Ornamental Dendrology

Red Maple (Acer rubrum)

native

opposite, simple leaf, 3-lobed, serrated

red blunt bud, petiole, and fall color

can be a; street tree, shade tree, and ornamental tree

can tolerate some shade but salt-sensitive

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)

native

opposite, simple, 5-lobed, entire

sharp brown trident bud, orange/yellow fall color

can be a; shade tree and ornamental tree

shade tolerant, dry soil, VERY salt sensitive

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

native

alternate, simple, serrated

largest cigar shaped bud

yellow fall color and keeps leaves longest

shade tolerant but not a urban tree

gets leaf and bark disease badly

Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)

native

simple, double serrated, alternate, ovate, lenticles

sticky green bud, male and female catkins

yelllow fall color

ornamental tree only

VERY shade intolerant, well-drained soil

lots of pest issues

European Birch (Betula pendula)

non-native

altnernate, deltoid leaf, smaller leaf, larger teeth serration

bark doesn’t peel and has a weeping form

yellow fall color

very bad tree, dies fast

Amur Maple (Acer ginnala)

could be invasive

opposite, elongated middle lobe (3 total)

small multi stemmed tree

gentle red fall color, pink/red samara

good for under powerlines

Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)

bipinate or pinately compound leaf, alternate

plately orange bark, yellow fall color

10 most planted urban trees; can tolerate compaction and lack of o2

river flood plain tree

leaves filter sunlight and disintegrate when they fall

Green Ash (Fraxinus pensylvanica)

compound, opposite, 5-7 leaflets, elliptical serrated, green underside

diamond patterned bark

yellow fall color, single winged samara

petiole is non-existent

hard fuzzy bud

can’t be an urban tree

river flood plain tree

White Ash (Fraxinus americana)

compound, opposite, 5-7 leaflets, ovate, white underside

purple fall color

longer petiole

upland species, not great with soil compaction

Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)

simple, elliptical, serrated, yellow fall color

orange pubescent fuzz under leaf, gland on petiole

NOT a street tree

black knot fungus

Grey Birch (Betula populifolia)

single, deltoid shape, serrated

yellow fall color

bark doesn’t peel

stays small and likes wet soils

Norway Maple (Acer platanoides)

opposite, simple leaf, 5 lobed ‘fat maple’

bark is diamond shaped

milky white sap

urban tolerant tree

3 strikes; tar spot, girdling roots, and its invasive

Apple (Malus sp.)

simple, entire, slight serrations, alternate leaf

scaled, white peubesant bud

pome fruit

likes full sun and well drained/sandy soil

Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.)

alternate, ovate, barely serrated

brilliant red color

first to be covered in flowers

has a multi-stemmed form

buds are long and pointed

new bark is smooth

Little Leaf Linden (Tilia cordata)

cordate leaf, alternate leaf pattern, asymmetrical at base

tree is shaped like a heart

asymmetrical bud and yellow fall color

issues; suttee mold, aphids, and v-crotches/included bark

Japanese Tree Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)

simple, entire, white underside, opposite

2 terminal buds (a pair)

cold hearty zone 3

beautiful yellow color

American Elm (Ulmus americana)

alternate, double serrated leaf with an asymmetrical base

rough underside and squishy bark

can grow up to 100 ft and has an inverted umbrella shape

likes wet sites

Box Elder (Acer negundo)

opposite, compound, can be three lobed

native

‘weed tree’ is very messy

shade intolerant but can grow everywhere (invasive)

white ‘glocus’ coating on younger/smaller branches

Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)

5 lobes, opposite, very deep/shaggy sinuses

underside is “silver”

very shaggy peeling bark

river flood plain tree

shallow rooted and weak wooded

American Basswood (Tilia americana)

large, alternate, heart-shaped leaf with asymmetrical base

yellow fall color

NOT a street tree

large vertical plates on bark

Goutweed

VERY INVASIVE

spreads rapidly

‘snow on the mountain’

elliptical and serrated leaf

European Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia)

compound leaf, serrated

large fuzzy bud

shade intolerant, weak wooded, and short lived

vibrant fruit

commonly seen sapsucker damage and sawfly damage

American Chestnut (Castanea dentata)

alternate, large, leathery, sharp serrations

yellow fall color

gets a blight disease that causes cankers with orange pimples

sharp spikey balls with nuts in them

Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)

