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• Chionanthus virginicus

Chionanthus virginicus — white fringe-tree

Facts

White fringe-tree gets its name from the sprays of delicate, frangrant white flowers that grace its long, drooping branches. The flowers bloom before the leaves emerge, giving this small tree a lacy effect. The flowers mature into juicy fruits, which are purple when they ripen in late summer and are attractive to wildlife.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges, forests, meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Buds or leaf scars

  Bud scale number

  there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed

  Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)

  NA

  Collateral buds

  there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches

  Superposed buds

  there are no superposed buds on the branch

• Flowers

  Carpels fused

  the carpels are fused to one another

  Enlarged sterile flowers

  there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant

  Flower petal color

  white

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)

  NA

  Hypanthium present

  the flower does not have a hypanthium

  Inflorescence type

  • the flowers grow out of the axil (point where a branch or leaf is attached to the main stem)
  • the inflorescence is a panicle (branched with the individual flowers on stalks)

  Number of pistils

  1

  Ovary position

  the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are fused to form a tube, cup, or bell shape

  Sepal cilia (Ilex)

  NA

  Stamen number

  1 or 2

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  • NA
  • blue

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a drupe (fleshy, with a firm inner ovary wall that encloses a single seed)

  Nut with spines (Fagaceae)

  NA

• Glands or sap

  Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)

  NA

• Growth form

  Growth form

  • the plant is a shrub (a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
  • the plant is a tree

• Leaves

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is attenuate (tapering very gradually to a prolonged tip)
  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade edges (Acer)

  NA

  Leaf blade hairs

  the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given

  Leaf blade length

  80–200 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)
  • the leaf blade is obovate (egg-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)

  Leaf blade width

  Up to 120 mm

  Leaf duration

  the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)

  Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)

  NA

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk nectaries

  there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk

  Leaf teeth

  the edge of the leaf blade is entire (has no teeth or lobes)

  Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)

  NA

  Leaf type

  the leaf blade is simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaves per node

  there are two leaves per node along the stem

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • forests
  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Aerial roots

  the plant has no aerial roots

  Bark texture

  • the bark of an adult plant is ridged or plated
  • the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth

  Branch brittleness (willows only)

  NA

  Branch cross-section

  the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles

  First-year cane (Rubus)

  NA

  Pith type

  the pith inside the twig is solid, completely filled with spongy tissue

  Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)

  NA

  Twig winter color

  • brown
  • gray

  Wings on branch

  the branch does not have wings on it

  armature on plant

  the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns

Wetland status

Occurs in wetlands or non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FAC)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae