Street Trees for Guilderland

Guilderland Tree Preservation Committee
- Street Trees for Guilderland

The lists below were compiled by Laura Barry and members of the Committee, using professional sources and with regard to the local climate zone and soils.
These emphasize trees that are native species and omit a number of those once commonly planted, some of which are now not recommended.
When choosing trees to plant along the street verge, or in your garden, it is most important to plant a variety of species, with not more than 10% of the same single species in any area, in order to minimize the chance of infestation and destruction of many trees by a single invasive insect or fungus.
An introductory page lists the important practical considerations for making choices.
We offer references and online resources of some of the sources used to make these selections.
Links in the tables below are to pages in the Cornell Woody Plants Database, unless that lacks a page for that tree, when pages from other sites, e.g. Morton Arboretum, Missouri Botanical Garden or other reputable sites are used; the intention being to lead to informative photos of each of these trees.

- pdf file of these lists, formatted for printing on letter size pages: Street Trees for Guilderland

In the tables below, non-native tree species are marked by a pink background to the name (e.g. see Cornus mas - the Cornelian Cherry, in the first table)
species that are compatible with the Pine Bush ecosystem have a green background to the name (e.g. see Amelanchier - Serviceberry)

Street Trees for Guilderland: Mature Height Under 30'
Scientific Name	Common Name	Form	Tolerances	Wildlife	Notes/Cultivars
Acer saccharum ‘Sugar Cone’	Sugar Maple			Pollinators (P), Small Mammals (M), Birds (B), 297 species of Butterflies and Moths (L)	a small cultivar
Amelanchier laevis	Serviceberry	Rounded, Multi-Stemmed or Single Stemmed	Shade and wet site tolerant	P, M, B, L (124 species)	Many cultivars, ‘Princess Diana, ‘Autumn Sunset’
Betula nigra, ‘Fox Valley’	Dwarf River Birch			P, M, B, L (411 species)
Carpinus caroliniana	American Hornbeam, Musclewood	Rounded	part shade and tolerates wet soil	P, M, B, L (78 species)	Many cultivars "Ball of Fire” 15’x15’ superior fall color
Cercis canadensis	Eastern Redbud	Rounded	Tolerates some shade	P, M, B, L (12 species)	Early bloomer. Many cultivars. One of the top 10 most important native trees for pollinators
Chionanthus virginicius	White Fringe Tree
Cornus mas	Cornelian Cherry	Rounded, Multi-stemmed	Salt tolerant	P, M, B	native to Western Asia Early bloomer. ‘Golden Glory’
Crataegus sp. ‘Inermis’	Hawthorn			P, M, B, L (168 species)	thornless cultivars
Maackia amurensis	Amur maackia	20’-30’ with equal or wider spread	very hardy		native to Manchuria
Malus spp.	Crabapples	Broad	Dry sites	P, M, B, L (309 species)	Choose disease resistant cultivars, ‘Adirondak’, ‘Donald Wyman’
Oxydendrum arboreum	Sourwood Tree
Prunus sargentii 'Accolade' hybrid	Sargent Cherry hybrid	Vase		P, M, B	Many cultivars, ‘Pink Flair’, ‘Columnaris’
Prunus 'Snow Goose'	hybrid Cherry
Stewartia ovata	mountain camellia				Many cultivars
Syringa reticulata	Japanese Lilac Tree		very hardy

