Ten trees that tolerate flooding

Native trees that thrive in wetlands

Do you need trees for a swampy area where water sometimes stands for several weeks at a time? Perhaps you are looking for trees that will thrive at a pond's edge or a stream margin where the water level fluctuates with the rainfall.

Here are ten native trees that tolerate standing in water for extended periods of time. These are native trees often found growing in wetlands in various parts of the continental United States. Linked names lead to the USDA Plants database, which contains a great deal of information about each species.

Alnus serrulata -- Smooth Alder (Hazel Alder)
Betula populifolia -- Gray Birch
Fraxinus nigra -- Black Ash
Larix laricina -- Eastern Larch (Tamarack)
Picea mariana -- Black Spruce
Salix amygdaloides -- Peachleaf Willow
Salix bebbiana -- Bebb Willow
Salix discolor -- Pussy Willow
Salix nigra -- Black Willow
Taxodium distichum -- Baldcypress

These ten aren't the only wetland trees. There are many willow species, for example. However, I hope the tree names in this list will provide a starting point for your research.

Native trees for dry, steep sites

Native trees that will grow on dry hillsides

These native trees will tolerate sites with excessive drainage -- hillsides, banks, or slopes, and extremely coarse soils. They will also tolerate droughty conditions, though most of them would like to have a little water sometimes. The common name of each tree is linked to its page in the USDA Plants Database.

Betula populifolia -- Gray birch (tolerates wet to dry conditions)
Carya tomentosa -- Mockernut hickory (prefers some moisture, tolerates dry)
Cotinus americanus -- American smoketree (prefers moist, tolerates dry)
Crataegus crusgali -- Cockspur hawthorn (prefers moist, tolerates dry)
Crataegus mollis -- Downy hawthorn (prefers moist, tolerates dry)
Crataegus nitida -- Glossy hawthorn (prefers moist, tolerates dry)
Crataegus phaenopyrum -- Washington hawthorn (prefers moist, tolerates dry)
Crataegus punctata -- Frosted (or dotted) hawthorn (prefers moist, tolerates dry)
Fraxinus quadrangulata -- Blue ash (tolerates wet to dry conditions)
Juniperus virginiana -- Eastern redcedar (tolerates wet to dry conditions)
Liridendron tulipifera -- Tuliptree or yellow poplar (prefers some moisture, tolerates dry)
Maclura pomifera -- Osage orange or hedgeapple (prefers moist, tolerates dry)
Pinus banksiana -- Jack pine (prefers some moisture, tolerates dry)
Pinus ponderosa -- Ponderosa pine (average to dry conditions)
Pinus rigida -- Pitch pine (average to dry conditions)
Populus deltoides -- Cottonwood or eastern poplar (tolerates wet to dry)
Prunus americana -- American wild plum (prefers some moisture, tolerates dry)
Prunus pennsylvanica -- Pin cherry (tolerates wet to dry)
Quercus marilandica -- Blackjack oak (dry)
Quercus muhlenbergi -- Chinkapin oak (dry)
Quercus velutina -- Black oak (prefers some moisture, tolerates dry)
Rhus species -- Various sumacs (prefer some moisture, tolerate dry)
Robinia pseudoacacia -- Black locust (prefers some moisture, tolerates dry)
Sassafras albidum -- Sassafras (tolerates wet to dry)

America's Atlantic white cedar swamps

Brief history of the Atlantic white cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides

When the first European settlers came to North America, they found a new-world member of the cypress family. It grew densely, often in pure stands, in the swamplands of the Atlantic coast. This tree was the Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides,) and its range once stretched from present-day Maine to upper Florida and along parts of the Gulf coast.

The Atlantic white cedar is a tall, straight-growing tree. The settlers soon learned that its wood was resistant to rot and insects, light in weight, and easy to tool. They used Atlantic white cedar lumber for many purposes -- shingles, flooring, furniture, buckets, barrels, shipbuilding, docks, and more.

As time went by, the swamps were cleared of larger trees, then of smaller ones. The trees grew so closely together in dense clumps that it was often hard to cut them one at a time.

Some swamps and former swamps were mined for fallen trees from earlier times that were covered over by earth, peat, silt or muck. The wood of these fallen, buried trees was still sound, though it had been buried for many years.

One of the largest caches of or buried Atlantic white cedar was discovered in the vicinity of Dennisville, New Jersey, in 1812. Some of the trunks pulled out of the Dennisville swamps were as large as 6 feet in diameter, and it was common to find trunks 4 feet in diameter.

The mining of the swamps provided employment to Dennisville residents through the late 1880's. Many of the mined trees were used as shingles; well over half a million shingles were produced in some years. Some of the larger logs were cut into boards.

In Joseph S. Illick's 1926 book, Common Trees of New Jersey, he mentions that Atlantic white cedars were being used as a substitute for chestnut telephone poles because chestnut was becoming hard to find (due to the blight, no doubt.)

Today, Atlantic white cedar swamps have been reduced to about 20% of their original area. Much of the swampland has been cleared and drained for agricultural purposes and various sorts of development. In recent years, interest has grown in restoration of white cedar swamps where possible, and preservation of white cedar swamps that still exist.

