Amur Cork

About Amur Cork in Alberta

Amur Cork is an introduced Asian ornamental tree with opposite compound leaves, a broad spreading crown, black fruit on female trees, and thick corky bark. In Alberta it should be treated as a rare-to-uncommon specialty planted tree, not a wild species. For ARA, its strongest heritage value is in older campus, park, municipal, cemetery, or collector landscapes where a mature cork-barked specimen is locally distinctive.

Identification: Leaves are opposite and odd-pinnate, usually with 5-11 leaflets. Crushed foliage can have a strong resinous or turpentine-like smell. The opposite compound leaves are useful because many Alberta compound-leaved ornamentals have alternate leaves.

Alberta range and habitat: Amur Cork is introduced in Canada and no wild Alberta occurrence was confirmed. It should not be treated as a native or naturalized Alberta tree based on the current evidence.