Shrubs

Canadian serviceberry, Amelanchier canadensis

• An understory tree or multi-trunked shrub with delicate white flowers in the spring. 

• Small red-to-blue fruit--attractive to wildlife and edible for humans--and brilliant foliage in the fall.​​

• Often found growing in clumps in swamps, bogs, lowlands, and thickets​

Red chokeberry, ​Aronia arbutifolia

• Delicate white flowers turn to red berries in fall, which are great for wildlife.

• 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.

Black chokeberry, ​Aronia melanocarpa

• Spreads freely 
• Tolerates a wide variety of soil types including wet boggy soils

• Fruit is edible but very astringent; good for wildlife!

• Flower bloom in June and leaves turn a beautiful red in the fall.

Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis

• Needs consistently moist to wet soils in full to partial sun. Often found growing in standing water!​
• Larval host plant for several native pollinators

• ​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. 

Sweetfern, Comptonia peregrina

• Fernlike dark green leaves are aromatic when crushed.​
• Tolerates many conditions including drought, wet sites, and wind

• Nitrogen fixing; great for poor, dry soils.​
• Good choice for stabilizing soil on embankments. 

• ​Fragrance and glossy leaves attract butterflies and songbirds​

Common Witch Hazel, Hamamelis virginiana

• Commonly grows in forest understories, large and upright growth pattern
• Gorgeous and fragrant fall blooms of yellow flowers​

• Important late-season pollinator due to it's late flowering stage
• Many medicinal benefits by extracting from the bark 

• 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

• Prefers sandy, acidic soils
• Often found in clearings, edges of forests and bogs
  
• Very cold hardy and survives in zone 2-7​

• Flowers are produced on second year's growth
• Grows from 6-24" tall
  

• A successfully-commercialized crop in Maine 

Nannyberry, Viburnum lentago

• Suckering shrub adaptable to a wide range of site conditions.
• Can grow up to 15' tall in right conditions

• Showy white flowers in the spring.
• Good value for pollinators

• Best in moist to wet soil. Will tolerate a range of sun conditions.

Common Ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius

• Shrub that prefers well-drained, moist soils, but will grow well in most conditions
• Grows anywhere from 5-10' tall 

• Flowers range from pink to white, growing in clusters on the end of stems
• Attracts pollinators

• Exfoliating bark, most visible in winter
• Red seed capsules 

Trees

Balsam Fir, Abies balsamea

• Commonly known as one of the "Christmas Tree" varieties 
• Distinct "Christmas Tree" smell
• Easily identified by blisters of sap along trunk 

• A non-deciduous conifer tree, keeping it's needles year-round
• Needles are flat

• 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

• Although a tolerant, well-adapted species, most commonly grows in wet, swampy conditions, prefers "wet feet"
• ​Classic palmate, lobed maple leaves

• Distinct red petioles
• Brilliant red foliage in fall
• Produces double-samaras (winged seeds, also known as "helicopter seeds")
  

• Slightly red, plate-like bark
• Can grow up to 50-60' tall
  

White Ash, Fraxinus americana

• Compound, opposite branching leaves
• Distinctive diamond pattern bark
  
• Prefers rich, moist soil
  

• A common and preferred timber tree used for firewood, furniture and tool making, and even baseball bats

• 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

• 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​

• Well-adapted but grows best on fertile, well-drained soils
• Symmetrical and conical in shape 

• Needles growing in long, blueish-green clusters of five​
  

Eastern Hemlock, Tsuga canadensis

• 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

• Grows up to 60-70' in height and 2-3' in width
• Tolerates considerable shade​

• Unique growth pattern where the terminal tip droops towards the east, generally away from winds

Black Cherry, Prunus serotina

• Tall, columnar tree with varying bark depending on age
• Young trees feature smooth, reddish-brown bark with lenticels
• Old bark becomes dark gray with scaley plates that curl 

• White drooping flowers in spring that attract a wide variety of pollinators
• Green to black berries in summer and fall that feed small mammals and birds