The American white cedar is sometimes grown as an ornamental. Many cultivars are available, including blue varieties, dark green varieties, and others with fuzzy-looking foliage. If you have a boggy, swampy area to plant, this would be a tree to consider.

Historic accounts of Atlantic white cedar mining in New Jersey:
History of the Lumber Industry in America (pages 493-495)
Manufacturer and Builder: "The Buried Forests of New Jersey"

More reading about Atlantic white cedar swamps
White Cedar Swamp, Cape Cod National Seashore
Peatland Atlantic white cedar forests in Virginia
White cedar swamp restoration in South Carolina
Trees of the Maritime Forest: Chamaecyparis thyoides
Chamaecyparis thyoides info from U.S. Forest Service database

Five Tall, Narrow Deciduous Trees

Narrowest of the Tall, Native, Deciduous Trees

These trees can reach 75 to 100 feet in height at maturity, in optimal conditions. They are among the tallest native trees.

At maturity, their spread is generally about 1/2 their height -- that is, roughly 35 to 50 feet at most. They won't be as narrow as the narrowest of the tall, native conifers, but they're narrow for deciduous trees.

The names are linked to more information about the species at the USDA/NSRC Plants Database, the North Carolina State University's Urban Horticulture website, and the University of Connecticut Plants Database.

Pignut Hickory -- Carya glabra

Shagbark hickory -- Carya ovata

Mockernut hickory -- Carya alba, or Carya tomentosa (depending on which naming system you are using, I guess.)

Northern catalpa -- Catalpa speciosa

Tuliptree, often called tulip poplar -- Liriodendron tulipifera

The hickories will be slow growing trees. If you can offer a site that doesn't have compacted soil or salt splashing in from a roadway in winter, the mockernut (mocknut, white) hickory is a nice tree that should do well -- long lived, resistant to some diseases that bother other hickories, not susceptible to weather damage, has some wildlife value.

If you're looking for faster growing trees, the catalpa or tulip poplar will do that. The catalpa is the shorter-lived of the two. It may not last 75 years; rarely would it last a century. The tulip tree will live up to twice that long --150 years or rarely two centuries. Both will probably suffer some wind and ice damage, due to their weak wood. The tulip poplar will need a moister site than the catalpa.

The next narrowest tall tree after these would probably be the Cucumbertree Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata). It tends to be a bit wider, with a spread 1/2 to 3/4 of its height.

These are listed particularly for the consideration of Xris at Flatbush Gardener, who gardens in Brooklyn. He said he needed some tall narrow deciduous trees, not just tall narrow conifers.

An old, giant tuliptree grows in Queens. (Both Queens and Brooklyn are part of New York City.) The Queens Poplar is described in the article, A Rendezvous with Two Giant Trees.

Related posts:
Five Tall Narrow Trees
Narrow trees for small spaces
Ten Tall-Growing Trees

Image:
Lirodendron tulipifera (tulip poplar). From Wikimedia Commons by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT. This tree grows in the private park of the Louvignies castle in Belgium. See another image here.

Five Tall, Narrow Trees

Native trees with a tall, narrow shape

Bald cypress Image courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

These tall trees have a narrow spread and will fit into a small space.

I've noted the maximum height and spread that I found mentioned for each tree in various sources. That size might be attained by a mature tree in optimal conditions. Your tree won't get that big for a while, and it may never get quite that big, through there's an outside chance. Cultivars may be available that will have a narrower spread.

Please note that these trees all require an acidic soil. Also, most of them are susceptible to being blown over by high wind if their branches and/or leaves are heavy with a load of rainwater, ice, or snow.

I've linked the scientific names to a tree description at The Gymnosperm Database. The common names are linked to a tree description on the Virginia Tech Dendrology website.

Here's the list:

• Abies concolor (White fir) -- Max. 100 feet tall and 35 feet wide, needs shelter from wind and an acidic soil.
• Picea engelmanni (Engelmann spruce) -- Max. 100 feet tall and 35 feet wide, but usually very narrow. Needs shelter from the wind and an acidic soil.
• Picea pungens (Colorado spruce) -- Max. 100 feet tall and 35 feet wide. Needs an acidic soil. This tree is not particularly vulnerable to the weather, but you may have to spray sometimes for various bugs and diseases.
• Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir) -- Max. 100 feet tall and 35 feet wide. Needs a slightly acidic soil and protection from the wind.
• Taxodium distichum (Baldcypress, aka bald-cypress) Max. 100 feet tall and 35 feet wide. Needs an acidic soil, and prefers it damp. This tree is rarely affected by the wind. Be aware that cypress knees are very likely to develop.

Related posts:
Narrow trees for small spaces
Ten Tall-Growing Trees
Five Tall, Narrow, Deciduous Trees

Native trees for poorly-drained areas

Native trees that tolerate a high water table and periods of saturated soil

This post is written with my sister and brother-in-law in mind. They've recently moved to their new house, and they will soon be doing landscaping and planting trees.

