Leatherwood
Dirca palustris
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Leatherwood grows from southern Quebec to Minnesota and south to Oklahoma to Florida. It's fairly rare throught its range. It prefers moist, humus-rich soils. It's shade tolerant.
Fruit: A 6-12 mm long, green to red, ellipsoid drupe. They ripen in June or July and fall soon after.
Flowers: A small, yellow, bell-shaped flower. They're available from March to April.
Uses: It's not typical planted as an ornamental because it's rare and the fruit is inedible to humans.
Ethnobotany: The twigs are pliable and were used by Native Americans for bowstrings, baskets, fishing line, and rope.
Importance to wildlife: Birds and small mammals eat the fruit.
The full leatherwood tree.
The bark of a leatherwood. Bark is very rough.
A single leaf on a leatherwood. Leaves are 4-9 cm long, oval-shaped, short pointed at the apex, and green and glabrous on both sides.
The leaf arrangement on a leatherwood. Leaves are simple and alternate.
The petiole of a leatherwood leaf concealing a bud. Buds are short, conical, brown, and velvety. Terminal buds are absent.
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