Emergent Plant Series: #6, Climax Forest Stage (3.19490)
Date: 1950sCreator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Part of a series of numbered illustrations about the stages of pond growth. This material includes a view of a pond in the center with forest trees and hills in the background, and a cross-section of illustrations of forest trees, and trees and emergent plants of the water's edge.
Header: CLIMAX FOREST STAGE / THE PERMAMENT FOREST of the REGION
Drawings and text from top to bottom, left to right:
- pond and surrounding landscape
- cross-section [divided into 7 sections]:
- CLIMAX FOREST
- red oak
- white oak
- hickory
- LOWLAND FOREST ZONE
- elm
- ash
- hackberry
- linden
- PIONEER TREE ZONE
- willow
- silver maple
- EMERGENT ZONE
- cat-tails
- arrowhead
- bur reed
- pickerel weed
- bull-rush
- PIONEER TREE ZONE
- LOWLAND FOREST ZONE
- CLIMAX FOREST
- CLIMAX FOREST
Extent: 1 sheet
Arboretum Landscape Teaching Aid Series: A Fence Long Gone Marked A Boundary (3.19498)
Date: 1940 – 1960Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Primarily textual teaching aid depicting Arboretum landscape. This material shows how a fence once marked a boundary through a forest.
Header: A fence (long gone) marked a boundary through a forest (long gone)
Text and illustrations from top to bottom:
- [Depicted in stylized scroll] The Record:
- 1. A long row of trees: red oaks, white oaks, and ironwood [an illustration of a row of trees]
- 2. the soil profile on both sides of this row [arrow pointing right to illustration of a cross-section of soil]
- Interpreting the record:
- 1) Because red oaks and ironwoods belong in rich (mesophytic) woods, and
- 2) because a thin layer of black soil on top of clay is typical of forests in this area (but not of prairies) and
- 3) because there would have been forest-margin trees, like hawthorn, if this fence had edged a forest - We read the record as above [arrow extending upward to header]
Extent: 1 sheet
Arboretum Landscape Teaching Aid Series: Trees Keep Records (3.19505)
Date: 1940 – 1960Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Primarily textual teaching aid depicting Arboretum landscape. This material describes the biography of a red oak tree with illustrations and text.
Header: TREES KEEP RECORDS [Illustration of a tree writing in a book with a quill pen, saying "it's nothing, really!"]
Text and illustrations from top to bottom, left to right:
- This red oak was planted, probably by a squirrel, the year that Mr. Joy Morton was 14. [Illustration of a squirrel planting an acorn with a shovel and a sketch of a high wheel bike and cyclist in the background, followed by the year 1869]
- It was this large (red ring) in the year that Sterling Morton inaugurated ARBOR DAY. [Illustration of men in top hats and suits planting trees, followed by the year 1872]
- It was this larger (green ring) in the year the Morton Arboretum was founded. [Illustration of a path with trees, followed by the year 1921]
- It grew vigorously in its youth and then slowed down.
Extent: 1 sheet
Arboretum Landscape Teaching Aid Series: Know, Know, Know Your Oaks, This Is How They Grow (3.19509)
Date: 1940 – 1960Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Primarily textual teaching aid depicting Arboretum landscape. This material describes the growth direction of five types of oak tree branches. Illustrations depict small human-shaped figures that indicate tree branch growth with arms and run diagonally down the center of the image with descriptive text on either side.
Header: Know, know, know your oaks, / This is how they grow:
Text and illustrations from top to bottom:
- Red Oak, [illustration of figure with arms raised overhead] (arms held to indicate acute-angled branching)
- White Oak, [illustration of figure with arms raised to shoulders] (arms indicate right-angled branching)
- Bur Oak, [illustration of figure with arms raised to shoulder and elbows bent down] (elbows indicated gnarled branching)
- Pin Oak, [illustration of figure with arms extended at sides] (deflected lower branches)
- and Hill's, untidy below. [illustration of figure with arms raised to shoulder, elbows bent down, and fingers splayed] (fingers indicate deflected, dead, lower branches)
Extent: 1 sheet
Winter Buds, #3 (3.19513)
Date: 1940 – 1950Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Large poster depicting 16 types of winter buds, bound in green tape.
