The 100 most common of around 700 native trees in North America according to professional forester Steve Nix who also writes for the New York Times.

NOT IN ORDER OF COMMONALITY:    
Broadleaf:  Although these trees are often called hardwoods, wood hardness varies among the hardwood species. Some may actually be softer than many coniferous softwoods.


Red Alder - the largest native Alder in North America
Red alder trees invade clearings or burned-over areas and forms temporary forests. Over time, red alders build up the soil with their copious litter, and enriched it with nitrogen compounds formed by symbiotic bacteria that live in little nodules on their roots. Red alder stands are eventually succeeded by Douglas fir, western hemlock, and sitka spruce.

Green ash - the most widely distributed of all the American ashes. Naturally a moist bottom land or stream bank tree and hardy to climatic extremes. The large seed crops provide food to many kinds of wildlife. Green ash is seriously threatened in some areas, particularly Michigan, by the emerald ash borer, a beetle introduced accidentally from Asia to which it has no natural resistance.

White ash - which derives its name the blueish white undersides of the leaves. Similar in appearance to the Green ash makes identification difficult. White ash is widely grown as an ornamental tree in North America.

Quaking Aspen - references the quaking or trembling of the leaves that occurs in even a slight breeze due to the flattened petioles. Aspens do produce seeds, but seldom grow from them. Aspen propagates itself primarily through root sprouts, and extensive clonal colonies are common.  There is one in Utah which covers 47 acres and is still technically one tree.

American beech - a shade-tolerant species. Although American beech wood is heavy, hard, tough and strong the tree is typically left during lumbering and often left uncut to grow. As a result, many areas today still have extensive groves of old beeches.

American basswood - dominant in the sugar maple-basswood association, most common in western Wisconsin and central Minnesota, but occurs as far east as New England and southern Quebec where the soils are mesic with relatively high pH. Basswood is a prolific sprouter and forms clumps from stumps. Basswood flowers draw hordes of bees and other insects and has been called the "humming tree".

Paper birch - needs high nutrients and a lot of sun. The bark is highly weather-resistant. Often, the wood of a downed paper birch will rot away leaving the hollow bark intact. This easily recognized birch bark is a winter staple food for moose even-though the nutritional quality is poor. Still, the bark is important to wintering moose because of its sheer abundance.

River Birch - native habitat is wet ground but it will grow on higher land, and its bark is quite distinctive, making it a favoured ornamental tree for landscape use.  Native Americans used the wild birch's boiled sap as a sweetener similar to maple syrup, and the inner bark as a survival food. It is usually too contorted and knotty to be of value as a timber tree.

Yellow birch - reflects the color of the tree's distinctive bark. Betula alleghaniensis is the provincial tree of Québec, where it is commonly called merisier, a name which in France is used for the wild cherry. Yellow birch thrives in moist woodlands and often seen on root stilts that have developed from seedlings that have grown on and over rotting stumps.

Boxelder Maple - the names "Box Elder" and "Boxelder Maple" are based upon the similarity of its whitish wood to that of boxwood and the similarity of its pinnately compound leaves with those of some species of elder. This maple is not particularly desired in the landscape because of rapid trunk rotting, prolific sprouting and branch shedding. However it is still planted in cities and on farms because of its rapid growth.

Butternut - Juglans cinerea, also called white walnut, is a species of walnut native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada. The nut, once plentiful, is rarely seen. If you find a supply, you have found a nut with the highest oil content and highest food value of all the walnuts and hickories. Butternut is seriously threatened by an introduced canker disease called Melanconis. In some areas, 90% of the Butternut trees have been killed. Some isolated single trees are surviving.

Black Cherry - in the Midwest seen growing mostly in old fields with other sunlight loving species, such as black walnut, black locust, and hackberry. A moderately long-lived tree, with ages of up to 258 years known. Black cherry it is prone to storm damage with branches breaking easily but any decay resulting progresses slowly. It is the largest native cherry and one of the most abundant wild fruit trees.

Black cottonwood - aka western balsam poplar or California poplar, is a deciduous broadleaf tree species native to western North America. It is used for timber, and is notable as a model organism in plant biology. Its full genome sequence was published in 2006. It is the first tree species to be sequenced. Balm-of-Gilead poplar is an ornamental clone and hybrid of this tree.

Eastern cottonwood - typically live 70 to 100 years, but  have the potential to live 200 to 400 years if they have a good growing environment.  Eastern cottonwood has fast growth and a spreading root system that will control erosion but will also damage pavement and clog sewers.

