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Native Plants for Georgia |
Characteristics: Florida or Southern Sugar Maple is a deciduous tree of medium texture and a slow to medium growth rate. It has a rounded to spreading canopy that is more pyramidal in youth. It has few pest problems. The underside of the leaf is lighter than the upper side. The bark is smooth and gray. Fall color is variable, ranging from yellow to orange or rusty-red. It is not as vibrant as Sugar Maple. Considered a close relative of Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), Southern Sugar Maple is more tolerant of the high summer temperatures and humidity of Georgia than northern sugar maples.
Landscape Uses: Southern Sugar Maple may be used as a shade, specimen or street tree. Plant it in acid soils with adequate moisture, because it is only moderately drought tolerant. It may require pruning in youth to obtain its best shape.
Size: 35 to 40 feet tall with a spread of 25 to 35 feet
Zones: 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Along stream banks and moist upland sites in the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain. It is commonly found along waterways.
Native To: Southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia, south to Florida and west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma
Comments: Southern Sugar Maple is becoming more popular in the nursery trade in the Deep South.
- Photo: David J. Moorhead, Bugwood.org |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: Downy Serviceberry is a deciduous, flowering tree with medium-fine texture, narrow-rounded crown and a medium growth rate. It blooms in early April with clusters of pendulous white flowers. Individual flowers are one inch in diameter with five narrow petals. Summer fruit are berry-like, purplish-blue and edible by humans and birds. Fall color can be good and ranges from yellow to orange or rusty-red. The bark is a pleasing gray color.
Landscape Uses: Use Downy Serviceberry as a flowering or specimen tree. It prefers well-drained, acid soils with adequate moisture, although it appears tolerant of many different sites, except wet soils. Plant it in full sun to light shade.
Size: 15 to 25 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils in hardwood forests; often found near streams
Native To: Nebraska and Minnesota, east to Maine, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: The fruit ripens in June and is enjoyed by birds.
 Photo: Carol Nourse |
- |  Photo: Theresa Schrum |
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 Photo: Ed McDowell |
 Photo: Carol Nourse |
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Characteristics: American Hornbeam is a deciduous tree with medium texture and a slow to medium growth rate. It is usually single-stemmed with a spreading to rounded form. It may occur as a multi-stemmed, bushy tree. An unusual feature is the smooth, hard branches and trunk, which acquire a muscle-like rippled (Ironwood) appearance with age.
Landscape Uses: Use American Hornbeam as a specimen or street tree. It should be used much more in home landscapes. An understory tree, often occurring in wet areas, it appears to tolerate both excess moisture and moderate drought. It develops a pleasing shape without much pruning. Fall color is variable, ranging from yellow to orange or red.
Size: 35 to 40 feet tall with a spread of 20 to 25 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: American Hornbeam grows in flood plains and along waterways throughout the southeast
Native To: Minnesota to Maine, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: Seeds are eaten by birds.
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
- |  Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
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 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
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Characteristics: Eastern Redbud is a deciduous, flowering tree with a medium growth rate and coarse texture. Form is oval to rounded. Grown primarily for the pink to rose-colored, pea-like blooms in March and April, the Eastern Redbud is showy. The color conveys a warm feeling in the cool early spring.
Landscape Uses: Use Eastern Redbud as a flowering or specimen tree. It occurs in moist soils as an understory tree, but it tolerates most landscape conditions and urban sites. Plant or transplant young trees or container-grown plants because larger trees are difficult to transplant. Moderately acid pH is preferred.
Size: 20 to 25 feet tall with a spread of 15 to 20 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b (shorter-lived in 8a, 8b)
Habitat: Moist soils of valleys and slopes in hardwood forests
Native To: Massachusetts to northern Florida, west to Texas, north to Nebraska, Iowa, southern Wisconsin and Minnesota
Comments: Eastern Redbud is becoming more popular in the nursery trade in the Deep South. Many cultivars are available with variations in flower color from white to deep rose. It re-seeds readily in cultivated areas.