Illustrations and text, from left to right, top to bottom:
- honey locust
- black locust
- Osage orange
- hawthorn
- wild crab
- wild plum
- European larch
- ginkgo
- red oak
- white oak
- tulip tree
- sycamore
- Kentucky coffeetree
- tree of heaven
- staghorn sumac
- willow
Extent: 1 sheet
Oaks (#3) (3.24006)
Date: 1986Creator: Hart, Nancy
Type: Print
Description:Three different winter oak trees: white oak, northern red oak, and bur oak. Each tree has an acorn to the left and a leaf to the right of the trunk. White oak acorn has been cut out and is missing.
Extent: 1 print
Quercus rubra (red oak), preliminary sketch (3.24105)
Date: 1980Creator: Hart, Nancy
Type: Drawing
Description:Preliminary sketch. Leaves, placement line and hatching techniques.
Extent: 1 drawing
Quercus rubra (red oak) (3.24300)
Date: September 1980Creator: Hart, Nancy
Type: Drawing
Description:Quercus rubra (red oak)
Branch with fruits and leaves, drawn from specimen collected at The Morton Arboretum by George Ware and Nancy S. Hart, south of rhododendrons on Spring Road, Herbarium specimen # 37688 + 33514 + 10208
Extent: 1 drawing
Three oak leaves (3.24408)
Date: circa 1970Creator: Hart, Nancy
Type: Drawing
Description:One leaf each of red oak, white oak, and burr oak.
Extent: 1 drawing
Oaks (#1) (3.24411)
Date: 1986Creator: Hart, Nancy
Type: Drawing
Description:Four different oak trees: swamp white oak, white oak, northern red oak, and bur oak, with a single leaf to the right of each tree. Tree name is pasted next to or below each tree. Drawn for a vote to choose the state tree by 5th grade students.
Extent: 1 drawing
Winter Twigs, page 3 (3.24632)
Date: 1943Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Page 3 of 4, illustrations showing identifying characteristics of different types of winter twigs with identifying labels and text above each, created to accompany "Winter Twigs" article featured in Morton Arboretum Bulletin of Popular Information. Some original identifying text has detached and is no longer present.
Illustrations are divided into seven sections, depicted from top to bottom, left to right:
1) TREES WITH THORNS
- Honey locust -- Gleditsia triacanthos
- Black locust -- Robinia pseudo-acacia
- Osage orange -- Maclura pomifera
- Hawthorn -- Crataegus
- Wild crab -- Malus ioensis [and] Malus coronaria
- Wild plum : Prunus americana [and] Prunus nigra
- European larch -- Larix decidua
- Tamarack -- Larix laricina
- Ginkgo -- Ginkgo biloba
- Black Oak Group
- Red oak -- Quercus borealis maxima
- Northern pin oak -- Quercus ellipsoidalis
- Pin oak -- Quercus palustris
- White Oak Group
- Bur Oak -- Quercus macrocarpa
- White oak -- Quercus alba
- Swamp white oak -- Quercus bicolor
- Tulip [tree] -- Liriodendron tulipifera
- Sycamore -- Platanus occidentalis
- Kentucky coffee tree -- Gymnocladus dioicus
- Tree of heaven -- Ailanthus altissima
- Staghorn sumac -- Rhus typhina
- Smooth sumac -- Rhus glabra
- Willow -- Salix
Extent: 1 sheet
Landscape with Houses and Trees (3.24647)
Date: 20th centuryCreator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Illustration of a hilly landscape with five houses, pasture, fences, farm land, a lake, a stream, a bridge, roads, a water wheel, and many trees. Trees are drawn to indicate general shape and each tree is identified. NATURE STUDY GUILD is stamped in purple on piece of board and glued at top right.
