1
Acacia
Vachellia tortilis
A large genus of thorny tropical and subtropical trees and shrubs, ranging from African savanna umbrellas to Australian wattles.
This is the full trees index — 84 detailed trees, each with its own profile. Click any name to open the full entry.
For trees, every profile covers scientific name, family, native range, height, leaf type, lifespan, and uses.
All Trees
2
Almond
Prunus dulcis
A small deciduous fruit tree of the rose family with delicate pink blossom, grown across the Mediterranean and California for its energy-dense seed.
3
American Sycamore
Platanus occidentalis
A massive eastern North American plane tree of river bottoms, with mottled white bark and the largest leaves of any tree in its range.
4
Apple
Malus domestica
A small deciduous fruit tree of central Asian origin, cultivated for thousands of years and the most widely grown temperate fruit in the world.
5
Apricot
Prunus armeniaca
A small deciduous stone-fruit tree of Central Asian origin, grown across continental climates for its fragrant golden-orange drupes.
6
Ash
Fraxinus excelsior
A tall, fast-growing European deciduous tree with elegant pinnate leaves and strong, shock-absorbing timber — now threatened by an invasive fungus.
7
Aspen
Populus tremula
A slender, white-barked, trembling-leafed deciduous tree of cool temperate Europe and Asia, a key pioneer of disturbed northern woodland.
8
Atlas Cedar
Cedrus atlantica
A handsome blue-green cedar of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria, widely planted as an ornamental in temperate gardens.
9
Avocado
Persea americana
A Mesoamerican evergreen tree whose oil-rich fruit, once a niche tropical product, has become a global staple of modern cuisine.
10
Bald Cypress
Taxodium distichum
A deciduous southern conifer that thrives in swamps and bottomlands, raising "knees" from the water and shedding its feathery needles each autumn.
11
Banyan
Ficus benghalensis
An immense Indian fig that drops aerial roots from its branches, each maturing into a new trunk until a single tree spans an entire grove.
12
Baobab
Adansonia digitata
A massive, swollen-trunked African tree that stores tens of thousands of litres of water and is sometimes called the "tree of life" of the savanna.
13
Bay Laurel
Laurus nobilis
A Mediterranean evergreen of ancient cultural significance, prized for its aromatic culinary leaves and the laurel wreaths of classical victory.
14
Beech
Fagus sylvatica
A graceful, smooth-barked deciduous broadleaf of European woodland, casting a deep shade that suppresses competitors and shapes climax forests.
15
Black Spruce
Picea mariana
A slow-growing, narrow-crowned spruce of the North American boreal forest and muskeg, vital for pulpwood and caribou habitat.
16
Black Walnut
Juglans nigra
A North American walnut treasured for its dark, richly figured timber and its tough-shelled, strongly flavoured nuts.
17
Brazil Nut
Bertholletia excelsa
A towering emergent of the Amazon rainforest whose softball-sized fruits hold the familiar wedge-shaped nuts, harvested almost entirely from wild trees.
18
Breadfruit
Artocarpus altilis
A starchy-fruited Pacific island tree, central to Polynesian food culture and the cargo at the heart of the mutiny on the Bounty.
19
Bristlecone Pine
Pinus longaeva
A gnarled, windblown high-altitude pine of the American West, including individuals that are the oldest non-clonal living things on Earth.
20
Cacao
Theobroma cacao
A small Mesoamerican understory tree whose bean-filled pods are fermented and roasted into the cocoa that became chocolate.
21
Cashew
Anacardium occidentale
A spreading tropical evergreen tree from northeastern Brazil whose curious double fruit yields both a juicy "apple" and the prized cashew nut.
22
Cedar of Lebanon
Cedrus libani
A majestic evergreen conifer of the eastern Mediterranean mountains, symbol of Lebanon and source of fragrant rot-resistant timber prized since antiquity.
23
Cherry
Prunus avium
A small deciduous tree of the rose family with showy spring blossom and edible drupes, grown for fruit and as the legendary sakura of Japan.
24
Chestnut
Castanea sativa
A massive deciduous tree of the beech family from southern Europe and Anatolia, providing sweet, starchy nuts and durable, tannin-rich timber.
25
Cinchona
Cinchona officinalis
A South American evergreen tree whose bark supplied quinine, the first effective treatment for malaria and the bitterness in tonic water.
