Burlington Woody Plant Species

Common Native Trees

American Beech

  • Grow 80-100ft tall

  • Smooth, gray, thin bark

  • Alternating branches

  • Waxy, green leaf

  • Pinnate veins on leaves, like feathers, that come to end on serrated sides

  • Slender, light brown buds that zigzag on twig

  • Twigs zigzag

  • Shade tolerant

  • Do well on well drained slopes and rich bottom lands

  • Beech bark disease is caused by fungi in genus of Nectria

  • Nuts are eaten by animals

Basswood

  • Medium sized, up to 80ft tall

  • Alternate, simple, serrated leaf that is unequally lobed at base

  • Green twigs in summer and red in winter

  • False terminal bud at end of bud

  • Plump bud with one side bulging disproportionately

  • Dark brown bark with shallow furrows and flat ridgetops

  • Grows in rich, deep, moist soils

  • Wildlife eat the twigs and seeds

  • Rich site indicator

  • Wood used for woodworking

Black Cherry

  • Up to 100ft tall

  • Branches normally found close to top

  • Bark is dark brown and peels off in chips (burnt potato chip bark)

  • Alternate, simple, 2-5inch long, oblong, finely serrated leaves with yellow/brown along mid-rib

  • Twigs are slender and red-brown

  • Small buds covered in glossy, red-green scales and semi-circular with 3 bundles

  • Pioneer species that thrives in disturbed areas

  • Does well on forest edges

  • Bark has medicinal value

Eastern Hemlock

  • Grows up to 80ft tall

  • Coniferous

  • Shiny, dark green needles on top side and lighter green needles on underside

  • Greyish-brown, scaley twigs

  • Short, roundish cones

  • Bark has wide ridges and deep furrows

  • Gray-red, scaley bark

  • Prefers very moist, well drained soils

  • Shade tolerant

  • Dense branch cover

  • Provide habitat for white tailed deer

  • Threatened by Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, a bug that burrows in tree and kills it

Eastern White Pine

  • Grows over 100ft

  • Coniferous tree

  • Needles come in fascicles or bundles of five

  • Needles are bright green to yellow green, very flexible

  • Large pine cones, 4-7 inches, with round and tough scales, covered in sap

  • 3-5 inch needles

  • Smooth and grey-green bark on immature tree

  • Ridged and furrowed bark on mature trees with gray-red scales

  • Does best in well drained, sandy soils

  • Often first species found in abandoned agricultural land

Northern Red Oak

  • Grows up to 90ft

  • Alternate leaves with pointed lobes and shallow to deep inner sinuses

  • Shallow furrows that run vertically in bark

  • Red hue within furrows

  • Stoudt, smooth, red to brown trig

  • Clustered, large, pointed terminal buds

  • Do best in soils on low slopes

  • Often ornamental because of symmetrical shape and fall colors

Paper Birch

  • Grows up to 70ft

  • White, peeling bark with reddish-brown color underneath

  • Slender, dull red brown twig

  • Absent terminal bud

  • Sticky, green or chestnut lateral buds

  • Alternate and simple leaf that is pinnately veined and ovate, 3-5 inches and irregularly double serrated margin

  • Found in disturbed sites

  • High oil content in bark, waterproof

  • Flammable bark, good firestarter

Red Bark

  • Grows up to 90ft

  • Opposite, simple, serrated leaves with three large points and two lesser points at bottom