Cucumber magnolia - one of the largest magnolias and one of the cold-hardiest. A large forest tree of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada (Ontario). A tree generally occurring singly as scattered specimens, rather than in groves. Cucumbertree is an excellent shade tree for parks and gardens and gets its common name for the color and shape of unique fruit that resembles a cucumber.

Flowering dogwood - one of the most popular ornamental landscape trees in eastern North America. Usually displayed beneath large oaks or pines, both in the wild and as an ornamental. Dogwoods are among the earliest springtime blooming trees. With its dense crown, flowering dogwood provides good shade, and due to its small stature, it is useful in the smallest yards. This beloved tree is the state tree of Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia.

American elm - long popular as a street or avenue tree but never really took to parks and cities. It is now being replaced by better trees like London plane-tree (Platanus X acerfolia) and Japanese zelkova (Zelkova serrata). Once extensively planted as a shade tree, Dutch elm disease has killed many of these. Isolated trees seem to be less susceptible to the disease while mass plantings tend to exacerbate the problems. American elm is of little value as a forest product.

Rock elm
- aka cork elm, is a deciduous tree native primarily to the Midwestern United States. The wood is the hardest and heaviest of all elms. It is also very strong and takes a high polish which offers a wide range of uses, notably shipbuilding, furniture, agricultural tools, and musical instruments.

Slippery elm - reputedly less susceptible to Dutch elm disease than other North American elms but is severely damaged by the Elm Leaf Beetle. One of the smallest native North American elms but with one of the largest leaves. The tree never grows in pure stands. The tree has a slimy (slippery) inner bark, tastes like licorice and is has some food and medicinal value.

Hackberry - easily distinguished by its cork-like bark with wart-like protuberances. The leaves are distinctly asymmetrical and coarse-textured. It produces small (edible) berries that turn orange-red to dark purple. Hackberry is not an important timber tree. The wood resembles elm but is difficult to work.

Bitternut hickory - probably the most abundant and most uniformly distributed of all the hickories. Bitternut hickory grows in moist mountain valleys along streambanks and in swamps. Although it is usually found on wet bottom lands, it grows on dry sites and also grows well on poor soils low in nutrients. Because bitternut hickory wood is hard and durable, it is used for furniture, paneling, dowels, tool handles, and ladders. It is a choice fuel for smoking meats.

Mockernut hickory - very common and abundant southward through Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida but grows from Massachusetts south to northern Florida, west to Kansas and Texas and up to Iowa. The tree grows largest in the lower Ohio River Basin. Nearly 80 percent of harvested mockernut hickory is used to manufacture tool handles, for which its hardness, toughness, stiffness, and strength make it especially suitable.

Pignut hickory - (Carya glabra) is a common but not abundant species in the oak-hickory forest association in the Eastern United States. The range of pignut hickory covers nearly all of eastern United States, frequently growing on dry ridgetops and sideslopes throughout its range but it is also common on moist sites, particularly in the mountains and Piedmont.

Shagbark hickory - (Carya ovata)  a common hickory in the eastern United States and southeast Canada. Shagbark hickory has the most distinctive of all the hickory bark because of its loose-plated bark. Its hickory nut is edible and has a very sweet taste. Shagbark hickory wood is used for smoking meat and was used for making the bows of Native Americans of the northern area.

Shellbark hickory - nuts are the largest of all hickory nuts and are sweet and edible. Wildlife and people harvest most of the nuts and those remaining produce seedling trees readily. This hickory is distinguished from other hickories by large leaves, large nuts and orange twigs.

American holly - typically grows as an understory tree in forests. Rare in the north of its range in New England and New York, and always small there. It is abundant further south on the southern coast and in the Gulf states, reaching its greatest size on the bottomlands of southern Arkansas and eastern Texas. Holly is a popular Christmas decoration and is inseparably connected with Christmas time. The custom in North America is to use holly and mistletoe for decoration of homes and churches. The American holly is the state tree of Delaware.

Black locust - has nitrogen-fixing bacteria on its root system and can therefore grow on poor soils, increases soil fertility and is an early colonizer of disturbed areas. The wood is extremely hard, resistant to rot and long lasting, making it prized for fence posts and small watercraft. As a young man, it is reported that Abraham Lincoln spent a lot of time splitting rails and fence posts from black locust logs. Black locust is a major honey plant in eastern USA, and, having been taken and planted in France, is the source of the renowned French acacia monofloral honey.

Southern magnolia - aka bull bay, is a magnolia native to the southeastern United States, from coastal Virginia south to central Florida, and west to East Texas. The tree is a very popular ornamental tree throughout the southeastern United States, grown for its attractive foliage and flowers. The Southern magnolia is the state tree of Mississippi, and the state flower of Mississippi and Louisiana.