26
Coast Redwood
Sequoia sempervirens
The tallest tree species on Earth, an evergreen conifer of the cool fog belt of coastal northern California and southern Oregon.
27
Coconut Palm
Cocos nucifera
An iconic tropical palm of coastal shores worldwide, supplying food, drink, oil, fibre, and shelter to communities across the equatorial belt.
28
Coffee Tree
Coffea arabica
A small evergreen tropical shrub or tree whose roasted seeds produce coffee, the most widely consumed beverage on Earth after water.
29
Cork Oak
Quercus suber
A Mediterranean evergreen oak whose thick, regenerating bark is harvested every nine years to make wine stoppers and insulation.
30
Date Palm
Phoenix dactylifera
A tall single-stemmed palm of the Middle East and North Africa, providing sweet, energy-dense dates that have sustained desert civilisations for millennia.
31
Douglas Fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii
A towering evergreen conifer of western North America, the workhorse softwood of the Pacific Northwest timber economy.
32
Elm
Ulmus minor
A stately European broadleaf with serrated leaves and once-dominant urban presence, devastated across much of its range by Dutch elm disease.
33
English Oak
Quercus robur
A long-lived deciduous broadleaf from Europe and western Asia, prized for its dense timber and the ecological hub of native woodland.
34
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus globulus
A vast genus of fast-growing Australian evergreen trees with peeling bark and aromatic oily leaves, now the most widely planted hardwood worldwide.
35
Fig
Ficus carica
A small Mediterranean deciduous tree with deeply lobed leaves and unique inside-out flowers that develop into the sweet, soft, syrupy fig fruit.
36
Frangipani
Plumeria rubra
A small deciduous tropical tree with intensely fragrant pinwheel flowers, beloved across tropical Asia as a temple and graveyard tree.
37
Giant Sequoia
Sequoiadendron giganteum
The most massive tree on Earth by volume, an evergreen conifer of the western Sierra Nevada whose fire-blackened trunks can outlast civilisations.
38
Ginkgo
Ginkgo biloba
A living fossil from China, the sole survivor of an ancient lineage older than the dinosaurs, with unmistakable fan-shaped leaves that turn pure gold in autumn.
39
Hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna
A small spiny deciduous tree of European hedgerows, blanketed in white blossom in May and bright red haws through autumn.
40
Hazelnut
Corylus avellana
A small deciduous tree or large shrub of Europe and western Asia, valued for its rounded nuts, ornamental catkins, and coppiced flexible wood.
41
Holly
Ilex aquifolium
A glossy-leaved, spine-armed evergreen tree of European woodland with bright red berries, central to midwinter Christmas tradition.
42
Holm Oak
Quercus ilex
A drought-tolerant Mediterranean evergreen oak with dark, holly-like leaves that anchors the agro-silvo-pastoral dehesa landscapes of Iberia.
43
Horse Chestnut
Aesculus hippocastanum
A handsome Balkan deciduous tree with spectacular candle-like flower spikes and the polished brown seeds used in childrens "conker" games.
44
Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum
A small, refined deciduous maple of East Asia, prized worldwide as an ornamental for its delicate leaves and brilliant autumn colour.
45
Joshua Tree
Yucca brevifolia
A surreal branching yucca of the Mojave Desert, with spiky leaf rosettes that pivot toward the sun and ivory flower spikes pollinated by a single moth.
46
Kapok
Ceiba pentandra
A massive emergent rainforest tree of the Americas, Africa, and Asia, with buttressed roots and pods of silky fibre once used in life jackets.
47
Lime / Linden
Tilia x europaea
A tall European broadleaf of stately avenues, with heart-shaped leaves and fragrant midsummer flowers that perfume the air and feed honeybees.
48
Live Oak
Quercus virginiana
An evergreen southern oak with sprawling horizontal limbs that frame the avenues and bayous of the American South.
49
London Plane
Platanus x acerifolia
A hybrid plane tree with flaking patchwork bark, planted along the streets of London, New York, and Paris for its remarkable tolerance of urban pollution.
50
Magnolia
Magnolia grandiflora
An ancient family of flowering trees with large, fragrant, primitive blooms that predate bees, treasured as ornamentals across the temperate world.