 Photo: Fred Mileshko |
- |  Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
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 Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
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 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
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Characteristics: Fringetree is a deciduous, flowering tree with medium texture and a slow growth rate. Rounded in form, it is grown mostly for its showy flowers in May to June. They give the tree a fleecy appearance. Fruit are dark blue, ½ inch in diameter, and resemble small, black olives. Fruit appear on female trees only.
Landscape Uses: Use Fringetree as a flowering specimen tree. It adapts to most sites, including moderately dry sites. It is vigorous when young, then grows slower with age. It does better with good cultural practices, including fertilization, watering and mulching.
Size: 15 to 25 feet tall and wide
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils of valleys and bluffs, and in hardwood forests
Native To: New York and Massachusetts, south to Florida, west to Texas and Oklahoma
Comments: This tree is dioecious, having male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers on separate plants.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: Flowering Dogwood, the most popular flowering tree in the eastern United States, is deciduous with medium texture and a medium growth rate. It bears white, pink or rose-colored blooms from March to April. In fall, leaves turn scarlet red, and fruit are red and showy. Bark is dark and mottled. Seedling dogwoods are often planted in woodland landscapes.
Landscape Uses: Use Dogwood as a flowering understory tree. It prefers light shade and adequate moisture during dry weather. Never plant it on wet sites. Mulch to keep roots cool in summer and warm in winter. Powdery mildew and leaf spot anthracnose can be problems.
Size: 15 to 20 feet tall and 15 to 30 feet wide; more spreading in shade
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils of valleys and uplands in the understory layer of hardwood forests
Native To: Maine to Florida, west to Texas, north to Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan
Comments: Numerous cultivars exist, including some with variegated foliage. Dogwood fruit are a favorite of birds and other wildlife. Deer browse the leaves.
 Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
- |  Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
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 Photo: Ed McDowell |
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
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 Photo: Ed McDowell |
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Characteristics: Mayhaw is a thorny, deciduous, small tree with white flowers borne in a flat cluster in March. The fruit are round, ½ to one inch in diameter, and ripen to shiny red in May and June. Bark is scaly and mottled.
Landscape Uses: Use Mayhaw in shrub borders and woodland edges.
Size: 15 to 20 feet tall and wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Thin, wet woods; shallow depressions; and other low, moist areas
Native To: Virginia to Florida, west to Alabama and Mississippi
Comments: The fruit makes excellent jelly.
 Photo: Gerard Krewer |
- |  Photo: Ron Lance |
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 Photo: Gerard Krewer |
 Photo: Ron Lance |
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 Photo: Gerard Krewer |
 Photo: Gerard Krewer |
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 Photo: Gerard Krewer |
 Photo: Gerard Krewer |
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Characteristics: Parsley Hawthorn is a deciduous, flowering tree with medium-fine texture, thorny branches and a slow growth rate. White flowers with showy purple anthers are borne in clusters in March and April. Fruit are ½ inch in diameter, red and oval. Leaves are unique in that they resemble the foliage of parsley. Bark is scaly and mottled.
Landscape Uses: Parsley Hawthorn is an understory tree that prefers moist soils in light shade or full sun. Use it as a specimen tree.
Size: 15 to 20 feet tall and wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist areas, valleys and swampy forests
Native To: Virginia to Florida, west to Texas
Comments: All hawthorns provide fruit for birds in the fall and are preferred nesting trees in spring. Lacebugs can be a problem.
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
- |  Photo: Ron Lance |
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 Photo: Ron Lance |
 Photo: Ted Bodner, Bugwood.org |
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 Photo: Guy Anglin |
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Characteristics: Washington Hawthorn is a thorny, deciduous, small tree with a broadly oval to rounded dense shape. The foliage is reddish as it emerges, changing to a dark, lustrous green. The leaves are triangular-ovate, coarsely toothed and deeply lobed. The ½-inch white flowers bloom in clusters after the leaves emerge, with pink anthers on numerous stamens.