Bigleaf Maple - acer macrophyllum aka Oregon maple is a large deciduous tree in the genus Acer. It is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska south to southern California. Bigleaf maple is the only commercially important maple of the Pacific Coast region.

Red Maple - acer rubrum is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America since it is adaptable to a very wide range of site conditions, perhaps more so than any other tree in eastern North America. Its ability to thrive in a large number of habitats is largely due to its ability to produce roots to suit its site from a young age. Red Maple is widely grown as an ornamental tree in parks and in the landscape. Dozens of red maple varieties have been developed and the tree is prized for its fall color.

Silver maple - a weak tree but often introduced in the landscape to the dismay of many who plant it. It can be saved for planting in wet areas or where nothing else will thrive. The maple is also aggressive, growing into septic tank drain fields and into broken water and sewer pipes. Silver maple is closely related to the red maple, and can hybridise with it, the hybrid being known as the Freeman maple (Acer x freemanii). The Freeman maple is a popular ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, combining the fast growth of silver maple with the less brittle wood. The tree has very little value as a forest product.

Sugar maple -a native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas. Sugar maple is an immensely important species to the ecology of many forests in North America. Sugar maples engage in hydraulic lift, drawing water from lower soil layers and exuding that water into upper, drier soil layers. This not only benefits the tree itself but also many other plants growing around it. Sugar Maple is the major source of sap for making maple syrup and prized for furniture and flooring.

Black oak -  has readily hybridized with other members of the red oak group of oaks being one parent in at least a dozen different named hybrids. This single species' compatibility is fairly uncommon in the [i]Quercus[/i] genus group. Black oak is seldom used for landscaping. The inner bark of the black oak contains a yellow pigment called quercitron, which was sold commercially in Europe until the 1940s.

Bur oak - (Quercus macrocarpa), sometimes spelled burr oak, is a species of oak in the white oak group. Bur Oak typically grows in the open, away from forest canopy. For this reason, it is an important tree on the eastern prairies, where it is often found near waterways in more forested areas, where there is a break in the canopy. It is an excellent landscaping tree.

Cherrybark oak - (Q. pagodifolia) is fairly common large tree of bottomland forests, similar to the upland Southern red oak (Q. falcata), of which it was formerly considered a variety. The cherrybark tree has heavy strong wood that makes it an excellent timber tree for furniture and interior finish. It is a commercially desirable tree and managed for various forest products.

Laurel oak - (Quercus laurifolia) is commonly used as an ornamental tree in landscaping because of its fast growth and pleasing appearance; it is planted with little regard to soil type. The Latin laurifolia means laurel-leaved or having leaves like a laurel. Swamp laurel oak grows rapidly and usually matures in about 50 years which has led to its wide use as an ornamental.

Live oak - a symbolic tree of the Deep South. Quercus virginiana has a squat and leaning form with a large diameter tapering trunk. The Angel Oak near Charleston, South Carolina, is a live oak that has been determined to be the oldest tree in the eastern United States at 1400 years. Live oak is the state tree of Georgia.

Oregon white oak - the only native oak in British Columbia and Washington and the principal one in Oregon. Though commonly known as Garry oak in British Columbia, elsewhere it is usually called white oak, post oak, Oregon oak, Brewer oak, or shin oak. Its scientific name was chosen by David Douglas to honor Nicholas Garry, secretary and later deputy governor of the Hudson Bay Company, 1822-35.

Overcup oak - a medium-sized deciduous oak that is valued as a "white oak" wood. Commercial overcup oak varies extremely with site, fire damage, and degree of insect and decay defect. It is a quite ordinary oak with a unique acorn. The large acorns with hardened cups that enclose all or most of the nut are diagnostic.

Pin oak - one of the most overused landscape oak in the midwest and eastern United States. The oak is popular due to an attractive pyramidal shape and straight, dominant trunk, even on older specimens and availability. A lot of that popularity has been challenged because of iron-deficiency chlorosis, persistent brown leaves on the tree into the winter, and a ragged look with the stubby twig "pins" that stand out and is a negative to some.

Post oak - it's name refers to the use of the wood of this tree for fence posts. Its wood, like that of the other white oaks, is hard, tough and rot-resistant. The "Maltese cross" form of the distinctive post oak leaf is a key identifier. Both the post oak and the blackjack oak form the "Cross Timbers" in Texas and Oklahoma. This area comprises the border where trees transition to prairie grassland.

Oak, Northern Red - Any oak with pointed, bristle-tipped leaf lobes belong to the red oak group, including Northern red oak. Red oak is the fastest growing of all oaks and when on the right site, one of the largest and longest lived. Northern red oak and is an easily transplanted, popular shade tree with good form and dense foliage. Northern red oak is well adapted to periodic fires.

