STEUBENVILLE -- The Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District is holding its annual native spring tree and shrub sale with April 29 being the order deadline.
The preferred method to order and pay is online at www.jeffersonswcd.org. If ordering by form, orders should be made payable to and mailed to Jefferson SWCD at 500 Market St. Suite 4, Steubenville OH 43952. Order pickups will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 5 and 6 at the JSWCD office in the Towers Building parking lot.
Trees (3 gallons and 3-4 feet tall) available are Pawpaw, Paper Birch, Flowering Dogwood, Persimmon, Virginia Pine, Devil's Walking Stick, White Oak, Shingle Oak and Chestnut Oak. Prices range from $25 to $35.
Shrubs (3 gallons, 2 feet tall) available are "Blue Shadow" Fothergilla, Buttonbush, Oakleaf Hydrangea, American Spikenard and American Beautyberry. Prices range from $20 to $35.
"We will be highlighting a tree/shrub for sale each day until the sale ends on April 29," the JSWCD notes on his Facbeook page.
One post notes how the Pawpaw is one of the most unique and forgotten understory trees or large shrubs that are native to Jefferson County and the Eastern United States.
The purple flowered fruit-bearing plant has been in Jefferson County for centuries. "In 1749, when the French officer, Pierre Joseph Celoron de Blainville led an expedition down the Ohio Valley he noted large groves of pawpaw growing for miles before and after the great crescent of the river (Half Moon north of Steubenville). In 1793, Captain Buskirk and his men were killed by Native Americans hiding in a pawpaw grove outside of present day Mingo Junction. In 1853, slave catchers petitioned the county to destroy the groves around Mount Pleasant and Richmond as Jefferson County conductors on the Underground Railroad hid slaves in the groves and provided the fruit to them for food as they keep and travel well," the site noted.
The Flowering Dogwood, a pollinator tree that attracts butterflies and birds native to Jefferson County, is one of the best known trees in Jefferson County and Appalachia that can be used as a specimen plant or for naturalized areas.
"Its common name derives from its old use as a treatment of mange in dogs and because the small limbs of the trees were used to make skewers which were once known as dags or dogs," the post explains. "The Quaker Botanist William Bartram sold significant amounts of these trees and took note of a grove of them in 1791 that extended unbroken for 10 miles. George Washington had a circle of dogwoods surrounding a Redbud planted at his home, Mount Vernon. Native Americans used the bark and roots to cure malaria and the berries to make red dye," according to one of the district's Facebook posts.
The tree is a host plant for 111 species of butterflies and moths in the greater Jefferson County area.
The Devil's Walking Stick, which attracts butterflies and honey bees, is "perhaps the most unique and potentially the rarest tree native to Jefferson County and Ohio."
The tree is "special as it has a plethora of thorns and the largest leaves of any plant in North America," according to one post.
"The true showstopper of devil's walking stick is the flower. These white flowers borne in the middle of summer are 3 to 4 feet in length and fill the area with a strong lemony smell. The flowers give way to a small berry-like drupe that is craved by wildlife and is edible by humans," the post explained.
"The Mingo people of Jefferson County used Devil's Walking Stick for a variety of purposes. They planted the tree around gardens and fruit trees to prevent browsing by livestock and also situated them around the perimeter of their camp to prevent surprise attacks. The flowers and fruit were used for trade and decoration.
"In 1688, the trees were collected and sent to Europe for the landscape trade as they were prized for their prickly stems, large showy and aromatic flowers and distinctive fall color. In the Civil War, extracts of the plant were used to treat wounds as the extract is antimicrobial."