Common hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata mollis)

Description

Ptelea trifoliata is a small tree, or often a shrub of a few spreading stems, growing to around 6–8 m (20–26 ft) tall with a broad crown. The bark is reddish brown to gray brown, short horizontal lenticels, warty corky ridges, becoming slightly scaly, unpleasant odor and bitter taste. Branchlets are dark reddish brown, shining, covered with small excrescences. The twigs are slender to moderately stout, brown with deep U-shaped leaf scars, and with short, light brown, fuzzy buds. It has thick fleshy roots.Its leaves are alternate, compound, three-parted, dotted with oil glands. Leaflets sessile, ovate or oblong, three to five inches long, by two to three broad, pointed at base, entire or serrate, gradially pointed at apex. Feather-veined, midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud conduplicate, very downy, when full grown are dark green, shining above, paler green beneath. In autumn they turn a rusty yellow. Petioles stout, two and a half to three inches long, base enlarged. Stipules wanting. The western and southwestern forms have smaller leaves (5–11 cm) than the eastern forms (10–18 cm), an adaptation to the drier climates there.The flowers are small, 1–2 cm across, with 4-5 narrow, greenish white petals. Pedicels are downy. The calyx is four or five-parted, downy, imbricate in the bud. The corolla has four or five petals, which are white, downy, spreading, hypogynous, and imbricate in bud. Stamens are five, alternate with the petals, hypogynous, the psitillate flowers with rudimentary anters; filaments awl-shaped, more or less hairy; anthers ovate or cordate, two-celled, cells opening longitudinally. Ovaries are superior, hairy, abortive in the staminate flowers, two to three-celled; the style is short; stigma is two to three-lobed; ovules are two in each cell. Fertile and sterile flowers produced together in terminal, spreading, compound cymes; the sterile being usually fewer, and falling after the anther cells mature.Flowers are produced in May and June. Some find the odor unpleasant but to others trifoliata has a delicious scent.The fruit is a round wafer-like papery samara, 2-2.5 cm across, light brown, and two-seeded. The fruit ripens in October, and is held on tree until high winds during early winter.Its wood is yellow brown; heavy, hard, close-grained, satiny. Sp. gr., 0.8319; weight of cu. ft., 51.84 lbs