triangular leaf shape, incurred and rounded serrations

alternate leaf pattern and flat petiole, yellow fall color

large platy bark

river flood plain tree

Japanese Knotweed

VERY SUPER INVASIVE

likes water

has showy white flowers

has a larger heart shaped leaf that flat at the base

European Black Poplar (Populus nigra)

extremely weak wooded and short-lived tree

very vertical growth (vistigate)

can grow 3 feet a year

yellow fall color

alternate, simple, serrated leaf

can be a wind break

can have fungal cankers

European Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)

ovate, alternate, glossy, simple leaf

terminal “bud” is a very pointy thorn

very invasive

produces a purple/blue drupe

Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)

native tree

fringed skirt on the acorn

single leaf with all rounded lobes, top part is fanlike

good park tree but bad street tree

Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

large, ovate, compound leaf with no serrations

very orange large fissured bark

rot resistant wood

not highly desirable

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

golden yellow fall color

fan shaped leaf

very urban tolerant and no insect or disease problems

female trees have VERY stinky fruits, male are better

non native but may be the oldest tree species

Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana)

reduced fruit and small-statured shade tree

bradford used to be counterpart to this tree but ended up self destructing under snow load

alternate, rounded, and scaled bud

leaves almost look curled or ruffled

Catalpa (Catalpa sp.)

there is a southern and a northern

LARGE cordate and velvet leaves

long skinny green pod

prefer full sun

weak wooded and messy

piercing sucking insect

Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila)

asymmetrical, alternate, slightly serrated leaf

doesn’t get Dutch elm disease

very weak wooded, messy, and scraggly

species has a bug

Red Oak (Quercus rubra)

pointed lobes and red fall color

shallow plated orange bark

acorn cap has tightly pressed pattern that only covers 5%

alternate clustered buds that are orange, pointed, and tightly scaled

moist soil

Copper Beech (Fagus sylvatica)

smooth bark

bleeding canker disease very bad

not as serrated but leathery and elliptical purplish leaves

large purple bud

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)

palmately compound leaf with a reddish color all year

small stature- 20-25 ft

opposite leaf

always twice as expensive

Smoke Bush (Cotinus sp.)

entire, simple, roundish leaf

cotton candy flower

hearty to zone 5

15 foot max growth and prefer full sun

Pin Oak (Quercus palustris)

smaller oak with deeper sinuses and a crimson-red color

staple excurrent growth

acorns look like small red oak acorns

Midwest street tree but gets chlorosis bad

Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii)

spikey spine all along twigs

produces small berry that birds love but is INVASIVE

grows in a bush form with long straight branches

small, circular, simple, entire leaf

purple/red twigs with white streaks

American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)

simple, double serrated, smooth

bracks w/ nutlet fruit

orange fall color

small stature and slow growing

smooth grey/blue bark that looks “flexed”

Alternate Leaf Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)

branches grow “flat” in round growth form

ALTERNATE, ovate, entire leaf

arklike veins of “silk”

duck bill appearance on bud

white showy flower, red/purple fall color

Dogwood (Cornus sp.)

branches will drop if there is no pruning

opposite, ovate, entire leaf

arklike veins of “silk”

red twigs

Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster sp.)

red/orange fall color

red or black drupe

glossy, ovate, alternate leaf with wavy margin

can often crawl or droop over planting box

Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.)

1 in long spike (thornless versions)

VERY similar to crab apple, has pome fruit

triangular, large serrated, simple leaf

very dense and flowers profusely; prefers full sun

Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus)

Non-Native (INVASIVE) from Asia; banned in NY nurseries

branches and stems have 4 “wings”

leaves look like they are on fire

Hydrangea (Hydrangea sp.)

blue color change in some due to high aluminum in soil

fall is the bloom season

bloom on current year growth

can tolerate shade

Magnolia (Magnolia sp.)