Street Trees for Guilderland: Mature Height 30' - 60'
Scientific name	Common Name	Height	Form	Tolerances	Wildlife	Notes/Cultivars
Acer x freeman	Freeman Maple	40’-50’	Upright, Oval, Columnar		P, M, B, L (295 species)	Fast grower
Acer miyabei	Miyabe maple	30’-60’				cultivar ‘State Street’, native to Japan
Acer rubrum	Red Maple	to 60’	Oval, Upright, Round	tolerates salt and moist soils	P, M, B, L (295 species)	Many cultivars for size, shape and stunning fall color
Carpinus betulus	European Hornbeam	25’-40’	Narrow, Round	salt and shade tolerant	P, M, B	Excellent planted in groupings cultivar ‘Fastiagiata’
Celtis occidentalis	Common Hackberry	40’-60	Vase, Oval Round	Road Salt	P, M, B, L (44 species)	Many cultivars shape is similar to an Elm underused street tree
Cladrastis kentukea	Yellowwood	30' - 50'				smooth bark, lovely branch structure underused street tree
Gleditsia triacanthos var. interims (thornless)	Honey Locust	30’-70’		high tolerance of salt, drought, wet, wind, pollution		overused street tree
Nyssa sylvatica	Black Gum	30’-50’	Striking Pyramidal	Tolerates Road Salt, Drought, and moist soils	P, M, B, L (35 species)	One of the most beautiful fall trees. Deep roots. Many cultivars; spectacular fall colors
*Ostrya virginiana	American Hophornbeam, Ironwood	25’-40’	Pyramidal, Round	Tolerates Dry Gravelly soils and some shade	P, M, B, L (90 species)	Some cultivars interesting shaggy bark underused tree
Prunus sargentii	Sargent Cherry	40' - 50'	Vase	hardy street tree tolerates salt	P, M, B	Native to Japan Many cultivars, ‘Pink Flair’, ‘Columnaris’
Quercus bicolor	Swamp Oak	50' - 60'		tolerates salt, drought and flooding	P, M, B, L (557 species)
Zelkova serrata	Japanese zelkova	60' - 80', some cultivars <30'	Vase	hardy		excellent street tree good fall color, fast growing

Street Trees for Guilderland: Mature Height Over 60’
Scientific name	Common Name	Height	Form	Tolerances	Wildlife	Notes/Cultivars
Acer saccharum	Sugar Maple	60’-75’	Oval, Upright, Round		P, M, B, L (295 species)	Many cultivars
Acer nigrum	Black Maple	60’-75’	Oval, Round, Upright	prefers acid, moist, well-drained soil	P, M, B, L (295 species)
Ginkgo biloba	Ginkgo; Maidenhair Tree	60' - 100'	pyramidal with age; slow growing	tolerates salty soil pest free		only use fruitless males, many cultivars, native to China overused street tree
Gymnocladus dioicus	Kentucky Coffeetree	70' - 80'	oval, spreading	tolerates salty soil		many cultivars underused street tree
Liquidambar styraciflua	Sweetgum	70' - 100'	pyramidal when young; round with age	relatively pest free		underused street tree interesting seed pods
Platanus occidentalis	American Sycamore	75' - 100'	irregular, wide-spreading open crown	wet tolerant	P, M, B, L (45 species)	interesting bark
Quercus alba	White Oak	50’-80’	Broad, Irregular	Dry Sites	P, M, B, L (557 species)	Many cultivars for smaller size and narrowness
Quercus coccinea and Quercus rubra	Scarlet Oak Red Oak	70' - 75' 60’-75’	pyramidal to rounded and open	thrives in dry sandy soils	P, M, B, L (557 species)	spectacular fall color, vigorous grower Many cultivars
Quercus imbricaria	Shingle Oak	40' - 60' (spread equal)	Round	tolerates drought, tolerant of salt, no tap root	P, M, B, L (557 species)	a good street tree
Quercus macrocarpa	Bur Oak	70’-80’	Stately	Dry Sites	P, M, B, L (557 species)	Cultivars developed for smaller size and with fewer acorns.
Quercus montana	Chestnut Oak	60’-70’	Round	Dry Sites	P, M, B, L (557 species)	No Cultivars. Leaves resemble chestnut tree leaves.
Quercus palustris	Pin Oak	50' - 70'	pyramidal, oval with age	no distinct tap root	P, M, B, L (557 species)	overplanting has encouraged insect problems
Quercus phellos	Willow Oak	40’-70’	Pyramidal, Round	Dry Sites tolerates salty soil	P, M, B, L (557 species)
Quercus velutina	Black Oak	50' - 60' (variable spread)	elongated or rounded	deep tap root prefers moist, rich soil	P, M, B, L (557 species)
Tilia americana	American Basswood	60' - 80'	Pyramidal	Very susceptible to Japanese beetles, mites, aphids, borers	P, M, B, L (153 species)	Many cultivars

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