SPECIES |
CHARACTERISTICS |
Acer rubrum red maple |
fast grower; tolerates wet and dry; good fall reds and yellows; red spring flowers; a little overused |
Quercus imbricaria shingle oak |
very tolerant of alkaline soils; tight structure when young -- loosens w/age |
Quercus phellos willow oak |
fast grower; will outgrow many urban sites at 40-50 years; tight structure when young -- loosens w/age |
Ulmus parvifolia Chinese elm |
needs limbing up as street-tree; autumn fruits; city-tolerant |
Quercus rubra red oak |
slow to establish but then gast growing; overused in Phila. |
Zelkova serrata Japanese zelkova |
very upright; cherry-like bark |
Sophora japonica Chinese scholar tree |
stress-tolerant; yellow fall color -- from foliage and pods; funny bean-like fruit; weeping form |
Betula nigra river birch |
may get too big for city streets; nice shaggy bark; yellow fall color |
Ginkgo biloba ginkgo |
yellow fall color; female has better form but makes stinko berries; very stress tolerant; interesting leaf |
Gleditsia triancanthos honey locust |
airy crown; little leaf clean-up required in fall; females make nuissance seed pods |
Koelreuteria paniculata goldenrain tree |
urban tolerant; very salt tolerant; blooms late June; bladder-pods in fall |
Platanus x acerifolia London plane tree |
lowland tree; nice bark; brown throughout late summer and fall -- tired looking; overused |
Paulownia tomentosa princess tree, royal paulownia |
VERY fast grower; very urban tolerant; Philadelphia is northern end of range so might die in cold winter; resprouts from root |
Robinia pseudoacacia black locust |
white pea-like blossoms; airy canopy; somewhat weak-wooded |
Liquidambar styraciflua sweetgum |
tolerant of urban conditions |
Tilia americana American linden, basswood |
easily transplanted; adaptable to various soil pH; takes full sun or partial shade; prefers moist, well drained soil but also tolerates dry and rocky |
Catalpa speciosa catalpa |
tolerant of a variety of soils; tolerates very dry, hot areas; takes sun or partial shade |
Cercis canadensis redbud |
nice pink color in early spring; grows back from root stock ..... |
Carpinus betulus European hornbeam |
grows in wet soils; very upright; may be pruned into more geometric forms |
Crataegus viridis Hawthorne |
white blossoms in late May, early June; red fruits last well into winter; spikes; may be multistemmed |