Trees depicted:
White pine -- Spruce -- Austrian pine -- Pear -- Sassafras -- Sumac -- Black willows -- Box elder --
Apple -- Red cedar -- Norway pine -- Yellow birch -- Black walnut -- Sour gum -- White cedar -- Poison sumac -- Tamarack -- White ash -- Chestnut oak -- Blue ash -- Red oak -- Beech -- Shagbark hickory -- Mockernut hickory -- Red maple -- Pignut hickory -- Wafer ash -- River birch -- Buckeye --
Shingle oak -- Bur oak -- Linden -- Cherry birch -- Shadbush -- Hill's oak -- White oak -- Sugar maple -- Black locust -- Black cherry -- Large-toothed poplar -- Cottonwood -- Waahoo -- Trembling aspen -- Witch-hazel -- Flowering dogwood -- Ironwood -- Chestnut -- Pin cherry -- Choke cherry -- Wild crab -- Wild plum -- Redbud -- Water beech -- Balm of Gilead -- Red mulberry -- Tulip tree -- Sycamore -- Bitternut hickory -- Slippery elm -- Butternut -- Swamp white -- Kentucky coffee tree -- Red ash -- Honey locust -- Hawthorne -- Lombardy poplars -- European alder -- Black ash -- Osage orange hedge -- Ailanthus -- Paw-paw -- Hackberry -- White birch -- American elm -- Catalpa -- Norway maple -- Weeping willow -- White wilow -- Pin oak -- Horse chestnut -- Mountian ash -- Pussy willow -- Fir -- Ginkgo -- Silver maple -- Scotch pine -- Silver poplar
Extent: 1 sheet
Forest Nature Trail Guide, page 3 illustrations and layout with preliminary sketches (3.24653)
Date: 1946Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Sheet One: Original illustrations and layout for page 3, excluding text, for The Morton Arboretum Forest Nature Trail Guide booklet. Key lines included.
Illustrated stumps with numbers indicate points of interest along trail as seen on trail map.
Tree stump #1: Four Kinds of Oaks
Identifying characteristics for oak trees and leaves illustrated to the right for Bur Oak, White Oak, Red Oak, Northern Pin Oak.
Tree stump #2: A Limestone Boulder
Identifying characteristics for trilobites and crinoids illustrated to the right.
Tree stump #3: A Granite Boulder
Identifying characteristics for granite boulder illustrated to the right.
Tree stump #4: Wild Black Raspberries
Identifying characteristics for wild black raspberries leaves, stem, flower, and fruit illustrated to the right.
Sheet Two: Preliminary sketch of green-colored illustrations.
Extent: 2 sheets
Forest Nature Trail Guide, page 6 illustrations and layout with preliminary sketches (3.24656)
Date: 1946Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Sheet One: Original illustrations and layout for page 6, excluding text, for The Morton Arboretum Forest Nature Trail Guide booklet. Key lines included.
Illustrated stumps with numbers indicate points of interest along trail as seen on trail map.
Tree stump #10: Black Walnut
Identifying characteristics for leaves, seeds, and nuts illustrated to the right.
Tree stump #11: Red Oak Bark
Identifying characteristics for bark and leaves illustrated to the right.
Tree stump #12: H-A-M
Mnemonic device for remembering which common trees bear leaves opposite each other: H = horse-chestnut, A= ash, and M = maple. Identifying characteristics for leaves illustrated to the right labeled "alternate" and "opposite".
Tree stump #13: Who Planted These 4 Trees in a Row?
Generalized illustration of four trees with identifying characteristics for seeds illustrated to the right labeled "oak," "maple," "ash," and "oak".
Sheet Two: Preliminary sketch of green-colored illustrations.
Extent: 2 sheets
Twelve Oaks (3.24795)
Date: 1944Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Illustration of leaf, acorn, and twigs with buds for twelve different types of oak, created to accompany "The Oaks Of The Morton Arboretum" article featured in Morton Arboretum Bulletin of Popular Information. Drawings are divided into two categories and depicted in columns with descriptive text.
Header: TWELVE OAKS
Leaves, acorns, and twigs as depicted in two categories, from left to right, top to bottom:
Category 1: The Black Oak Group
- Eastern Red Oak - Quercus borealis
- leaf - dull above, glabrous beneath, lobes narrowing toward margin, sinuses about half-way to mid-rib.
