Woody Plants

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Woody plants are perennials (plants that live more than two years) that create stiff structures above ground that they use throughout their lives. They may be divided into three groups: trees, shrubs and vines. Trees and shrubs are self-supporting. Vines climb on other plants or on inanimate structures like a fence or a wall. They all develop an inner "backbone" - wood - for support and a tough outer "skin" - bark - for protection. This strategy allows them to get closer to the sun. All plants are in competition with each other for sunlight, which is the energy source that they capture to power photosynthesis within their cells. Any plant that can grow taller than its neighbors will be more successful in this competition. A woody stem allows this.

In order to move water and nutrients efficiently within themselves, woody plants had to develop a plumbing system. Just underneath the bark is a layer of plant tissues that serves this function. This is actually the only part of the trunk that is alive. It is called the Cambial Layer (red arrow). Within the cambial layer, one kind of tissue transports liquids from the roots to the leaves. This is called the Xylem. Another transports liquids from the leaves to the roots and also laterally above ground. This is called the Phloem. As the plant grows it constantly renews both of these. Only the new xylem and phloem transport water and nutrients. The old xylem tissue becomes the wood and the old phloem tissue becomes the bark. Since this tissue creation is very slow in winter, the creation of new wood slows down, resulting in an annual growth ring (blue arrow) that can be seen in this cross-section of a Black Locust tree branch.

Other perennials, such as grasses, persist from year-to-year only in their root and root crown. They do not re-use in the following year the structures they build above ground during the growing season. They succeed through prolific seed-production, a greater tolerance for dry conditions and the ability to recover rapidly from a catastrophic environmental disturbance such as a fire or a flood.

DID YOU KNOW?

THE COTTONWOOD TREE

Official State Tree of Kansas

The seeds of cottonwood trees have a cottony structure which enables them to blow long distances in the air before settling on the ground. This cotton-like fiber tends to collect everywhere when the seeds fall - massed in billowy piles on roadsides, insinuated in other plant-life and flower petals, and tickling noses.

Pawpaw - Asimina triloba

Sassafras - Sassafras albidum
Spicebush - Lindera benzoin

Wooly Pipevine - Aristolochia tomentosa

Snailseed - Cocculus carolinus
Moonseed - Menispermum canadense

Red Elm - Ulmus rubra
Siberian Elm - Ulmus pumila
American Elm - Ulmus americana
Hackberry - Celtis occidentalis
Dwarf Hackberry - Celtis tenuifolia
Sugarberry - Celtis laevigata

Red Mulberry - Morus rubra
Osage Orange - Maclura pomifera

Black Walnut - Juglans nigra
Pecan - Carya illinoensis
Bitternut Hickory - Carya cordiformis
Shagbark Hickory - Carya ovata
Kingnut Hickory - Carya laciniosa
Mockernut Hickory - Carya tomentosa
Black Hickory - Carya texana

White Oak - Quercus alba
Post Oak - Quercus stellata
Bur Oak - Quercus macrocarpa
Chestnut Oak - Quercus muhlenbergii
Red Oak - Quercus borealis
Pin Oak - Quercus palustris
Shumard's Oak - Quercus shumardii
Black Oak - Quercus velutina
Black Jack Oak - Quercus marilandica
Shingle Oak - Quercus imbricaria

Hazelnut - Corylus americana
Ironwood - Ostrya virginiana
River Birch - Betula nigra

Basswood - Tilia americana

Salt Cedar - Tamarix sp.

Silver Poplar - Populus alba
Cottonwood - Populus deltoides
Black Willow - Salix nigra
Carolina Willow - Salix caroliniana
Peach-leaved Willow - Salix amygdaloides
Sandbar Willow - Salix exigua
Prairie Willow - Salix humilis

Wooly Buckthorn - Bumelia lanuginosa

Persimmon - Diospyros virginiana

Wild Gooseberry - Ribes americanum
Golden Currant - Ribes odoratum

Wild Crabapple - Pyrus ioensis
June Berry - Amelanchier arborea
Cockspur Hawthorn - Crataegus crus-galli
Red Haw - Crataegus mollis
Black Raspberry - Rubus occidentalis
Dewberry - Rubus flagellaris
Highbush Blackberry - Rubus ostryifolius
Climbing Prairie Rose - Rosa setigera
Prairie Rose - Rosa arkansana
Wild Plum - Prunus americana
Wild Goose Plum - Prunus hortulana
Sandhill Plum - Prunus angustifolia
Black Cherry - Prunus serotina
Choke Cherry - Prunus virginana

Kentucky Coffee Tree - Gymnocladus dioica
Honey Locust - Gleditsia triacanthos
Redbud - Cercis canadensis

Leadplant - Amorpha canescens
False Indigo - Amorpha fruticosa
Black Locust - Robinia pseudo-acacia

Russian Olive - Eleagnus angustifolia

Roughleaved Dogwood - Cornus drummondii
Swamp Dogwood - Cornus amomum

Mistletoe - Phoradendron serotinum

Wahoo - Euonymus atropurpureus
Bittersweet - Celastrus scandens

Buckthorn - Rhamnus lanceolata
New Jersey Tea - Ceanothus americanus

Raccoon Grape - Ampelopsis cordata
Virginia Creeper - Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Riverbank Grape - Vitis riparia

Bladdernut - Staphylea trifolia

Soapberry - Sapindus saponaria

Western Buckeye - Aesculus glabra

Sugar Maple - Acer saccharum
Silver Maple - Acer saccharinum
Box Elder - Acer negundo

Smooth Sumac - Rhus glabra
Winged Sumac - Rhus copallina
Aromatic Sumac - Rhus aromatica
Poison Ivy - Toxicodendron radicans

Tree of Heaven - Ailanthus altissima

Prickly Ash - Zanthoxylum americanum
Hop Tree - Ptelea trifoliata

White Ash - Fraxinus americana
Green Ash - Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Blue Ash - Fraxinus quadrangulata

Trumpet Creeper - Campsis radicans
Catalpa - Catalpa speciosa

Buttonbush - Cephalanthus occidentalis

Japanese Honeysuckle - Lonicera japonica
Wolfberry - Symphoricarpos occidentalis
Coralberry - Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
Southern Black Haw - Viburnum rufidulum
Elderberry - Sambucus canadensis

Rabbitbush - Chrysothamnus pulchellis
Willow Baccharis - Baccharis salicina
Sandhill Sage - Artemisia filifolia

Bristly Greenbrier - Smilax hispida