Nuttall oak  - (Quercus nuttallii), not distinguished as a species until 1927, is also called red oak, Red River oak, and pin oak. It is one of the few commercially important species found on poorly drained clay flats and low bottoms of the Gulf Coastal Plain and north in the Mississippi and Red River Valleys. The acorn or winter buds identify Nuttall oak, easily confused with pin oak (Q. palustris). The lumber is often cut and sold as red oak. In addition to producing timber, Nuttall oak is an important species for wildlife management because of heavy annual mast production.

Scarlet oak - (Quercus coccinea) is best known for its brilliant autumn color. It is a large rapid-growing tree of the Eastern United States found on a variety of soils in mixed forests, especially light sandy and gravelly upland ridges and slopes. Best development is in the Ohio River Basin. In commerce, the lumber is mixed with that of other red oaks. Scarlet oak is a popular shade tree and has been widely planted in the United States and Europe.

Shumard oak - (Quercus shumardii) is one of the largest Southern red oaks. Other common names are spotted oak, Schneck oak, Shumard red oak, southern red oak, and swamp red oak. It is a lowland tree and grows scattered with other hardwoods on moist, well-drained soils associated with large and small streams. It grows moderately fast and produces acorns every 2 to 4 years that are used by wildlife for food. The wood is superior to most red oaks, but it is mixed indiscriminately with other red oak lumber and used for the same products. This tree makes a handsome shade tree.

Oak, Southern Red - All the red oaks, including Southern red oak, is most prized hardwood species in the United States. The uses of oak include almost everything that mankind has ever derived from trees-timber, food for man and animals, fuel, watershed protection, shade and beauty, tannin, and extractives.

Water oak is also called possum oak or spotted oak. The oak's habitat is commonly found along southeastern watercourses and lowlands on silty clay and loamy soils. Water oak is a medium-sized but rapid-growing tree is often abundant as second growth on cutover lands. Water oak is planted widely as a street and shade tree in southern communities.

White oak family members also include the bur oak, chestnut oak and Oregon white oak. This oak is immediately recognized by rounded lobes plus the lobe tips never have bristles like red oak. White oak is less favored than red oak because it is difficult to transplant and has a slow growth rate.

Willow Oak -  medium to large willow oak has unique willow-like foliage and is known for its rapid growth and long life. A favored shade tree, willow oak is widely planted as an ornamental. It is also a good species to plant along margins of fluctuating-level reservoirs.

Osage Orange - creates a dense canopy, making it useful as a windbreak. Young osage oranges can develop an upright, pyramidal habit and the fruit is unique, roughtextured, heavy green balls which ripen to yellowgreen and fall in October and November. The large, three to six-inch long by two to three-inch-wide, shiny, dark green leaves turn bright yellow in fall and are quite noticeable in the northeastern United States.

Royal Paulownia - an introduced ornamental that has become well established in North America. It is also known as princess-tree, empress-tree, or paulownia. Paulownia has a tropical look with very large catalpa-like leaves although the two species are not related. The paulownia has been touted as growing very valuable wood under correct management strategies.

Pecan - economically the most important member of the hickory family, of the genus Carya. Pecan production is a multimillion dollar business and one of North America's favorite nuts. C. illinoensis is an excellent multipurpose tree for the home landscape because it provides nuts and grand esthetic value.

Common Persimmon - an interesting, somewhat irregularly shaped native small to medium tree. Persimmon bark is grey or black and distinctly blocky with orange in the valleys between the blocks.

Redbud - a small tree that shines early in Spring (one of the first flowering plants) with leafless branches of magenta buds and pink flowers. Quickly following the flowers come new green leaves which turn a dark, blue-green and are uniquely heart-shaped. C. canadensis often has a large crop of 2-4 inch seedpods that some find unappealing in the urban landscape.

Sassafras - young seedlings are usually unlobed but older trees add unique mitten-shaped leaves with two or three lobes. In addition to sassafras' value to wildlife, the tree provides wood and bark for a variety of commercial and domestic uses. Tea is brewed from the bark of roots. The leaves are used in thickening soups.

Sourwood - one of the first trees to turn colors in the Eastern forest. By late August it is common to see foliage of young sourwood trees along roadsides beginning to turn red. The fall color of sourwood is a striking red and orange and associated with blackgum and sassifras.

Sweetgum - sometimes called redgum, probably because of the red color of the older heartwood and its red fall leaves. Sweetgum grows from Connecticut southward throughout the East to central Florida and eastern Texas and is a very common commercial timber species of the South. Sweetgum is easy to identify in both summer and in winter. Look for the star-shaped leaf as foliage grows in the Spring and look for the dried seed balls in and under the tree.