- acorn - shallow cup, saucer-shaped, with glossy tight scales, white kernel
- twig with buds - buds red brown, not angled; twigs red-brown, smooth
- Northern Pin - Quercus ellipsoidalis
- leaf - lustrous, deeply lobed, lobes widening toward margin, base truncate or broad-cunate, 5 to 7 lobed
- acorn - top-shaped cup, enclosing half of nut, yellow kernel
- twig with buds - buds red-brown, obtuse at tip; twigs red-brown
- Black - Quercus velutina
- leaf - leathery, thick, petioles yellow, sinuses varying from shallow to deep
- acorn - bowl-like cup, scales form fringe at margin, yellow kernel
- twig with bids - buds pale woolly, strongly 5-sided; twigs red-brown, lenticels conspicuous
- Pin - Quercus palustris
- leaf - thin, lustrous, 5 to 7 lobed, few-toothed, slender petioles, base cuneate
- acorn - saucer-shaped cup, scales with free tips, nut often striped
- twigs with buds - side buds at wide angle; twigs red-brown, smooth
- Shingle - Quercus imbricaria
- leaf - lustrous above, pubescent below, persistent in Winter
- acorn - stalked cup, bowl-like, thin
- twig with buds - buds brown smooth; twigs smooth, gray-brown
- Willow - Quercus phellos
- leaf - lustrous, nearly sessile, acute at both ends
- acorn - talked cup, shallow, thin
- twig with buds - buds brown; twigs fine
- White - Quercus alba
- leaf - glabrous, with deep sinuses, often persistent in winter
- acorn - bowl-like cup, with thickened warty scales, nut edible
- twig with buds - buds red-brown, smooth; twigs red-brown, later ashy-gray; lenticels pale, conspicuous
- Bur - Quercus macrocarpa
- leaf - usually with "wasp-waist" - thick, smooth above, pale-pubescent beneath
- acorn - cup fringed, covering half or more of nut, larger in South
- twig with buds - buds pale-woolly, gray-tan; twigs gray, later corky-ridged
- English - Quercus robur
- leaf - auricled base, nearly sessile
- acorn - cup enclosing 1/4 to 1/3 of nut, long-stemmed
- twig with buds - buds, brown; side buds divergent; twigs brown
- Chinquapin - Quercus muehlenbergii
- leaf - thick, shiny above, pubescent beneath, somewhat sharply-toothed, rounded base, slender petiole
- acorn - cup bowl-shaped, thin, scales indistinct
- twig with buds - buds chestnut-brown; twigs orange-brown
- Basket - Quercus michauxii
- leaf - crenate margin, pale-pubescent beneath, cunate base, 10 to 14 pairs of teeth
- acorn - cup bowl-shaped, thickened, scales wedge-shaped
- twig with buds - buds chestnut-brown, twigs orange-brown
- Swamp White - Quercus bicolor
- leaf - thick, firm, coarsely-toothed, shining above, pale-fomentose beneath, 6 to 10 pairs of teeth, often persistent in winter
- acorn - usually paired, cup bowl-shaped, slightly-fringed, long-stalked
- twigs with buds - buds brown; twigs yellow-brown, with pale, raised lenticels
Extent: 1 sheet
Oaks of the Arboretum (3.24796)
Date: 1944Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:Illustrations of five species of oak, created to accompany "The Oaks of The Morton Arboretum" article featured in Morton Arboretum Bulletin of Popular Information. Illustrations include full tree outline in winter. Each oak is accompanied with descriptive text including its scientific name, soil requirements, branch, and bark descriptions.
