Oxydendrum arboreum

COMMON NAME: Sourwood; Sorrel-tree

FAMILY: Heath Family; Ericaceae

GROWTH HABIT: An upright oval or pyramidal tree growing to 30 - 40 ft. in height.

FOLIAGE: Alternate, simple, deciduous, 4 - 7 in. long. oblong-elliptic to oblong-lanceolate. Finely and irregularly toothed, broadly wedge-shaped at base, and somewhat abruptly pointed at apex. Flossy and glabrous above; paler below and slightly pubescent along the veins. Acid taste, hence the name. Leaves turn scarlet in fall.

BUDS: Small and inconspicuous. No true terminal bud; axillary buds minute, sunken in bark, obuse, with about 4 outer dark red scales.

BARK: Young stems green, developing a red coloration in summer and fall. Bark is gray-brown at maturity divided into small, blocky ridges.

FLOWERS: Alternate, simple, deciduous. Thin, pendulous, delicately curved clusters of bell-shaped ivory blossoms. Clusters are 4 - 10 in. long and hang from near the ends of the branches. Bloom in midsummer.

FRUIT: Small (1/4 in.), pubescent, grayish brown capsules in long clusters. Late summer, autumn. and persists into the winter.

NATIVE HABITAT: Southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania; west to southern Illinois; south to Florida and Louisiana.