American sycamore - a massive tree and can attain the largest trunk diameter of any of the Eastern U.S. hardwoods. The native sycamore has a grand branch display and its bark is unique among all trees - you can always identify a sycamore just by looking at the bark. The alternate maple-looking leaves are large and also unique to those familiar with sycamore.

Tupelo, Black - Black gum trees have moderate growth rate and longevity and are an excellent food source for wildlife, fine honey trees, and handsome ornamentals. Black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) is divided into two commonly recognized varieties, typical black tupelo (var. sylvatica) and swamp tupelo (var. biflora). They are usually identifiable by their differences in habitats: black tupelo on light-textured soils of uplands and stream bottoms, swamp tupelo on heavy organic or clay soils of wet bottom lands.

Tupelo, Water -  (Nyssa aquatica), is a large, long-lived tree that grows in southern swamps and flood plains where its root system is periodically under water. It has a swollen base that tapers to a long, clear bole and often occurs in pure stands. A good mature tree will produce commercial timber used for furniture and crates. Many kinds of wildlife eat the fruits and water tupelo is a favored honey tree.

Black walnut - used to be a very common old-growth forest tree. Black walnut wood is now relatively scarce and highly coveted, used mainly for high quality woodworking. The tree hates shade (intolerant)and best growth occurs in a sunny open location and a moist rich soil, common along stream banks in its native habitat.

Black willow - named for its dark gray-brown bark. The tree is the largest and most important New World willow and is one of the first trees to bud in the spring. The numerous uses of the wood of this and other willows is furniture doors, millwork, barrels and boxes.

Yellow poplar aka tulip poplar is the tallest hardwood tree in North America with one of the most perfect and straight trunks in the forest. Yellow poplar has a very unique leaf with four lobes separated by rounded notches.

CONIFERS:  A conifer is a tree belonging to the cone bearing order Coniferales.  These trees with needles, or scale-like leaves, are very different from hardwood trees (as above) which have broad flat leaves and usually no cones (Alder is an exception - a broadleaf with cones)

Often incorrectly called evergreens  these perennial trees normally keep foliage or needles through the entire year. The notable exceptions are Baldcypress and Tamarack (Larch) which shed their needles annually, along with the Dawn Redwood.

Baldcypress grows into a large tree and the bark is gray-brown to red-brown, shallowly vertically fissured, with a stringy texture. The needles are on deciduous branchlets that are spirally arranged on the stem. Unlike most other species in the family Cupressaceae, bald cypress is deciduous, losing the leaves in the winter months and thus the name 'bald'. The main trunk is surrounded by cypress "knees" that protrude from the ground.

Cedar, Alaska is a cypress (Cupressaceae) that botanists have had historical problems determining it's scientific category. The species goes by many common names including Nootka Cypress, Yellow Cypress, and Alaska Cypress. Even though it is not a true cedar, it is also often confusingly called "Nootka Cedar", "Yellow Cedar" and "Alaska Yellow Cedar". One of its common names derives from its discovery on the lands of a First Nation of Canada, the Nuu-chah-nulth of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, who were formerly referred to as the Nootka.

Cedar, Atlantic white (Chamaecyparis thyoides), also called southern white-cedar, white-cedar, and swamp-cedar, is found most frequently in small dense stands in fresh water swamps and bogs. Heavy cutting for many commercial uses during this century has considerably reduced even the largest stands so that the total volume of this species growing stock is not currently known. It is still considered a commercially important single species in the major supply areas of North and South Carolina, Virginia, and Florida.

Cedar, Northern white is a slow growing native North American boreal tree. Arborvitae is its cultivated name and commercially sold and planted in yards throughout the United States. The tree is identified primarily by unique flat and filigree sprays made up of tiny, scaly leaves. The tree loves limestone areas and can take full sun to light shade.

Cedar, Port-Orford  Chamaecyparis lawsoniana is a cypress known by the name Lawson's Cypress when cultivated in the landscape, or Port Orford-cedar in its native range. It is not a true cedar. Port Orford Cedar is native to the southwest of Oregon and the far northwest of California in the United States, occurring from sea level up to 4,900 ft in mountain valleys, often along streams. Port-Orford-cedar is found with an extremely wide variety of associated plants and vegetation types. It usually grows in mixed stands and is important in the Picea sitchensis, Tsuga heterophylla, mixed evergreen, and Abies concolor vegetation zones of Oregon and their counterparts in California.

