Androscoggin Valley SWCD
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Trees and Shrubs

Shrubs

Canadian serviceberry, Amelanchier canadensis

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  • An understory tree or multi-trunked shrub with delicate white flowers in the spring. 
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  • Small red-to-blue fruit--attractive to wildlife and edible for humans--and brilliant foliage in the fall.​​
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  • Often found growing in clumps in swamps, bogs, lowlands, and thickets​

Red chokeberry, ​Aronia arbutifolia

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  • Delicate white flowers turn to red berries in fall, which are great for wildlife.
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  • Typically grows in a vase-shaped form but tends to sucker and form colonies.​
  • Tolerates compacted soils, drought, and salt. It also tolerates wet sites and occasional flooding.
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Black chokeberry, ​Aronia melanocarpa

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  • Spreads freely 
  • Tolerates a wide variety of soil types including wet boggy soils
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  • Fruit is edible but very astringent; good for wildlife!
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  • Flower bloom in June and leaves turn a beautiful red in the fall.

Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis

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  • Needs consistently moist to wet soils in full to partial sun. Often found growing in standing water!​
  • Larval host plant for several native pollinators
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  • ​Fragrant, white spherical flower heads with long bloom period. ​
  • Can be used for erosion control on wet sites. Use it in a rain garden, around a pond, and boggy areas with poor drainage. 
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Sweetfern, Comptonia peregrina

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  • Fernlike dark green leaves are aromatic when crushed.​
  • Tolerates many conditions including drought, wet sites, and wind
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  • Nitrogen fixing; great for poor, dry soils.​
  • Good choice for stabilizing soil on embankments. 
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  • ​Fragrance and glossy leaves attract butterflies and songbirds​

Common Witch Hazel, Hamamelis virginiana

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  • Commonly grows in forest understories, large and upright growth pattern
  • Gorgeous and fragrant fall blooms of yellow flowers​
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  • Important late-season pollinator due to it's late flowering stage
  • Many medicinal benefits by extracting from the bark 
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  • Best in shade or partial sun
  • Moist to dry woodland, thickets or stream sides
  • Distinctive edged-toothed leaves often irregular in shape

Lowbush Blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium

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  • Prefers sandy, acidic soils
  • Often found in clearings, edges of forests and bogs
  • Very cold hardy and survives in zone 2-7​
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  • Flowers are produced on second year's growth
  • Grows from 6-24" tall
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  • A successfully-commercialized crop in Maine 

Nannyberry, Viburnum lentago

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  • Suckering shrub adaptable to a wide range of site conditions.
  • Can grow up to 15' tall in right conditions
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  • Showy white flowers in the spring.
  • Good value for pollinators
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  • Best in moist to wet soil. Will tolerate a range of sun conditions.

Trees

Balsam Fir, Abies balsamea

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  • Commonly known as one of the "Christmas Tree" varieties 
  • Distinct "Christmas Tree" smell
  • Easily identified by blisters of sap along trunk 
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  • A non-deciduous conifer tree, keeping it's needles year-round
  • Needles are flat
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  • Cones found in the top of the tree, dark purple to dark brown in color and grow upright
  • A short-lived tree quickly growing up to 60-70' in height and up to 20" in diameter

Red Maple, Acer rubrum

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  • Although a tolerant, well-adapted species, most commonly grows in wet, swampy conditions, prefers "wet feet"
  • ​Classic palmate, lobed maple leaves
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  • Distinct red petioles
  • Brilliant red foliage in fall
  • Produces double-samaras (winged seeds, also known as "helicopter seeds")
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  • Slightly red, plate-like bark
  • Can grow up to 50-60' tall

White Ash, Fraxinus americana

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  • Compound, opposite branching leaves
  • Distinctive diamond pattern bark
  • Prefers rich, moist soil
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  • A common and preferred timber tree used for firewood, furniture and tool making, and even baseball bats
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  • Currently at risk of endangerment due to the Emerald Ash Borer. Please visit our Invasive Pests page for more information 

Eastern White Pine, Pinus strobus

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  • Tallest tree in the Eastern US
  • Originally covered much of the US but was heavily logged in the 1700-1800s
  • ​In pre-colonized stands, grew up to 230 feet tall. Currently, the tallest is 160-180 feet tall​
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  • Well-adapted but grows best on fertile, well-drained soils
  • Symmetrical and conical in shape 
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  • Needles growing in long, blueish-green clusters of five​

Eastern Hemlock, Tsuga canadensis

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  • Thick scales on bark on a tapered trunk in colors from cinnamon red to gray
  • Short, flat needles
  • Small cones growing from the tips of leaves, about an inch in length
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  • Grows up to 60-70' in height and 2-3' in width
  • Tolerates considerable shade​
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  • Unique growth pattern where the terminal tip droops towards the east, generally away from winds

Find Us At:

254 Goddard Rd
Lewiston, Me 04240

Contact Us:

Project Director, Emma Lorusso
(207) 241-5374

[email protected]

Technical Director, Sarah Torresen
(207) 241-5377
[email protected]
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  • About Us
    • History
    • Board Members
    • NRCS
    • Contact Us
    • Get Involved
  • Events
  • Education
  • Technical Services
    • Watershed Management
  • Resources
    • Native Plants >
      • Trees and Shrubs
      • Perennials and WIldflowers
      • Ferns, Vines and Covers
    • Invasive Forest Pests
    • Conservation Practices for Homeowners
    • Newsletters + Reports
  • Sponsorship
  • Conservation Landscape Cert
  • Plant Sale
  • Products