The shade provided by an ironwood tree allows other plants to get a foothold in the desert. Ironwoods bloom in May with dusty mauve flowers. According to Forest Trees of Wisconsin, the lumber is, “Very strong … used for fence posts, handles of tools, mallets and other small articles and fuel.” Habitat: Ironwood prefers rich, moist soil and grows best in dappled light. While the Ironwood tree is considered "evergreen," it does lose its leaves if the temperature falls below 36 degrees Fahrenheit. Jump to Latest Follow 1 - 8 of 8 Posts. Also known as eastern hophornbeam. The tree receives its common names from its extremely tough wood and hop like fruit. Light gray brown; furrowed and irregularly ridged. peeling bark off ironwood? It is a slender tree, with leaves like yellow birch, although ironwood leaves have teeth of two different sizes. Younger trees have smooth and also shiny back, while in older trees the bark is more cracked with a duller sheen. Dr. Coombs is an environmental consultant and writer based in Grahamstown. ... Ironwood leaf gall maker (Eriophyes sp.) Many trees do however resist and survive the damage by regenerating the bark in wounded areas. It has simple alternating leaves with jagged teeth along the margins. The bark is rough and patterned, with whorls that peel off the tree. Any desert tree that shelters new plants is called a nurse tree. Height 20' to 40', diameter 5" to 12"; top generally rounded; branches long and slender, drooping at ends. Bark. Our Persian Ironwood is still young, and in the winter of 2019, was not yet shedding. This ironwood growing at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is estimated to be 220 years old. Bark: light grey, becoming dark grey and vertically fissured with age; a characteristic blackish gum is exuded from bark wounds. Leaf The black ironwood is a bushy shrub, or a small to medium-sized tree, up to 10 metres (33 ft) in height, occasionally reaching 40 metres (130 ft). The tree blooms heavily in alternating years. The bark on young trees is smooth and chestnut brown, quickly becoming gray and rough. The bark of ironwood is light brown and scaly, shredding off in vertical strips. The mature bark exfoliates to patches of green, tan and white. The Persian Ironwood has attractive brown bark with pink hues that, when mature, sheds off to reveal smooth white and green bark underneath. An ironwood that was eventually ringbarked by porcupines. The strips often spiral somewhat around the trunk. Related to witch-hazel, the oblong green leaves turn various shades of red, orange and yellow in the fall, often persisting into the winter months. On mature trees the bark is grayish-brown and is broken into short, narrow, vertical strips that are loose at both ends. The leaves suggest a beech but the bark squelches that idea and helps us narrow the search to an ironwood tree, Ostraya virginiana, which can be found throughout the state. 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