Their house is located on a very flat acreage in southwest Missouri. The building site is part of a large flat prairie that extends for several miles (or more) in all directions. I don't know the exact soil type, but it is a clay-like soil, rather than a sandy soil. All in all, it would be considered a poorly-drained, slow-to-dry site.

Here are some native trees of Missouri that might do well for them.

Larger trees to plant farther from the house
The following trees are resistant to wind and ice and will tolerate poor drainage:

• Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)
• American elm (Ulmus americana)
• Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)
• Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis)
• Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)
• Common honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
• American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
• Black maple (Acer negundo)
• Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
• Swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor)
• Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
• Pin oak (Quercus palustris)
• Post oak (Quercus stellata)
• Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
• Black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica)

Smaller trees to plant closer to the house
The following trees are resistant to wind and ice and will tolerate poor drainage:

• Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
  
• Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)
  
• Downy hawthorn (Crataegus mollis)
  
• Glossy hawthorn (Crataegus nitida)
  
• Washington hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum)
  
• Dotted hawthorn (Crataegus punctata)
  
• Common hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata)
  
• Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium)
  
• Rusty blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium)
  
• Eastern wahoo (Euonymus atropurpureus)

Trees that will make a mess
The following trees are resistant to wind and ice and will tolerate poor drainage:

• Black cherry, wild cherry (Prunus serotina)
• Prairie crabapple (Malus ioensis)
• Osage orange, hedgeapple (Maclura pomifera)
• American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
• Sycamore, American planetree (Platanus occidentalis)

Trees that will tolerate poor drainage but are often damaged by weather.

• Northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa)
• Tulip tree, tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
• Red maple (Acer rubrum)
• Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)
• River birch (Betula nigra)
• Cottonwood, eastern poplar (Populus deltoides)
• Red mulberry (Morus rubra)
  
• Willows (Salix)
  

Notes:
I have eliminated ashes from my list even though they don't mind poorly-drained sites. The emerald ash borer is moving across the U.S., killing ash trees, and it will reach Missouri all too soon.

Remember, there is always the opportunity to create better drainage if you want to plant a tree that needs it (such as redbuds which my sister likes.) One of the easiest ways is simply to bring in a pile of dirt (from a nearby area so the soil is similar.) Let it settle for a while, and then plant the tree on the mound.

Technorati tags: native trees, poor drainage, high water table

Virginia Pine: A Tree for Dry Rocky Sites

Pinus virginiana, scrub pine, Jersey pine, spruce pine

My home, Christian County, Kentucky, is at the extreme western edge of the natural range of Virginia Pine (pinus virginiana).

Here, I see Virginia pines mostly on high, rocky ridges. Usually, the trees are growing at the edges of woods or in small pure stands (Pure stand: A timber stand in which at least 80 percent of the trees in the main crown canopy are of a single species. Source: Forest Stewardship Glossary.)

Virginia pines are easy to recognize, even from a distance. They are small, dark-colored pines with short needles. Close examination will reveal that the needles are twisted and are borne in bundles of two. Usually, many small pine cones are scattered throughout the branches. The pine cones can stay on the trees for years after they've opened and dropped their seeds.

Virginia pines typically have many branches coming off their main trunks. A number are nearly always dead, especially at the bottom of the tree. Each of the branches causes a knot in the wood, causing the lumber to be weak and marred.

The Virginia pine is grown commercially as a source of rough lumber and pulpwood and as a favorite Christmas tree.

The tree has an important role in nature. It is a pioneer species that holds the soil and adds to the humus until the soil is improved enough that other species can move into the area. It grows in rough, dry, rocky areas of thin soil that are too poor for other trees to take root and survive. It often establishes itself in worn-out fields, strip-mined areas, burned-out land, eroded hillsides, and cleared forests.

The tree absolutely does not tolerate shade. A stand of Virginia pine cannot easily perpetuate itself because the seedlings cannot survive in the shade of the adult trees. Thus, other trees that are more shade tolerant establish themselves in the understory of the Virginia pines and take over as the Virginia pines die.

Virginia pines may reach 60 feet or more in height, but are often smaller, depending on growing conditions. Old Virginia pines are a favorite nesting place for woodpeckers because they often have rotten wood that is easy to excavate.

Virginia pine is not often grown as a garden tree because of its "scrubby" appearance. It is often lopsided, and as already noted, it nearly always has dead branches that have not dropped. An abundance of prickly pine cones may be a nuisance. The shallow roots that enable it to survive in areas of thin soil also make it vulnerable to being tipped over in high winds. The soft-wooded branches frequently break in weather events.

Still, Pinus virginiana is a tree to consider when the terrain is so inhospitable that other trees don't survive. If planted in thickets, the group will help support individuals in the wind. It needs an acidic to neutral soil pH. It is a slow-growing tree that might achieve 25 feet in its first 20 years under good conditions. It rarely lives to be a century in age.

More information:

Virginia Pine (U.S. Forestry Service Sylvics manual)
Virginia Pine (Nice photos of the tree by Will Cook)