Fir, Douglas - Wherever Douglas-fir grows in mixture with other species, the proportion may vary greatly, depending on aspect, elevation, kind of soil, and the past history of an area, especially as it relates to fire. This is particularly true of the mixed conifer stands in the southern Rocky Mountains where Douglas-fir is associated with ponderosa pine, southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis), corkbark fir (Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica), white fir (Abies concolor), blue spruce (Picea pungens), Engelman  spruce, and aspen (Populus spp.).

Fir, Balsom - Tree species associated with balsam fir in the boreal region of Canada are black spruce (Picea mariana), white spruce (Picea glauca), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). In the more southerly northern forest region, additional associates include bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata), yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), American beech
(Fagus grandifolia), red maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), tamarack (Larix laricina), black ash (Fraxinus nigra), and northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis).

Fir, California Red - Red fir is found in seven forest cover types of western North America. It is in pure stands or as a major component in Red Fir (Society of American Foresters Type 207, and also in the following types: Mountain Hemlock (Type 205), White Fir (Type 211), Lodgepole Pine (Type 218), Pacific Douglas-Fir (Type 229), Sierra Nevada Mixed Conifer (Type 243), and California Mixed Subalpine (Type 256).

Fir Fraser - Fraser fir is a component of four forest cover types (10): Pin Cherry (Society of American Foresters Type 17), Red Spruce-Yellow Birch (Type 30), Red Spruce (Type 32), and Red Spruce-Fraser Fir (Type 34).

Fir, Grand - Grand fir is represented in 17 forest cover types of western North America: it is the predominant species in only one, Grand Fir (Society of American Foresters Type 213). It is a major
component of six other cover types: Western Larch (Type 212), Western White Pine (Type 215), Interior Douglas-Fir (Type 210), Western Hemlock (Type 224), Western Redcedar (Type 228), and Western Redcedar-Western Hemlock (Type 227). Grand fir appears sporadically in 10 other cover types.

Fir, Noble - Noble fir is aptly named, for it is probably the largest of all the firs in terms of diameter, height and wood volume. It was first found by fabled botanist-explorer David Douglas, growing in mountains on the north side of the Columbia River Gorge, where exceptional stands can still be found. It loves these windy sites because it is one of the most wind firm trees, swaying grandly
in even the most howling gales of winter.

Fir, Pacific Silver - Pacific silver fir is a major species in the forest cover type Coastal True Fir-Hemlock (Society of American Foresters Type 226). It is also found in the following types: Mountain Hemlock, Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir, Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Western Red cedar and Pacific Douglas-Fir.

Fir, White - The most common associates of California white fir in the mixed conifer forests of California and Oregon include grand fir (Abies grandis), Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), lodgepole pine (P. contorta), sugar pine (P. lambertiana), Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and California black oak (Quercus kelloggii).

Hemlock, Eastern - Eastern hemlock is associated in the Northern Forest Regionwith White Pine, Sugar Maple,Red Spruce, Balsam Fir and Yellow Birch; in the Central and Southern Forest Region with Yellow-Poplar, Northern Red Oak, Red Maple, Eastern White Pine, Fraser Fir and Beech.

Hemlock, Western - Western hemlock is a component of the redwood forests on the coasts of northern California and adjacent Oregon. In Oregon and western Washington, it is a major constituent of the Picea sitchensis, Tsuga heterophylla, and
Abies amabilis Zones and is less important in the Tsuga mertensiana and Mixed-Conifer Zones.

 

Larch, Eastern (Tamarack) - Black spruce (Picea mariana) is usually tamarack's main associate in mixed stands on all sites. The other most common associates include balsam fir (Abies balsamea), white spruce (Picea glauca), and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in the boreal region, and northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis), balsam fir, black ash (Fraxinus nigra), and red maple
(Acer rubrum) on the better organic-soil (swamp) sites in the northern forest region.

Larch, Western - Western larch is a long-lived seral species that always grows with other tree species. Young stands sometimes appear to be pure, but other species are in the understory, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) is its most common tree associate. Other common tree associates include: ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) on the lower, drier sites; grand fir (Abies grandis), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), western redcedar (Thuja plicata), and western white pine (Pinus monticola) on moist sites; and Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) in the cool-moist subalpine forests.

Pine, Eastern White - White pine is a major component of five Society of American Foresters forest cover types: Red Pine (Type 15), White Pine-Northern Red Oak-Red Maple (Type 20), Eastern White Pine (Type 21), White Pine-Hemlock (Type 22), White Pine-Chestnut Oak (Type 51). None of these are climax types, although
the White Pine-Hemlock type may just precede the climax hemlock types, and Type 20 is very close to a climax or an alternating type of climax on the sandy outwash plains of New England (42).

