Lisgar St. entrance of Ottawa City Hall
This tour shows that many treenut species grow well on streets, in parks and in yards. Canadian urban ‘agroforests’, dominated by nut trees, would be a new & huge natural living resource wholly within our cities, as well as on farms. Listed below are the trees visited on the walking tour.
1. Red Oak (Quercus rubra) / young Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) - City Hall @ Lisgar & Cartier. Look for second year acorn on red oak. Edible and nutritious after leaching.
2. Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) - Several trees thriving along QE Driveway, opposite Lisgar HS, canal side in the shelter belt adjacent to the canal. Look for nuts. Edible raw or roasted.
3. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) Female & Male specimens - Somerset @ QE Driveway. Edible after processing. Largest in the Ward.
4. English Oak (Quercus robur) - Corner of Waverley @ QE Driveway. Look for pedunculate acorns. Edible after processing.
5. Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra) - Robert St. @ QE Driveway. A bumble bee pollinated nut tree. One of several kinds of buckeyes possible in Ottawa.
6. Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) - Robert St. @ QE Driveway. A species at risk. Edible acorn with some processing.
7. Butternut (Juglans cinerea) - Waverley @ Metcalfe. Endangered species. Edible right off the tree. Largest butternut in the Ward.
8. Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)- Waverley @ Metcalfe. Also insect pollinated.
9. Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) aka Sugarberry - QE Driveway by German Embassy. A nutlet street tree commonly planted by the City.
10. Turkish Hazel (Corylus colurna)- Along Gilmour St., across from Minto Park. Nine robust specimens. Note the spectacular involucre containing the nuts.
Notables not part of Centretown Tour: Nutpine, American Chestnut, Hickories and Beeches. For the last two, please visit the Dominion Arboretum to see these two treenut species growing successfully in the Ottawa clime.
For more information please contact:
Hank and Vera Jones,
Allbirch Pollinator Garden,
374 Allbirch Road
Constance Bay Village
Ottawa ON K0A 3M0
613-832-2745
acorn@treenuts.ca