Landscape Uses: Washington Hawthorn makes an excellent small specimen tree, screen or hedge near buildings, provided it isn’t used in high-traffic areas because of its thorns. The fall color varies from orange to scarlet to purple. The bright red fruit display is an outstanding feature.
Size: 25 to 30 feet tall to 20 to 25 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a
Habitat: Riverbanks and low, moist woods from the mountains to the upper Coastal Plain; may not be as vigorous in the southern part of its range.
Native To: Pennsylvania to Florida and westward to Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri
Comments: There are cultivars available. All hawthorns are valuable to wildlife by providing fruit and nesting sites.
 Photo: Ron Lance |
- |  Photo: Ron Lance |
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 Photo: Ron Lance |
 Photo: Ron Lance |
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Characteristics: Carolina Buckthorn is a small, deciduous tree. Leaves are simple, alternate, elliptic to oblong, four to six inches long, with parallel veins extending from a prominent midrib. The small, white flowers appear after the leaves in clusters at the leaf axils. Fruit are berry-like drupes, changing from red to black.
Landscape Uses: Carolina Buckthorn is an attractive tree with slender branches and an open crown. It is quite handsome in fruit and is an excellent specimen understory tree. However, it may have a tendency to reseed itself and become weedy. It prefers partial shade.
Size: 30 to 40 feet tall with a spread about half its height
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Fertile soils of deciduous forests. It is frequently associated with limestone soils, such as shell middens and calcareous bluffs.
Native To: Virginia to Florida, west to Texas, north to Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois
 Photo: Michael Strickland |
- |  Photo: Michael Strickland |
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 Photo: Michael Strickland |
 Photo: Michael Strickland |
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 Photo: Ed McDowell |
 Photo: Michael Strickland |
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 Photo: Michael Strickland |
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Characteristics: Loblolly Bay is an evergreen tree with medium texture and a medium growth rate, having a narrow, pyramidal to oval shape. Leaves are smooth, dark green and have blunt appressed teeth. Summer flowers are white, 2½ inches in diameter and fragrant. Fruit are woody capsules.
Landscape Uses: Use Loblolly Bay as a screening or specimen flowering tree. It prefers moist, fertile, well-drained soil, and sun to light shade.
Size: 30 to 40 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide
Zones: 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Bays, low hammocks, acidic, peaty soils in and around pocosins. Also found on sand hills in association with various hardwoods and conifers.
Native To: The Coastal Plain from North Carolina to Florida, west to Mississippi
Comments: Loblolly Bay is most often used in the landscape in groupings of three to five plants.
 Photo: Carol Nourse |
- |  Photo: John Ruter |
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 Photo: USF Herbarium Slide Collection |
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Characteristics: Two-Winged Silverbell is often confused with Carolina Silverbell (H. tetraptera). However, it is smaller and produces fewer flowers than Carolina Silverbell. Its white flower petals are united at the base. Carolina Silverbell, in contrast, has flower petals that are united for more than half their length. Bark is gray-brown and lacks white streaks common on Carolina Silverbell. Fruit are a greenish color. Fall color is pleasant yellow.
Landscape Uses: Use Two-Winged Silverbell as a specimen understory trees in wet to moist locations.
Size: 25 feet tall and 15 feet wide
Zone: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Swampy areas near waterways
Native To: The Coastal Plain, South Carolina to Florida, particularly the southwestern Coastal Plain of Georgia and along the Gulf Coast into Texas
Comments: A variety called magniflora has larger flowers than Two-Winged Silverbell (H. diptera).
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Fred Nation |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: Carolina Silverbell is a deciduous tree with medium-coarse texture and a medium growth rate. It has an upright-oval to broad-rounded form. Subtly, but not explosively showy, its best ornamental features are the clusters of white, bell-shaped flowers borne from April to early May. Bark is shallowly ridged with white streaks. Fruit are four-winged capsules approximately 1½ inches long. Fall color is yellow to yellow-green.