Trees and text depicted from left to right, top to bottom:
- Eastern Red Oak -- Quercus borealis maxima
- smooth upper parts; acute-angled branching, dark ridged bark, on well-drained upland
- Pin Oak -- Quercus palustris
- straight central shaft; payramidal shape; short spur-like twigs; dark ridged bark; in moist lowland
- Northern Pin Oak -- Quercus ellipsoidalis
- smooth upper parts; leaves persistent in winter; deflected dead lower branches; on well-drained upland
- White Oak -- Quercus alba
- horizontal branching; leaves persistent in winter; scaly whitish bark; on well-drained upland
- Bur Oak -- Quercus macrocarpa
- gnarled branches; corky ridges; gray, ridged bark; on rich bottom-land
Extent: 1 sheet
Red oak , Quercus rubra (3.26729)
Date: 1819Creator: Redouté, Pierre Joseph, 1759-1840., Gabriel, engraver.
Type: Print
Description:Red oak , Quercus rubra
One large leaf, one acorn, and three female flowers.
Extent: 1 sheet
Leaf Prints: Northern Red Oak (3.27717)
Date: circa 1950Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Print
Description:A white negative nature print of northern red oak leaves and stems on a dark background with identifying text at bottom right handwritten by May T. Watts.
Identifying text:
- Oak red
- Quercus rubra
Extent: 1 sheet
Tree Portraits: Red Oak (3.31827)
Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Painting
Description:Color silhouette of a red oak tree, including a nature print outline of a leaf. Tab taped to bottom left corner includes descriptive text, a drawing of an acorn, and assigned letter.
Descriptive text in bottom left:
- leaf dull
- e
Extent: 1 sheet
Spring wildflowers in bloom (3.33483)
Date: 1930 – 1949Type: Photographic image
Description:Spring wildflowers in bloom among trees
Phlox, mayapple, and trillium depicted
Red oak in foreground
Extent: 1 negative
Trees Native To This Region (3.33823)
Creator: Watts, May Theilgaard
Type: Drawing
Description:A large illustration depicting a cross-section of hill with several types of trees growing down its slope. The trees are drawn in silhouette and are grouped into four categories based on location. Each tree is also accompanied by a line of color across the top indicating the color of its leaves in Fall as well as an outline of its leaf below.
Header:
- TREES NATIVE TO THIS REGION
- THE COLOR LINE OVER EACH TREE / INDICATES ITS CHARACTERISTIC / FALL COLORING. NATIVE TREES / GIVE US THE BEST COLOR
- TREES OF OUR UPLANDS
- witch-hazel -- white oak -- red oak -- Hill's oak -- sugar maple -- ironwood -- shadbush -- shagbark hickory -- black cherry -- blue ash -- bur oak -- white ash -- linden
- TREES of the EDGE of the FOREST
- aspen -- sumac -- choke cherry -- wild crabapple -- hawthorn -- wild plum
- TREES of our LOWLANDS
- black ash -- slippery elm -- American elm -- walnut -- hackberry -- cottonwood -- black willow -- silver maple
- TREES of our SWAMPS
- [sour gum] tupelo -- yellow birch -- tamarack -- red maple -- poison sumac
Extent: 1 sheet
Education charts: Twigs, #3 (3.34236)
Type: Photographic image
Description:An educational chart created by May T. Watts for The Morton Arboretum, depicting 16 types of winter buds on twigs. The chart appears to be tacked to a classroom display board.
Illustrations and text, from left to right, top to bottom:
- honey locust
- black locust
- Osage orange
- hawthorn
- wild crab
- wild plum
- European larch
- ginkgo
- red oak
- white oak
- tulip tree
- sycamore
- Kentucky coffeetree
- tree of heaven
- staghorn sumac
- willow
Extent: 1 slide
Tree Book (3.34244)
Type: Photographic image
Description:The cover of a booklet created by May T. Watts for The Morton Arboretum titled "Tree Book," depicting simple outlines of three trees as well as a detailed leaf from each hand-drawn in crayon or colored pencil.
Title: TREE BOOK
Tree and leaf labels and images, left to right:
- Elm
- Red Oak
- Catalpa
Extent: 1 slide
Uses of Wood Exhibit (3.34367)
Date: September 4 1974Creator: Stickney, William S.
