersand provide colorduring their peak season.

Bauhinia x blakeana, the Hong KongOrchid Tree, grows 20 to 30 feet tall. Itbears very showy orchid-like flowers fromautumn until late spring. These flowersare reddish-purple in color and are slightlyfragrant. Hong Kong Orchid Tree is afast grower and drought tolerant. It is ahybrid between B. purpurea and B.variegata. Both of these parents arecommon but are not recommended asthey produce large amounts of seedlings

and can become a nuisance. TheHong Kong Orchid Tree is a sterilehybrid and will not produce seed.

Cassia leptophylla, or GoldMedallion Tree, is a native to south-eastern Brazil. It is fast growing andreaches 20-25 feet tall. It bloomsfrom late spring into summer and iscovered in golden yellow flowers.The individual flowers can be up to3 inches across. The tree is verystunning when flowering. It is alsofairly drought tolerant. This is anexcellent small tree that deserveswider use here.

Ceiba speciosa, the Floss Silk Tree, is aspectacular specimen that makes a greatstreet tree. It is fast growing, reaching30-50 feet tall. It bears large amounts oflarge pink flowers in fall. The flowersare variable from almost white to deeppink. The trunk of this tree is usuallycovered in large, ornamental spines butindividuals with smooth trunks exist.The Floss Silk Tree is very droughttolerant and is native from Brazil to Peru.It was formerly known as Chorisiaspeciosa. The related C. chodatii bearsyellow flowers and C. insignis bearswhite flowers. C. crispiflora has pinkflowers with narrow petals and usuallyflowers in summer. Many hybridsbetween these four species exist.

Cordia boisseri, Ancahuita or WhiteCordia Tree, is one of the best floweringtrees for this area. It is fast growing, coldhardy, and bears white flowers throughoutthe year. It only grows 10-15 feet talland is native to southern Texas andnorthern Mexico. It loves a hot andsunny location and needs little careonce it is established.

Street Trees for Central Florida

Bauhinia X blakeana ‘Hong Kong Orchid Tree’

Elaeocarpus decipiens, JapaneseBlueberry Tree, is a handsome evergreentree native to southern Japan,southern China, and Taiwan. It hasa moderate rate of growth and canreach 30 to 40 feet tall. The leavesare dark green in color and turn redbefore dropping. It bears very smallwhite flowers in summer, which arefollowed by inedible but ornamen-tal bluish-black colored berries.

Eucalyptus polyanthemos, the RedBox Tree, is often called the SilverDollar Tree. This name usually refersto a related tree, Eucalyptus cinerea.The Red Box Tree is evergreen withround leaves that are an attractivesilvery green color. The tree is fastgrowing, reaches 30 to 50 feet tall,drought tolerant and native to easternAustralia.

Ilex cassine, Dahoon Holly, is a Floridanative that grows 20 to 30 feet tall. It isevergreen and the female trees bearbright red berries in winter. DahoonHolly can tolerate wet soil but is alsovery drought tolerant. Hybrids between

this tree and the American Holly, I.opaca exist. These are commonly grownbut are no longer recommended. A gallis killing many local trees, especially thehybrids ‘East Palatka’ and ‘Savannah’.

Jacaranda mimosifolia, Jacaranda Tree,is a showy bloomer that bears small,trumpet-shaped flowers that are blue-violet in color. These flowers appear inspring making the tree a spectacularsight. Jacaranda is native to Argentinaand Bolivia. It grows 30-40 feet tall andis fast growing. It is also very droughttolerant. The cultivar ‘Alba’ bears whiteflowers. The similar J. cuspidifolia, fromsouthern Brazil and Argentina, bearslarger flowers that appear in the summer.These flowers are usually more purplethan blue in color.

Juniperus silicicola, is known as theSouthern Red Cedar. This native Floridaconifer is an evergreen and grows 30 to40 feet tall. Young specimens have avery tight and upright growth habit butloosen up as they mature. Older treeshave an open, spreading habit and somehave a gnarled and picturesque look to

them. Southern Red Cedar is verydrought tolerant once established. Theyproduce small cones that are powderyblue and berry-like.

Lagerstroemia fauriei, or JapaneseCrepe Myrtle, is not widely used incentral Florida. It is a tall growing treethat can reach 30 to 50 feet tall and is

native to southern Japan. It bears smallclusters of white flowers during thesummer. The chief attribute that makesthis tree attractive is its trunk and bark.Several times a year the bark willexfoliate and peel off. The grayish barkreveals a smooth, coppery red trunkthat is very eye catching, especiallyduring winter when the tree is bare ofleaves. Japanese Crepe Myrtle is resistantto powdery mildew and is often used inbreeding hybrids with the commonCrepe Myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica.Most of these hybrids have been namedafter Native American tribes and arecommonly found in local nurseries.Several of these make excellent specimensfor street planting where power lines arepresent. Too often the wrong cultivarsare used and have to be butchered eachspring too keep them from interferingwith power lines. A couple of commoncultivars, ‘Muskogee’ and ‘Natchez’, cangrow 20 to 30 feet tall and are notappropriate near power lines. A few thatcan be grown under the lines withoutany problem include ‘Acoma’ (white),

‘Catawba’ (dark purple),‘Lipan’ (lavender), ‘Sioux’(dark pink), and ‘Tonto’(hot pink).

Liquidambar formosana,Formosan Sweetgum, isnative to Taiwan, southernChina, and northernVietnam. It is an Asianrelative to our nativeAmerican Sweetgum,Liquidambar styraciflua. Itdiffers in having a 3-lobedleaf instead of the familiarstar-shaped leaf of theAmerican Sweetgum. It is

also deciduous and the leaves often turnan orangish-red before dropping inwinter. This tree is fairly fast growingand can reach 30 to 50 feet tall.

– Eric Schmidt

CONTINUED IN THE SPRING ISSUE

Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei ‘Tonto’

Cassia leptophylla close-up First of a two-part series