Landscape Uses: Use Carolina Silverbell as a flowering or specimen tree. It prefers rich, moist, well-drained, acidic soil and sun to partial shade. Although it naturally occurs as an understory tree, it has shown good drought tolerance in full sun. It seems to transplant well.
Size: 30 to 40 feet tall with a spread of 20 to 35 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a
Habitat: Wooded hillsides and along streambanks. It is occasionally found along waterways in the upper Coastal Plain.
Native To: New York to Georgia and Alabama, north to Michigan, southwest from Illinois to Texas
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: Possumhaw is a deciduous tree with medium-fine texture and a medium to slow growth rate. Form is round at maturity. Possumhaw is grown mostly for its shiny red fall berries, which are consumed by wildlife. The leaves turn a bright yellow in fall. It is similar in fruiting habit to Yaupon Holly (I. vomitoria), except it is deciduous, which makes the fruit more obvious.
Landscape Uses: Use Possumhaw as a specimen tree in the shrub border or at the woodland edge. It prefers moist soils in full sun to partial shade. It transplants readily and has fair drought tolerance. It tends to be multi-stemmed but can be easily pruned into a tree shape.
Size: 12 to 15 feet tall and 8 to 10 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils in low woods and lower slopes in woods and thickets from the lower Piedmont to the southern Coastal Plain
Native To: Maryland and Virginia, south to Florida, west to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas
Comments: All hollies are dioecious, having male and female flowers on separate plants. Possumhaw is a good wildlife plant. There are several cultivars in the nursery trade.
- Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: Yaupon Holly is a broadleaf evergreen tree with medium-fine texture and a fast growth rate. It has a graceful, attractive, irregular form; sometimes rounded, other times pyramidal. It tends to be multi-stemmed, but it can be easily pruned into a tree form. The bark is smooth gray. Shiny red fruit provide a brilliant display in fall until they are consumed by birds. Fruit only occurs on female plants.
Landscape Uses: Use Yaupon Holly as a specimen tree or hedge for screening. It is commonly used in landscapes because of its adaptability to a wide variety of sites, including sun or shade, wet and dry sites, and both acidic and alkaline soils. It is prone to ice and storm damage.
Size: 12 to 20 feet tall and 8 to 12 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils, especially beaches, maritime forests and sandhills of the Coastal Plain
Native To: Virginia to central Florida, west to Texas and Oklahoma
Comments: Cultivars are available, including weeping and dwarf forms.
 Photo: Hugh & Carol Nourse |
- |  Photo: Hugh Nourse |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: Big-Leaf Magnolia is a deciduous, flowering tree having coarse texture, a round-headed form, and a medium growth rate. Unusually large leaves are 20 to 30 inches long and eight to12 inches wide. Large, white, fragrant flowers are borne in May to June and have six petals eight to 12 inches across. Its egg-shaped, cone-like fruit and red seeds are typical of Magnolias.
Landscape Uses: Use Big-Leaf Magnolia as a specimen tree. Because of its extremely large leaves, it becomes a focal point wherever it is grown. It is a temperamental tree, often difficult to establish, requiring rich, moist soils and partial shade. Avoid planting it in exposed locations because the large leaves are easily torn by wind. Leaf litter may be a problem.
Size: 35 to 40 feet tall and 25 to 30 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a
Habitat: Moist soils of valleys and ravines. It is sporadically found in the Piedmont, especially in the Chattahoochee drainage area and in hilly sections of the western Coastal Plain. Often found as an understory tree.
Native To: Ohio to Florida, west to Arkansas and Louisiana
Comments: This is a tree for a plant collector.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: Narrow-Leaf Crabapple is a deciduous, flowering tree with medium texture and a medium growth rate. The crown is broad, rounded and spreading. While not as showy as named cultivars, it is an attractive flowering tree when in bloom. Flowers are pink, 1½ inches across, and borne in clusters. Flowering time varies from late February in south Georgia to mid April in north Georgia. Fruit are yellow-green, approximately 1½ inches in diameter, edible and very tart.