Pine, Jack - Associated tree species, listed in order of presence on dry to mesic sites, include northern pin oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis), bur oak (Q. macrocarpa), red pine (Pinus resinosa), bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata), quaking aspen (P. tremuloides), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), northern red oak Quercus rubra), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), red maple (Acer rubrum), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), white spruce (Picea glauca), black spruce
(P. mariana), tamarack (Larix laricina), and balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera). In the boreal forest the most common associates are quaking aspen, paper birch, balsam fir, and black spruce. In the northern forest they are northern pin oak, red pine, quaking aspen, paper birch, and balsam fir.

Pine, Jeffrey - Incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) is the most widespread associate of Jeffrey pine on ultramafic soils. Locally prominent are Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), ponderosa pine, sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), western white pine (P. monticola), knob-cone pine (P. attenuata), Digger pine (P. sabiniana), and Sargent cypress (Cupressus sargentii).

Pine, Loblolly - Loblolly pine is found in pure stands and in mixtures with other pines or hardwoods. When loblolly pine predominates, it forms the forest cover type Loblolly Pine (Society of American  Foresters Type 81). Within their natural ranges, longleaf, shortleaf, and Virginia pine (Pinus palustris, P. echinata, and P. virginiana), southern red, white, post, and blackjack oak (Quercus falcata, Q. alba, Q. stellata, and Q. marilandica), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), and persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) are frequent associates on well-drained sites.

Pine, Lodgepole - Lodgepole pine, with probably the widest range of environmental tolerance of any conifer in North America, grows in association with many plant species. The lodgepole pine forest type is the third most extensive commercial forest type in the Rocky
Mountains.

Pine, Longleaf - The principal longleaf cover types are Longleaf Pine (Society of American Foresters Type 70), Longleaf Pine-Scrub Oak (Type 71), and Longleaf Pine-Slash Pine (Type 83). Longleaf pine is also a minor component of other forest types within its range: Sand Pine (Type 69), Shortleaf Pine (Type 75), Loblolly Pine (Type 81), Loblolly Pine-Hardwoods (Type 82), Slash Pine (Type 84), and South Florida Slash Pine (Type 111).

Pine, Pinyon - Pinyon is a minor component of the following forest cover types: Bristlecone Pine (Society of American Foresters (Type 209), Interior Douglas-Fir (Type 210), Rocky Mountain Juniper (Type 220), Interior Ponderosa Pine (Type 237), Arizona Cypress (Type 240), and Western Live Oak (Type 241). It is an integral component in Pinyon-Juniper (Type 239) over a large area. However, as the type extends westward, pinyon is replaced by singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) in Nevada and some localities in western Utah and northwestern Arizona. Southward along the Mexican border, Mexican pinyon (P. cembroides var. bicolor),  ecently given separate species status as border pinyon (P. discolor), becomes the dominant tree in the woodlands.

Pine, Pitch - Pitch pine is the major component of the forest cover type Pitch Pine (Society of American Foresters Type 45) and is listed as an associate in nine other types: Eastern White Pine (Type 21), , Chestnut Oak (Type 44), White Pine-Chestnut Oak (Type 51), White Oak-Black Oak-Northern Red Oak (Type 52), Shortleaf Pine (Type 75), Virginia Pine-Oak (Type 78), Virginia Pine (Type 79), and Atlantic White-Cedar (Type 97).

Pine, Ponderosa - Ponderosa pine is an integral component of three forest cover types in the West: Interior Ponderosa Pine (Society of American Foresters Type 237), Pacific Ponderosa Pine-Douglas-Fir (Type 244), and Pacific Ponderosa Pine (Type 245). Interior Ponderosa Pine is the most widespread type, covering most of the range of the species from Canada to Mexico, and from the
Plains States to the Sierra Nevada, and the east side of the Cascade
Mountains. Ponderosa pine is also a component of 65 per cent of all
western forest cover types south of the boreal forest.

Pine, Red - In parts of the northern Lake States, Ontario, and Quebec, red pine grows in extensive pure stands and in the Northeast and eastern Canada in small pure stands. More often it is found with jack pine (Pinus banksiana), eastern white pine (P. strobus), or both. It is a common component in three forest cover types: Red Pine (Society of American Foresters Type 15), Jack Pine
(Type 1), and Eastern White Pine (Type 21) and is an occasional associate in one, Northern Pin Oak (Type 14).

Pine, Shortleaf - Shortleaf pine is now considered a major component of three forest cover types (Society of American Foresters, 16), Shortleaf Pine (Type 75), Shortleaf Pine-Oak (Type 76), and Loblolly Pine-Shortleaf Pine (Type 80). Although shortleaf pine grows very well on good sites, it is generally only temporary and gives way to more competitive species, particularly hardwoods. It is more competitive on drier sites with thin, rocky, and nutrient deficient soils. With the species' ability to grow on the medium and poor sites, it is not surprising that shortleaf pine is a minor component of at least 15 other forest cover types.