Type: Photographic image
Description:An exhibit featuring wood from 18 different trees and its uses. The display is configured in four concentric circles centered around a spinning cross: the inner circle depicts tree silhouettes, the next circle depicts detailed images of leaves, the third consists of square panels of processed wood, and the outer circle consists of dioramas depicting how each type of wood is used.
The cross is labeled as follows:
- TREE SHAPE
- LEAF [red arrow]
- WOOD
- USES
- TURN THE RED ARROW TO A LEAF / THE OTHER ARMS WILL POINT TO: / the shape of the tree / a piece of wood from the tree / some uses for the wood
- WHITE ASH
- ARBOR VITAE
- WHITE SPRUCE
- SWEET GUM
- SUGAR MAPLE
- AMERICAN LINDEN
- CHERRY
- TULIP TREE
- BALD CYPRESS
- IRONWOOD
- WHITE PINE
- BLACK WALNUT
- AMERICAN ELM
- SHAGBARK HICKORY
- WHITE OAK
- RED OAK
- EASTERN HEMLOCK
- PONDEROSA PINE
Extent: 1 slide
Uses of Wood Exhibit: Red Oak (3.34374)
Date: September 4 1974Creator: Stickney, William S.
Type: Photographic image
Description:A diorama from the Uses of Wood exhibit, depicting an example of how red oak wood is used in decorative interior finishes, such as flooring.
Extent: 1 slide
The Morton Arboretum Quarterly V. 04 No. 03 (3.34564)
Date: September 21 – December 20 1968Type: Serial
Description:
- An Essay on Illinois Oaks (33-39)
- Climatological Summary (39)
- Ohio Buckeye, Aesculus glabra: Buckeye Family (Hippocastanaceae) (40-41)
- A Time To Transplant (42-46)
- Arboretum News and Notes (47-48)
Extent: 16 pages
Acer saccharum (sugar maple), Quercus rubra (red oak), Tilia americana (American basswood), seedlings (3.37919)
Date: May 18 1973Type: Photographic image
Description:Acer saccharum (sugar maple), Quercus rubra (red oak), Tilia americana (American basswood), overhead view of seedlings next to granite rock from glacier
Extent: 1 slide
1981/03/03: Jeff Dawson to George Ware (3.38659)
Date: March 3 1981Creator: Dawson, Jeffrey O.
Type: Document
Description:Letter from Jeff Dawson, Assistant Professor of Forestry at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to George Ware discussing an outline of proposed research concerning the low soil oxygen tolerance (with mention of ethanol and flood tolerance) of maple and oak trees.
Enclosed with letter
An Ethanol Tree-Seedling Assay: A Potential Method to Screen Trees for Tolerance to Low Soil Oxygen Conditions Resulting from Soil Compaction and Paving. Review of current literature and proposal for two experiments to examine oxygen deficiency and ethanol tolerance in tree seedling roots. The results would be used in the creation of an tree survivability index which would be of use in flood prone areas or compacted urban and recreational sites.
Extent: 7 sheets, 1 envelope
Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature (3.46757)
Date: September 18 2009Creator: Hedborn Jr., Edward A.
Type: Photographic image
Description:Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature
Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature (3.46758)
Date: October 29 2008Creator: Hedborn Jr., Edward A.
Type: Photographic image
Description:Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature
Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature (3.46759)
Date: March 25 2009Creator: Hedborn Jr., Edward A.
Type: Photographic image
Description:Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature
Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature (3.46760)
Date: November 24 2008Creator: Hedborn Jr., Edward A.
Type: Photographic image
Description:Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature
Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature (3.46762)
Date: November 24 2008Creator: Hedborn Jr., Edward A.
Type: Photographic image
Description:Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, mature
Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, trunk (3.46763)
Date: May 2 2017Creator: Brown, Deborah J. G.
Type: Photographic image
Description:Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, trunk
Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, trunk (3.46764)
Date: November 16 2016Creator: Brown, Deborah J. G.
Type: Photographic image
Description:Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, trunk
Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, twig (3.46765)
Date: May 2 2017Creator: Brown, Deborah J. G.
Type: Photographic image
Description:Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak), bark, twig