Landscape Uses: Use Narrow-Leaf Crabapple as a specimen flowering tree in full sun. It prefers moist soils but has moderate drought tolerance. This tree has not been used in landscapes, so its full site tolerance is not known. Avoid wet sites. It shows better disease tolerance than most cultivated varieties under Georgia conditions.
Size: 25 to 30 feet tall and 20 to 25 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils of valleys and lower slopes; also found in fence rows and old fields.
Native To: Maryland to West Virginia, south to Florida and west to Missouri
Comments: Excellent wildlife food.
-  Photo: James H. Miller, Bugwood.org |
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 Photo: Paul Wray, Bugwood.org |
 Photo: Paul Wray, Bugwood.org |
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Characteristics: Ogeechee Lime is a deciduous tree with medium texture and a medium growth rate. Oval, red fruit mature in fall. They are very sour and have been used as a substitute for limes or in making tart preserves and jellies. Form is variable. Fall color also is variable, ranging from yellow to red. This plant is named for the Ogeechee River, where it is commonly found.
Landscape Uses: Use Ogeechee Lime as a specimen or small-scale street tree. It occurs naturally in wet areas but shows good drought tolerance. It prefers acid soils and full sun to partial shade. Provide irrigation on sunny sites.
Size: 20 to 30 feet tall by 15 to 25 feet wide
Zones: 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Wet, swampy areas and along small black-water drainage areas of the Coastal Plain
Native To: Southeastern South Carolina to Georgia and Florida
Comments: Fruit can be eaten by humans and wildlife. The tree is a honey source for bees. Reported to be rare, but it is fairly common in south central Georgia.
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Ed McDowell |
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Characteristics: Wild Olive is a small evergreen tree with medium texture and a medium to slow growth rate. Form is oval to round. White flowers, borne in spring, are small, fragrant and bell-shaped. The fruit are purple and olive-like.
Landscape Uses: Wild Olive is useful in a naturalized landscape or as a foundation specimen. It displays good drought tolerance if planted in moist, well-drained soils. It establishes moderately well after planting.
Size: 20 to 30 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide
Zones: 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist soils of river valleys to shady uplands and dunes in the understory of Coastal Plain forests
Native To: North Carolina to Florida, and west to Mississippi
Comments: A good wildlife plant
 Photo: John Ruter |
 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
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-  Photo: John Ruter |
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Characteristics: Eastern Hophornbeam is a deciduous tree with medium texture and a slow growth rate. It is rounded in outline with horizontal or drooping branches. It occurs as an understory tree on uphill sites having moist, well-drained, acid soils. Fall leaf color is yellow. Leaves remain on the tree throughout the winter. This is a handsome tree with few pest problems. The fruit are reminiscent of hops, hence the common name. The gray-brown bark is somewhat shaggy, looking like a cat scratching post.
Landscape Uses: Eastern Hophornbeam is best planted as an understory tree in partial to full shade and moist soils. It has moderate drought tolerance but is slow to establish on dry sites. It is not tolerant of wet sites.
Size: 25 to 40 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: An understory tree found on dry slopes in upland hardwood forests
Native To: Ontario to Minnesota, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: The “hops,” or inflated bracts that enclose the seed, are irritating to the skin if handled. It is a useful wildlife tree. It is sometimes infected by a fungus that causes “witches broom.”
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
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 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
- |  Photo: John Ruter |
Characteristics: Sourwood is a deciduous, flowering tree with an oval form, medium texture and a medium to slow growth rate. Flowers are white, urn-shaped, ¼ inch long and borne on four- to 10-inch drooping spikes in June and July. The flowers make a showy display when nothing else is blooming. Fall color is pink to red or red-purple. Bark is grayish-brown-black, blocky and attractive as the tree ages.
