Field guides — species I'm hunting for
Target species to find, recognize & collect on upcoming hikes — a phone-friendly search image for the trail. Each guide is evergreen: once the plant is found, it stays and links to the collection.
Target
American persimmon
Diospyros virginiana
Alligator-bark pioneer of old fields — frost-sweet orange fruit packed with easy, high-germination seed.
When: Oct–Nov — pumpkin-orange fruit hangs on bare or yellowing branches after leaf drop; fall foliage runs yellow to reddish-purple
Target
American beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
Follow the electric-magenta berry whorls hugging the stem — the easiest native shrub in NC to spot and one of the simplest to grow from seed or cuttings.
When: Late Aug – Oct: nothing else looks like the tight clusters of glossy magenta-violet berries whorled around the stem at each leaf node; foliage fades to pale chartreuse as the fruit peaks.
Target
Crossvine
Bignonia capreolata
Spring's reddish-orange trumpets on a high-climbing tendril vine — spot it in April, collect flat brown pods in late summer.
When: Apr–May — clusters of 2-inch reddish-orange/yellow trumpet flowers high in trees and along edges make it pop; semi-evergreen foliage flushes purple-bronze in winter
Target
Winged elm
Ulmus alata
The Piedmont's corky-winged upland elm — grab the reddish spring samaras and sow them fresh, not in fall.
When: Feb–Mar for the dense reddish flower clusters on bare twigs; Mar–Apr the whole crown fuzzes with pale reddish-tan samaras (the collectible cue). Dull yellow-green in fall — not showy.
Target
Hackberry (Sugarberry)
Celtis laevigata
The Piedmont's warty-barked floodplain hackberry — sweet orange drupes that all but grow themselves.
When: Sep–Nov — small orange-red to purplish-brown drupes stud the twigs and persist into winter; soft pale-yellow fall foliage and pale gray, corky-warted bark help you pick it out along bottomland edges
Target
Mockernut hickory (Piedmont hickories)
Carya tomentosa
The Piedmont's most abundant hickory — big tan buds, fuzzy leaves, thick-husked sweet nuts; your genus-level key to telling it from pignut, shagbark, and bitternut.
When: Late Sep – Oct — nuts ripen and 4-part brown husks drop to the trail; golden-yellow fall foliage (peaking Oct) lights up the canopy. Scan the ground under ridge-top trees
Target
Sourwood
Oxydendrum arboreum
The sour-leaved heath tree: drooping white lily-of-the-valley sprays in July, crimson fire in fall, and dust-fine seed shed from silver-gray capsules through winter.
When: July for the drooping white flower sprays; late September–October for the early crimson-scarlet fall color that lights it up in the understory; October–November for the persistent silver-gray seed capsules
Target
Northern spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Crush a leaf — if it smells like allspice and citrus, you've found it. Scout in early fall for the scarlet drupes only female shrubs carry.
When: Late Aug–Oct — scan streamside understory for clusters of glossy scarlet-red drupes (they ripen green→red through late Aug–Sep and are usually stripped by birds by late Oct); foliage also turns clear butter-yellow in fall. (For scouting/ID only, early Mar–Apr shows leafless twigs fuzzed with tiny yellow flowers.)
Target
Trumpet vine
Campsis radicans
Piedmont's blazing native hummingbird vine — trivially easy to grow, genuinely hard to contain.
When: Jul–Aug to spot the blazing orange-scarlet trumpet clusters; Sep–Oct for the brown, splitting seed capsules
Target
Tulip tree
Liriodendron tulipifera
The Piedmont's tallest hardwood drops a cone full of samaras that are mostly empty — cut-test before you cold-stratify.
When: Oct–Nov to collect ripe straw-brown cones (samaras persist on the twig into winter); Apr–Jun for the greenish-yellow tulip flowers; Oct for clear-yellow fall foliage that lights up the canopy
Target
White ash
Fraxinus americana
A vanishing upland canopy tree — collect samaras from surviving females now, while the emerald ash borer is still ahead of you.
When: Sep–Oct: hunt drooping clusters of tan/brown paddle-shaped samaras on female crowns; late fall foliage turns yellow to distinctive maroon-purple, an easy long-range flag
Harvest calendar 6 species
When each collection's seed or cuttings are best gathered. Plan return trips by the bars.
Collections
6 plant groups collected in the field, identified, and worked up for propagation.
01
American witch hazel
Hamamelis virginiana
Fall-ripening woody capsules that ballistically eject shiny black seed — a Piedmont-native understory shrub with spidery late-fall flowers.
Best bet: Ground layering next spring; return late Aug–Sep for ripe seed.
02
Mountain laurel
Kalmia latifolia
Iconic evergreen heath of the escarpment — hard to root, slow from seed, and insistent on acidic, sharply drained soil.
Best bet: Take semi-hardwood cuttings now (wound + 1% IBA + humidity/heat); return Sep–Oct for mature seed; peg a layer as insurance.
03
Alternate-leaf (pagoda) dogwood
Cornus alternifolia
The only alternate-leaved eastern dogwood — coral pedicels, blue-black fruit ripe right at collection time. A cool-mountain species pushed to its warm edge in the Piedmont.
Best bet: Sow cleaned blue-black drupes fresh now (outdoor warm→cold cycle); hedge with softwood cuttings.
04
Wild hydrangea
Hydrangea arborescens complex
Wild hydrangea of moist coves — roots almost effortlessly from summer cuttings, the real payoff for a July collection.
Best bet: Root softwood node cuttings from the collected stem now — fast, easy, high odds.
05
Canada moonseed
Menispermum canadense
A twining native vine with a bright-yellow creeping rhizome — trivially easy to divide, but toxic and aggressive. Handle the wild-grape mimic with care.
Best bet: Pot the rooted rhizome segment now — near-guaranteed establishment.
06
Carolina phlox
Phlox carolina
A tall, mildew-resistant native phlox for pollinators — collected as flowering stems, best cloned from softwood cuttings.
Best bet: Root softwood stem cuttings today — recut under water, strip flowers, IBA, humidity dome.