Pine, Slash -  Slash pine is a major component of three forest cover types including Longleaf Pine-Slash Pine (Society of American Foresters Type 83), Slash Pine (Type 84), and Slash Pine-Hardwood (Type 85).

Pine, Sugar - Sugar pine is a major timber species at middle elevations in the Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains, Cascade, Sierra Nevada, Transverse, and Peninsula Ranges. Rarely forming pure stands, it grows singly or in small groups of trees. It is the main component in the forest cover type Sierra Nevada Mixed Conifer (Society of American Foresters Type 243).

Pine, Virginia - Virginia pine often grows in pure stands, usually as a pioneer species on old fields, burned areas, or other disturbed sites. It is a major species in the forest cover types Virginia Pine-Oak (Society of American Foresters Type 78) and Virginia Pine (Type 79). It is an associate in the following cover types: Post Oak-Blackjack Oak (Type 40), Bear Oak (Type 43), Chestnut Oak (Type 44), White Oak-Black Oak-Northern Red Oak (Type 52), Pitch Pine (Type 45), Eastern Redcedar (Type 46), Shortleaf Pine (Type 75),
Loblolly Pine (Type 81), and Loblolly Pine-Hardwood (Type 82).

Redcedar. Eastern -  Pure stands of eastern redcedar are scattered throughout the primary range of the species. Most of these stands are on abandoned farm lands or drier upland sites. The forest cover type Eastern  Redcedar (Society of American Foresters Type 46) is widespread and therefore has many associates .

Redwood - Redwood is a principal species in only one forest cover
type, Redwood (Society of American Foresters Type 232), but is found in three other Pacific Coast types, Pacific Douglas-Fir (Type
229), Port-Orford-Cedar (Type 231), and Douglas-Fir-Tanoak-Pacific Madrone (Type 234).

Spruce, Black - Black spruce most commonly grows as pure stands on organic soils and as mixed stands on mineral soil sites. It is a major component of forest types with white spruce, balsam fir (Abies balsamea), jack pine (Pinus banksiana), and tamarack and also grows in association with paper birch (Betula papyrifera), lodgepole pine (P. contorta), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides),
balsam poplar, northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis), black ash (Fraxinus nigra), American elm (Ulmus americana), and red maple (Acer rubrum).

Spruce, Colorado Blue - Colorado blue spruce is most frequently associated with Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) and Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine and with white
fir (Abies concolor) on wet sites in the central Rocky  Mountains. Blue spruce is seldom found in large numbers, but on streamside sites it is often the only coniferous species present.

Spruce, Engelmann  - Engelmann spruce most typically grows together with subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) to for the Engelmann Sprue-Subapline Fir (Type 206) forest cover type.  It may also occur in pure or nearly pure stands.  Spruce grows in 15 other forest types recognised by the Society of American Foresters, usually as a minor component or in frost pockets.   

Spruce, Red -  Pure stands of red spruce comprise the forest cover type Red Spruce (Society of American Foresters Type 32). Red spruce is also a major component in several forest cover types: Eastern White Pine; White Pine-Hemlock; Eastern Hemlock; Sugar Maple-Beech-Yellow Birch; Red Spruce-Yellow Birch; Red Spruce-Sugar Maple-Beech; Red Spruce-Balsam Fir; Red Spruce-Fraser Fir; Paper Birch-Red Spruce-Balsam Fir; Northern White-Cedar; Beech-Sugar Maple.

Spruce, Sitka - Sitka spruce is commonly associated with western hemlock throughout most of its range. Toward the south, other conifer associates include Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), western white pine (Pinus monticola), and redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). Shore pine
(P. contorta var. contorta) and western redcedar (Thuja plicata) are also associates that extend into southeast Alaska.
Toward the north, conifer associates also include Alaska-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa)-trees that are usually found only at higher elevations toward the south.

Spruce, White -

Eastern  Forest- The forest cover type White Spruce (Society of American Foresters Type 107) (40) is found in either pure stands or mixed stands in which white spruce is the major component. Associated species include black spruce, paper birch (Betula
papyrifera), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), red spruce (Picea rubens), and balsam fir (Abies balsamea).


Western Forest- Associated tree species in Alaska include paper birch, quaking aspen, black spruce, and balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera). In Western  Canada, subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), balsam fir, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), jack pine (Pinus banksiana), and lodgepole pine (P. contorta) are important associates.



















 
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