Landscape Uses: Sourwood is an all-season ornamental that grows more beautiful with age. It is best planted as a young tree or from a container plant because it is difficult to transplant as a large tree. Sourwood needs moist soils with good drainage and sun to partial shade. It has moderate drought tolerance. As Sourwood ages in the understory, it can develop picturesque shapes in its quest for light.
Size: 25 to 30 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b (8b with good culture)
Habitat: Well-drained, gravelly soils on ridges and on upland slopes. It is found mostly in the mountains and Piedmont and occasionally in the Coastal Plain of the Southeast.
Native To: New York to Florida, west to Louisiana, Arkansas and Illinois
Comments: The flowers are the source of sourwood honey.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Ed McDowell |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
Characteristics: Red Bay is a small evergreen tree with medium-coarse texture, medium growth rate and an upright-oval form. The foliage is aromatic when crushed and can be used as a substitute for bay leaves in cooking. Flowers are about ¼ inch in size, yellow and not showy, but the dark blue fruit are moderately showy in the fall.
Landscape Uses: Use Red Bay as a specimen tree or possibly for screening. It prefers moist, acid, well-drained soils and full sun. It will tolerate wet soils and is salt tolerant.
Size: 20 to 40 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide
Zones: 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist, acid, wet, sandy soils
Native To: Delaware to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: In shaded areas in its natural habitat, the leaves tend to be infected with a gall, which makes them look swollen and watery. Plants not growing in a swamp do not have this problem. A beautiful specimen can be seen next to the famous arch on the University of Georgia's Athens campus. Ambrosia beetle and an associated fungus are killing native populations in coastal Georgia.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: Cherry Laurel is an evergreen tree with medium texture and a medium to fast growth rate. Form is oval to round. Fruit are berry-like, borne in clusters, green when young and turning black in fall. Foliage has a cherry-like odor when crushed.
Landscape Uses: Cherry Laurel can be used as a specimen tree or screen plant. It prefers moist, well-drained soils and full sun to partial shade. However, it adapts to a wide variety of landscape sites.
Size: 15 to 30 feet tall and 10 to 20 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Moist, sandy stream banks
Native To: Coastal Virginia to northern Florida, and west to Louisiana
Comments: Re-seeding can be a problem in flower beds. The species is not landscape quality, but there are a number of improved cultivars that are landscape quality in the trade.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
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 Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
 CE.jpg) Photo: Chris Evans, Bugwood.org |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: A small, deciduous oak associated with rocky soil, granite outcrops and dry slopes in the Piedmont. It has a compact crown and a slow growth rate. Some trees have a single trunk while others are multi-stemmed. Leaves have three to six lobes and are shiny on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface and resemble miniature Red Oak leaves. Leaf size is smaller than the large oaks, befitting its small tree status. Leaves turn bright red in fall.
Landscape Uses: Georgia Oak is being used as a street tree or specimen tree and under power lines in the Georgia Piedmont.
Size: 20 to 40 feet tall and 15 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a
Habitat: Rocky, dry areas with Chestnut Oak, Blackjack Oak and Post Oak in oak-pine forests. Found on granite outcrops.
Native To: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama
Comments: Acorns are an important food for wildlife.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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Characteristics: Turkey Oak is a distinctive, small, deciduous tree with crooked branches. Some trees grow as multi-stemmed shrubs. Its three-lobed leaves are thought to resemble a turkey foot, hence the common name. Turkey Oak’s red fall color brightens the landscape of the sandhills.
Landscape Uses: Use Turkey Oak as a specimen understory tree. Its picturesque branching, glossy foliage, attractive fall color and dark, blocky-patterned bark add interest to landscapes.
Size: 30 to 40 feet tall and variable width
Zones: 8a, 8b
Habitat: Sandhills of the upper Coastal Plain, associated with Longleaf Pine, Bluejack Oak and Sand Post Oak. These species are well adapted to drought stress and fire.