  • Bark starts off smooth and gray, becomes more scaley as tree matures

  • Reddish twig with small lenticules

  • Blunt, green or red buds with loose scales

  • Found in variety of habitats

  • Can be tapped for syrup, but short tapping season

Stripped Maple

  • Grows up to 30ft

  • Striped bark

  • Opposite branching

  • Serrated, simple, large leaves with three points, look like goose feel

  • Understory of forest

  • Best in cool, moist environments

  • Shade tolerant, but prefers sunlight

  • Leaves are used as toiled paper

Sugar Maple

  • Vermont’s state tree

  • Grows up to 80-100ft

  • Opposite, simple leaf with five distinct points and round lobes

  • Twig is brown and slender with shiny, light colored lenticules

  • Terminal bud is brown with sharp pointed end and tight scales

  • Gray-brown, scaley bark that peels from the side and has deep furrows

  • Found is forests and in solitary stands

  • Maple is considered cash crop

  • Used for hardwood

White Oak

  • Grows up to

  • Wide crown and sprawling, gnarly branches

  • Several feet in diameter

  • Round lobes and varied lobbing in leaves

  • Red, brown or gray hairless, shiny twigs

  • Buds grow in clusters, red brown, small and hairless

  • Irregular, blocky, patchy, white to gray, ashy bark

  • Often found in mixed, deciduous forests

  • Does well in variety of soil types

  • Acorns are food for diverse wildlife

Yellow Birch

  • Grows up to 75 ft

  • Alternate branching

  • Simple, yellow-green leaves with acute tip, doubly serrated margins

  • Bark is peely with golden yellow-brown color

  • Light brown/red, smooth, ovoid, sharply pointed bud with spur shoots on older tree

  • Slender green-brown twigs that are hairy when young

  • Smell like winter green when broken

  • Found growing with mixed hardwoods in well-drained, fertile soil

  • Often have stilted roots of grown because seeds germinate on dead or rotting wood

Street Trees

American Crabapple

  • Short

  • Trunk has many large branches coming off

  • Flaky bark

  • Elliptical shaped leaves with acute tips and serrated underneath, white below and gree upper

  • Alternate branching twig

  • New twigs are hairy and old are not

  • Buds are red and hairy

  • Fruit is small, tart apple that varies in color

  • Found in moist soils in open areas

  • Often ornamental

  • Fruit used for preserves and cider

Boxelder

  • Small to medium size

  • Grows up to 60ft

  • Irregular trunk

  • Very slanted trunk, often with other trunks sprouting off

  • Compound leaves with 3-5 leaflets

  • Leaves are serrated and somewhat lobbed

  • Twigs are opposite and buds point in towards the twig

  • Red/purple leaf scars meet in middle of twig

  • Bark is vertically furrowed

  • Drought resistant

  • Does well in varied soil types

Green Ash

  • Grows up to 70ft

  • Compound leaflets with 7-9 leaves

  • Leaves are elliptical with smooth, serrated edges

  • Grey to brown bark

  • Interlaced ridges form diamonds

  • Buds are brown to black and rounded

  • Found in moist bottom lands or along stream lands

  • Often planted along roadways

  • Often ornamental

Norway Maple

  • Grows up to 80ft

  • Round, dense crown

  • Opposite branching

  • Large leaves with 5-7 lobes and sharp serrated edges

  • Often release white latex sap

  • Turban shaped, green and purple buds

  • Twigs are large, brown and stout

  • Bark is gray to brown and has interlaced ridges

  • Prefers lots of sunlight

  • Tolerant to polluted soils

  • Planted, but have spread into forest edges

  • Often have round black tar spots on leaves caused by fungi in the genus Rhytisma, but disease is rarely threatening to health

Norway Spruce

  • Evergreen tree

  • Whorled branches that extend far from base and smaller branches that droop down

  • Conifer with 1inch needles

  • 4 angles needles, but they look flat

  • Cones are 4-6inches, chestnut brown and have irregular, tooth-shaped scales

  • Mature bark is grey and flakey

  • Planted species

  • Do well in all soil, but best in acidic

  • Non-native, but has become naturalized in some parts of Vermont

Northern White Cedar

  • Form is shaped like an arrow-head

  • Twig is orange/brown and scaly

  • Leaf upside is shiny, bright green and underside is dull yellow/green

  • Leaves are made of flat scales

  • Short, stubby cones that grow no more than 1/2inch

  • Scales are leathery and stand upright on twig

  • Bark varies in color from red-brown to gray

  • Bark always in long peely strips and sometimes diamond shaped

  • Prefer well-drained, cool, nutrient-rich soils

  • Leaves are high in vitamin C