GIANT fuzzy flower bud

young bark is brown with lenticel dots

obovate, simple, entire leaf

like moist soil and part sun

Ironwood (Ostrya virginiana)

ovate, simple, double-serrated, velvety leaf

catkin fruit that looks like hops

slow growing very dense wood

vertical, long, moderately fissured in “furry” bark

native and fairly urban tolerant

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

Hawthorn like leaf but alternate

distinctive fruit that changes color in the fall

have reddish stems but larger bark peels as they grow

hearty to zone 2 and can grow up to 15 inches a year

Potentilla (Potentilla fruticosa)

keep yellow color all blooming season

will fill in once planted

small, lanceolate, compound leaf

can grow up to 3 ft; likes full sun

Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)

palmately compounded leaf

nut with spikey husk that protects it

BIG dark red/brown sticky bud

BIG white flowers

BIG leaf scars

Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

red/purple buds

tree gets flowers before leaves

native, small in stature

heart shaped leaf

Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

strongly unequal leaf base

rough, warty bark. The leaves are alternate, simple, 2-5 inches long

strongly unequal bases and a sharply tapering tip

Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)

75-100 feet tall and can have a similarly sized spread

It has compound leaves that have 9-21 long

pointed leaflets with finely toothed margins

Kentucky Coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)

legume fruit can make (bad) coffee

bipinnately compounded leaf

BIG tree with sprawling branches

NOT a street tree

native, yellow fall color

Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)

HUGE tree with a central leader

fast-growing and weak wooded

flowers look like tulips

dark duck billed bud

4 “square” lobed leaf

park tree not a street tree

Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia sp)

deciduous conifer, turn yellow in the fall

opposite needle pattern

non native-China

English Oak (Quercus robur)

very upright growth in popular cultivars

strong wooded

leaf looks like bur oak but is much smaller

elongated acorn

Silver Linden (Tilia tomentosa)

heart shape tree form

heart shaped leaf with asymmetrical base

fuzzy or “silver” underside to leaf

the “best” linden

Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova serrata)

nice fall color

in the “elm” family

smaller stature with an upright form

zone 5

alternate branching

River Birch (Betula nigra)

multi-stemmed; very exfoliated salmon colored bark

larger triangular “birch leaf” with larger serrations

likes moist soil and hearty to zone 3

resistant to BBB

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)

alternate, acumate tip, elliptical, serrated leaf

native; male+female plants

drupes persist after leaves drop into the winter

Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.)

simple, entire, ovate, opposite leaf

fragrant flower; fleshy fruit (red)

hollow pith and multi-stemmed

peeling (honey colored) bark

Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius)

Deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub with long, arching branches

Grows 4-6 ft., sometimes taller

Abundance of richly fragrant pure white blossoms in the late spring/early summer

White Poplar (Populus alba)

The bark is pale grey with lines of black diamond-shaped lenticels

Twigs are white, and young twigs have a covering of dense white hair

leaves are three to five lobes, long and almost as long as broad

Purple Leaf Sandcherry (Prunus x cistena)

7-10` tall; zone 3 hearty

purple leaf all year; small pink flower

no fruit

likes sandy soils

Rugosa Rose (Rosa rugosa)

compound leaf

favorite for Japanese Leaf Beetle

blooms on current years growth

flowers turn to rose hips (pome)

shrub form that gets overgrown (invasive); like full sun

Willow (Salix sp.)

twigs are light-red, slender, and flexible

Buds narrow, conical, orange-brown

leaf scars narrow, crescent-shaped

pith pale brown, small.

The bark is dark gray-brown to nearly blackish, divided into deep fissures separating thick, interlacing, sometimes scaly ridges

Spirea (Spiraea sp.)

pretty pink flowers

elliptical and serrated (sometimes only ¾) leaves

max 2` tall and 4` wide

Lilac (Syringa sp.)

purple color bloom, flower are ornamental value

heart shaped leaf

two terminal buds

powdery mildew on shaded leaves

Viburnum (Viburnum sp.)

ovate/elliptical, velvet, opposite leaf

exposed/naked leaf

reddish/purple fall color

whiteish flower and drupe fruit

Cow Vetch

sprawling

“compound” leaf

invasive weed; will outcompete desired species

Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)

broadly conical in shape with horizontal branching

cones look like berries

gray to reddish-brown bark exfoliates in thin shreddy strips

awl-shaped evergreen, conifer foliage

European Larch (Larix decidua)

medium-sized cones

very flexible whorl of soft needles

sap sucker damage is common

a deciduous evergreen with golden fall color

White Spruce (Picea glauca)

single, green-blue, short, stiff needles

small, light brown, “fluffy” cones 1 ½”

low needle retention

no deer problems but suffers from mites and spruce gall adelgid

likes full sun and moist sites, 60’ tall

Blue Spruce (Picea pungens)

longer, stiff, blue-green, single needles

suffers from spruce gall adelgid and spider mites

spruce bark

larger, soft, light brown cones

Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra)

