Field Guide

Grown as an ornamental for its attractive pink flower clusters, gracefully spreading branches, and delicate leaves, mimosa is easily propagated and grows rapidly. Unfortunately, it is also an invasive exotic in much of the state.

Amur corktree is a non-native tree that is becoming naturalized in our state. Originally introduced for landscape planting, it has proven itself invasive in the northeastern United States and has shown invasive tendencies in St. Louis.

A member of the maple family, box elder is often confused with poison ivy because its compound leaves sometimes grow in threes (though also in fives). A fast-growing tree, its winged seeds betray its relationship to other maples.

Black locust, a member of the bean family, is easy to appreciate in May and June, when its showy white clusters of flowers perfume the breeze with their sweet smell. Bees like the flowers, too.

Early Appalachian settlers gave yellowwood its name because the root bark produces a clear yellow dye. This slow-growing tree is popular statewide as a landscaping ornamental, but in the wild it is uncommon to endangered throughout its natural range.

There’s no mistaking Kentucky coffee tree when its large, tough seedpods are hanging from its limbs or dropping to the ground below. Unpopular as food with today’s wildlife, these seedpods might have fed mastodons and other large, extinct North American mammals.

Poison ivy is a toxic plant that contains an oil in all its parts that, if you come into contact with it, can cause an intense skin reaction. Learn to recognize it, and sidestep it on your outings.