Connecticut Native Trees for Beautiful Landscapes

by Jessica Lubell-Brand (UConn Dept. Plant Science and Landscape Architecture) and Bryan Connolly (Mass. State Botanist, Natural Heritage & Endangered Species, Div. Fisheries and Wildlife)

Several native trees are readily available in the nursery trade and are already widely used by landscape professionals. Below is a list of native trees, some of which are readily available, and others which may be harder to find. All of the plants on this list are native to Connecticut; however this is not a complete list of all Connecticut native trees. This list contains proven landscape performers, as well as species that have landscape potential. For more information contact Jessica.Lubell-Brand@uconn.edu.

Readily available

Latin name (Common name)

Abies balsamea (balsam fir)

Acer rubrum (red maple)

Acer saccharinum (silver maple)

Acer saccharum (sugar maple)

Amelanchier arborea (downy shadbush)

Amelanchier canadensis (thicket shadbush)

Amelanchier × grandiflora (apple serviceberry)

Amelanchier laevis (smooth shadbush)

Cornus (Benthamidia) florida (flowering dogwood)

Betula papyrifera (paper birch)

Fraxinus americana (white ash)

Fraxinus pennsylvanica (green ash)

Juniperus virginiana (eastern red cedar)

Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)

Nyssa sylvatica (black gum)

Pinus strobus (white pine)

Quercus bicolor (swamp white oak)

Quercus palustris (pin oak)

Quercus rubra  (red oak)

Thuja occidentalis (arborvitae)

Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Somewhat available

Acer negundo (boxelder)

Betula lenta (black birch)

Betula populifolia (gray birch)

Carpinus caroliniana (ironwood)

Celtis occidentalis (hackberry)

Chamaecyparis thyoides (Atlantic white cedar)

Fraxinus nigra (black ash)

Juglans nigra (black walnut)

Larix laricina (tamarack)

Morus rubra (red mulberry)

Somewhat available (continued)

Latin name (Common name)

Ostrya virginiana (hop-hornbeam)

Pinus rigida (pitch pine)

Populus deltoides (cottonwood)

Prunus serotina (black cherry)

Prunus virginiana (choke cherry)

Quercus alba (white oak)

Quercus coccinea (scarlet oak)

Quercus macrocarpa (bur oak)

Quercus velutina (black oak)

Tilia americana (American linden)

Harder to find

Acer saccharum ssp. nigrum (black maple)

Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)

Acer spicatum (mountain maple)

Alnus incana (speckled alder)

Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)

Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)

Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)

Fagus grandifolia (American beech)

Juglans cinerea (butternut)

Picea mariana (black spruce)

Picea rubens (red spruce)

Pinus resinosa (red pine)

Populus grandidentata (big-toothed aspen)

Populus tremuloides (trembling aspen)

Prunus americana (wild plum)

Prunus pensylvanica (fire cherry)

Quercus ilicifolia (scrub oak)

Quercus montana (chestnut oak)

Quercus muehlenbergii (yellow oak)

Sassafras albidum (sassafras)