  | Tree Encyclopedia
Explore large-format diagnostic photos and botanical information for over 200 different species of trees.
Species accounts are arranged by family. Please select text links or thumbnails for more images and information on each family and species.
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A tree is a perennial, woody plant. Though there is no set definition regarding minimum size, the term generally applies to plants at least 6 m (20 ft) high at maturity and, more important, having secondary branches supported on a single main stem or trunk with clear dominance. Compared with other life forms, trees are long-lived. A few species of trees grow to 375 feet and some live for many thousands of years. Quaking Aspen clone complexes are
perhaps the largest living organisms on Earth; it has been proposed some clone communities are hundreds of thousands, if not a million or more
years old.
The oldest tree. Sometime around 7542 B.C., a spruce
tree started growing on Fulu Mountain in Sweden. It is still growing.
Spruce trees can produce exact clones of themselves, and while the
currently visible part of the tree is not 9,550 years old, scientists
found pieces of wood beneath it that are that old with exactly the same
genetic makeup as the above-ground part of the tree.
--as reported in The New York Times, April 18, 2008
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Tree Family Aceraceae - Maples
The Maples are some of our most familiar and beloved trees.
There are about 200 species in the genera Dipteronia in
China and Acer across the Northern Hemisphere. |
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Tree Family Betulaceae - Alders, Birches, Hornbeams
The birches have long been popular ornamental trees in America, chiefly in the northern United States and Canada. Several are native Americans, but many species have been introduced from Europe and Asia. In general, they are graceful trees, the most popular being those with white bark on trunks and larger branches. Some of the others are very serviceable, either because they will grow well in wet soil or because they will exist as well as any other trees, or better, in dry, poor soils. |
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Family Caprifoliaceae - Honeysuckle, Viburnum, Elderberry
Caprifoliaceae are perennial and mostly woody plants that include vines, shrubs, and small trees. 15 genera and 400 species (7 genera native to U.S.); mostly of North Temperate and boreal regions, and of tropical mountains (New Zealand and the Andes Mtns. in S. America). About 3/4 of the species belong to Lonicera and Viburnum, with about 150 species in each. |
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Tree Family Cupressaceae –
Redwoods, Cypress, Arborvitae, and Juniper
There are thirty (many monotypic) genera and 142 species in the family Cupressaceae, now widely regarded as including the Taxodiaceae, previously treated as a distinct family. The Cupressaceae are found in the fossil record as far back as the Jurassic Period, about 210 million years ago. |
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Tree Family Fabaceae (Leguminosae) The Fabaceae, or Legumes, are mostly herbs but include also shrubs and trees found in both temperate and tropical areas. They comprise one of the largest families of flowering plants, numbering some 400 genera and 10,000 species. Peanuts, beans, peas, wisteria and locust trees are among the family.
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Tree Family Fagaceae - Beeches, Chinkapins and Oaks
There are about 900 species in this family worldwide, about 65 trees and 10 shrubs of which are native to North America. The Oak genus, Quercus, includes some of our most important native hardwoods, and are some of the most-recognized trees in our nature-starved populace. The beech genus, Fagus, contains 10 species native to temperate Europe and North America. |
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Tree Family Hamamelidaceae: Witch Hazel Family
Includes 23 genera of shrubs and trees native to both tropical and warm temperate regions. It includes mildly popular ornamentals such as witch hazel, winter hazel, and sweet gum trees.
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Tree Family Hippocastanaceae - Horse-chestnuts, Buckeyes
Three genera and 15 species: Asia (Himalayas to Japan), SE Europe, North America, also Central and South America (Billia); two genera (one endemic) and five species (two endemic, two introduced) in China. |
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Tree Family Juglandaceae - Walnuts, Hickories, Butternut and Pecan
The Walnut family is a large group of deciduous, aromatic trees including hickories, pecan, butternut and walnuts. There are about 50 species worldwide, 17 in North America.
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Tree Family Magnoliaceae -- Magnolias
The magnolia genus is one of the most ancient among flowering trees. Growing to 30 meters (100 ft.), cucumber tree is the most widespread and hardy of the eight magnolia species native to the United States, and the only magnolia native to Canada. |
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Tree Family Pinaceae: The Pines, Cedars, Spruce, and Firs
The Pine family is the most varied of all the groups of trees that
bear cones. Pinaceae contains more than 250 species which are native
to, and which form the dominant forest cover over much of the
northern hemisphere. |
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| Tree Family Rosaceae - Hawthorns, Apples, Pears, Cherries, Plums, Peach, Almond, Mountain-Ash and Whitebeams. The Rose family is a large assemblage of trees, shrubs and herbs encompassing many of our most familiar and valued fruits, the drupes and pomes. The family is characterized by the flowers, which have the sepals, petals and stamens attached to the receptacle margin. |
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Tree Family Salicaceae -- Willows, Cottonwood and Poplars
There are only two genera in this family, Salix (willows), with about 300 species, and Populus (poplars), with barely 40 species. Salicaceae are found throughout the temperate parts of the world, with the majority of species occurring in the north. Both willows and poplars have a strong affinity for water, and are commonly found near ponds and along watercourses. |
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Tree Family Taxaceae - Yews
There are 17 species in five genera 5 in this small family. The Yews are evergreen trees or shrubs, usually not resinous or aromatic. The Taxaceae are now generally included with all other conifers in the order Pinales. |
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Tree Family Tiliaceae - Basswoods, Lindens
50 genera and 400 species; widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, with relatively few species in temperate regions. Especially abundant in Southeast Asia and Brazil.
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Tree Family Ulmaceae - Zelkovas, Hackberries and Elms
There are about 200 species of trees and shrubs in Ulmaceae. 14 trees and 2 shrubs are native to North America. The Elms fell victim to Dutch Elm disease during the 1950's; until that time, they were the premiere shade tree along the streets of our towns and cities. |
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