2 needles per fascicle, needles that spring back

tolerates salt best out of all conifers

tolerates clay soils

suffers from needle cast disease, dothistroma, and diplodia

a compact pine

Red Pine (Pinus resinosa)

not strong wooded

likes sandy sites and full sun

reddish plated bark

2 needles per fascicle, stiff, 5-6” long, break if bent

White Pine (Pinus strobus)

greyish, large-plated bark

weak wooded

5 needles per fascicle

long cones

is salt sensitive and suffers from a weevil

Scotch Pine (Pinus sylvestris)

orange on top

dirty, weak wooded tree

major timber tree in Europe, naturalized in the US

2 needles per fascicle, short and twisted

Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

flat, longer, single needles

medium-sized cone with winged bracts

60-70 ft tall

salt and drought sensitive; also suffers from rhabdocline

Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis)

fan like foliage

very small “brown tulip” cones

bark is brown and stringy

suffers from bagworms and mites

most cultivars; very popular and versatile landscape tree

Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

flat needles, two white lines underneath, single, and short

shade tolerant, slow growing, and can live LONG

extremely hardy

low sweeping branches used as a windbreak or screen

small brown/grey cones with lots of scales ½”

salt sensitive and suffers from HWA (a piercing sucking insect)

Concolor Fir (Abies concolor)

narrow conical shape

long, flexible, blue/white, needles in groups of two

40-50’ tall but can grow up to 130’

bark is gray with large furrows as it ages

cones grow upwards

Juniper (Juniperus sp.)

awl-shaped foliage, most popular can have a blue tint

non-native

can grow low and spreading or in “bulbs”

Norway Spruce (Picea abies)

large tree with sweeping/drooping branches

foliage is green, medium-sized, singular needles

cones are large and conical

Birds Nest Spruce (Picea abies ‘Nidiformis’)

singular, short, compacted growth needles; light green

dwarf cultivar of Norway Spruce

susceptible to mites

short compacted growth that is often wider than tall

Dwarf Alberta Spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’)

conical growth shape that is slow-growing

short, stiff, green needles that rotate around the stem

dwarf cultivar of white spruce, can have shoots that look like white spruce

Mugo Pine (Pinus mugo)

has a great variation in height among specimens

two needles per fascicle that don’t snap

have a large sticky bud

Rhododendron (Rhododendron sp.)

broad leaf evergreens

leaves are thick and leathery

PJM is the most common cultivar

leaves turn purple-red in fall

very large flower bud

Yew (Taxus sp.)

The bark is thin, scaly, and brown, it comes off in small flakes

Its leaves are dark green, leathery, and narrow with a pointed tip

Yew seeds grow at the tip of a shoot, enclosed in a red, fleshy, cup-like structure called an aril (actually a cone)

Can tolerate shearing but only to young growth

Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)

usually pyramidal in habit, with thin, scaling outer bark and fibrous inner bark

horizontal or ascending branches, and characteristically flattened, branchlet systems

Each branchlet has four rows of tiny, scalelike leaves

Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)

non-native from Asia, can be invasive

very fast growing and weak wooded

HUGE compound leaf with 13-25 leaflets

fruit is a winged samara

very environmentally adaptable

breeding ground for Spotted Lantern Fly

Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra)

slow growing, dense wooded, 50-60` tall

good form and golden fall color

large leaf scar, compound leaf with 5-7 leaflets that are lanceolate

has a nut fruit and is very urban tolerant

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

60-80` tall

compound leaf with 5-7 leaflets, obovate shape

bark is very shaggy

likes drier sites

False Cypress (Chamaecyparis sp.)

pelcate cones

foliage is a mix of juniper and cedar; flat juniper

most are conical in shape

Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)

weak wooded, invasive, non-native, and fast-growing

thorny stems with drupe-like fruit

prefer full sun

alternate, simple, elliptical, and silvery leaf

Forsythia (Forsythia sp.)

first to bloom in spring with a vibrant yellow flower

multi-stem with a chambered pith

opposite, single, and small serrations on the leaves

F. x intermedia is a hybrid with many cultivars

American Holly (Ilex opaca)

broad leaf evergreen, alternate, simple, glossy, and spiney leaves

suffers from holly leaf miner

male and female plants

red drupe fruit

Russian Arborvitae (Microbiota decussata)

extremely hardy

cedar-like foliage that turns purple/brown

grows very wide and is new to landscape designs

could get spider mites