Native To: South Carolina to Florida, and west to eastern Mississippi
Comments: The acorns are an important food source for turkey, deer and small rodents.
 Photo: Ed McDowell |
- |  Photo: Ed McDowell |
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 Photo: Shirley Denton |
 Photo: Shirley Denton |
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Characteristics: Sassafras is a deciduous tree with medium texture and a medium growth rate. Leaves are three to seven inches long and two to four inches wide. Leaves vary in shape from unlobed (oval) to two-lobed (mitten-shaped) or three-lobed. Fall color ranges from bright yellow to fiery orange or vibrant red. Its ridged, reddish-brown bark and picturesque branching make an interesting winter silhouette. Yellow flowers appear in terminal racemes in late March, before the leaves emerge. It commonly occurs along fencerows in poor, dry soils.
Landscape Uses: Use Sassafras as a specimen tree. Older trees are difficult to transplant because they have a tap root and sparse lateral roots. It is a tough plant, preferring moist, acid soils and full sun to partial shade.
Size: 25 to 30 feet tall with a spread of 15 to 20 feet
Zones: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Disturbed sites, particularly acid, rocky soils of uplands. It is often found in old fields where it is a pioneer species throughout the South. Occurs in forest openings and along fencerows.
Native To: Maine to Ontario and Michigan, south to Florida and west to Texas
Comments: Plants tend to spread from suckers. During fall migration, birds eat the seeds quickly. Crushed dry leaves are used for flavoring gumbos. It is prone to dieback in south Georgia.
 Photo: Gary Wade |
- |  Photo: Theresa Schrum |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Gary Wade |
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 Photo: Gary Wade |
 Photo: Michael Strickland |
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Characteristics: This small deciduous tree or shrub seldom grows over 20 feet tall and often has short, twisted stems. Leaves are alternate, elliptical to lance-shaped, with an acute tip. They are conspicuously veined on both surfaces. When bruised, the leaves emit a fetid odor. Twigs are reddish-brown to gray, with ¾-inch-long thorns. The twigs are pubescent in youth and become smooth with age. Sap is milky. Clusters of white flowers arise from the leaf axils in early summer. The drupe-like berry is purple-black, appearing in fall.
Landscape Uses: Buckthorn Bully is an attractive small tree that should be used for naturalizing in wildlife habitats. It is especially attractive when flowers are present.
Size: Up to 20 feet tall and wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: A variety of sites along the borders of streams and sandy soils of the Coastal Plain. It is also a hardwood understory tree on slopes and upland sites in the Piedmont.
Native To: Virginia and Kentucky, south to northern Florida, west to Mississippi
Comments: The fruit are consumed by many species of birds. This plant is endangered in Florida.
 Photo: Ed Lambert |
- |  Photo: Ed Lambert |
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 Photo: Ed Lambert |
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Characteristics: Bigleaf Snowbell is a small deciduous tree, normally single-stemmed, with fragrant, white flowers, ¾ to one inch in size. The flowers occur in racemes, four to eight inches long, in May and June. The leaves are dark green above with pubescence beneath and have no noticeable color change in the fall. Bigleaf Snowbell is not used very much because it is rare in the nursery trade.
Landscape Uses: Bigleaf Snowbell is a fine, fragrant understory tree for moist woodlands.
Size: Up to 20 feet tall by 10 feet wide
Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Habitat: Deciduous mixed woods, usually in well-drained areas
Native To: Virginia to Florida, west to Louisiana, Arkansas and eastern Texas
Comments: It can be confused with American Snowbell (Styrax americanus), a multi-stemmed and smaller shrub that bears flowers from leaf axils, not in racemes and grows mainly along sandy streambanks in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont.
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
 Photo: Steve Sanchez |
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- Photo: Michael Strickland |
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Bulletin 987/May, 2008
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
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