Tree Database

The American elm, which has been decimated all through its range by the ravages of Dutch elm disease, is alive and thriving in Central Park.

The tree is fast growing and is tolerant of pollution and other extreme conditions such as de-icing salt and compaction — it actually seems to thrive under those conditions. Consequently, the Callery Pear is easily grown; you can look at thousands of them in a nursery, and they all look alike.

One of the most spectacular small ornamental flowering trees, the graceful, compact Flowering Dogwood is strikingly beautiful in the spring.

An ornamental cherry tree from Japan that is admired for its spring blossoms.

The Norway Maple is a fast-growing tree that transplants readily and tolerates a wide range of soil conditions, establishes quickly, and is adaptable to polluted atmosphere.

Pin oak - also called swamp oak - is a common component on wet clay soils, often on sites that are flooded for some time during the growing season.

One of our most important native trees, found throughout the eastern deciduous forest along with American beech, sugar maple, and black oak.

One of the three essential flowering trees - Magnolia, Cherry, and Crabapple - the Saucer Magnolia can bloom as early as late March, long before it, or anything else, has leafed out.

Shingle Oak is native to a much more limited area then either pin or red oak. It ranges from the Mississippi to South Jersey, growing on moist sites or adjacent to streams.

Native to southeastern Europe, the Silver Linden is a beautiful, stately shade tree that develops an oval symmetrical crown.

Not a common tree in Central Park, the Sugar Maple is much more at home in cool, moist soil throughout New England into Canada and into the Midwest.

Another European import - like the Norway Maple - this is an extremely aggressive tree. The Central Park Conservancy has removed thousands from our woodlands and replaced them with native oaks and maples.

The Turkey oak is seldom used outside large urban parks. It is one of the last trees in Central Park to drop its leaves in the fall.

The willow-like shape of the leaves and the thin twigs makes this a finer-textured tree than most other oaks. Its native habitat extends from New York south to Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The Yoshino Cherry is the most common ornamental flowering cherry in Central Park. It is a true harbinger of spring.