51
Mahogany
Swietenia macrophylla
A large neotropical hardwood whose reddish-brown wood furnished the great age of European cabinet-making and remains a luxury timber today.
52
Mango Tree
Mangifera indica
A large evergreen tropical tree native to South Asia, cultivated across the tropics for its sweet, fragrant stone fruit.
53
Norway Maple
Acer platanoides
A vigorous European maple with milky sap, widely planted in cities for its dense shade and now invasive in much of North America.
54
Norway Spruce
Picea abies
A tall, conical evergreen spruce of northern and central Europe, widely planted for timber and famous as the traditional Christmas tree.
55
Olive
Olea europaea
A long-lived Mediterranean evergreen tree cultivated for at least 8,000 years for its silvery foliage, edible fruit, and prized golden oil.
56
Papaya
Carica papaya
A fast-growing, single-stemmed tropical tree native to Mesoamerica, prized for its sweet melon-flavoured fruit and digestive papain enzyme.
57
Paper Birch
Betula papyrifera
A white-barked deciduous birch of the northern North American forests, whose peeling bark sheets the canoes and writing scrolls of First Nations peoples.
58
Peach
Prunus persica
A small Chinese-origin deciduous fruit tree of the rose family, grown across warm temperate climates for its velvety-skinned summer drupes.
59
Pear
Pyrus communis
A long-lived deciduous fruit tree of European and Asian origin, cultivated for its sweet, gritty-fleshed pomes and as ornamental cultivars.
60
Pecan
Carya illinoinensis
A large American hickory of the south-central river bottoms, producing oblong nuts that are the only major commercial nut native to the United States.
61
Pistachio
Pistacia vera
A small deciduous tree of the Central Asian arid zones, cultivated for thousands of years for its green-kerneled nuts and rosy split shells.
62
Plum
Prunus domestica
A widely cultivated deciduous fruit tree of the rose family, grown across temperate climates for its juicy, single-stoned fruits.
63
Pomegranate
Punica granatum
A small deciduous tree or shrub of the Middle East and the Caucasus, cultivated for its leathery red fruit filled with juicy, jewel-like seed arils.
64
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa
A tall western American pine with butterscotch-scented bark that dominates dry, fire-shaped forests across the interior West.
65
Quaking Aspen
Populus tremuloides
The most widely distributed tree in North America, famous for its shimmering golden autumn groves and for forming the largest clonal organism on Earth.
66
Red Maple
Acer rubrum
A widespread, fast-growing North American maple whose flowers, twigs, leafstalks, and autumn leaves are all flushed with crimson.
67
Red Oak
Quercus rubra
A fast-growing deciduous oak with sharply lobed leaves that turn deep crimson in autumn, widespread across eastern North America.
68
Rowan
Sorbus aucuparia
A graceful small deciduous tree of European uplands, with pinnate leaves and scarlet berry clusters that feed late-autumn thrushes.
69
Royal Poinciana
Delonix regia
A spectacular spreading tropical tree from Madagascar covered in vivid scarlet flowers, planted across the tropics as a "flame of the forest."
70
Rubber Tree
Hevea brasiliensis
An Amazonian tree whose milky latex, tapped from cuts in the bark, became the foundation of the global natural-rubber industry.
71
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris
A hardy evergreen pine with orange upper bark, the only native pine of Britain and the most widely distributed pine in the world.
72
Silver Birch
Betula pendula
A graceful, pioneer deciduous tree of cool northern climates, instantly recognisable by its peeling white bark and shimmering leaves.
73
Silver Maple
Acer saccharinum
A fast-growing North American maple of river bottoms, named for the silvery undersides of its deeply lobed leaves.
74
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum
A deciduous hardwood of northeastern North America famed for spectacular autumn colour and as the source of maple syrup.
75
Sycamore
Acer pseudoplatanus
A vigorous large maple of central and southern Europe, with broad shade-casting leaves and a tolerance for salt, wind, and poor soils.
76
Teak
Tectona grandis
A large deciduous tropical hardwood of South and Southeast Asia, prized for centuries as one of the world's most durable timbers.
77
Tulip Tree
Liriodendron tulipifera
One of the tallest broadleaf trees of eastern North America, with peculiar four-lobed leaves and large cup-shaped tulip-like spring flowers.
78
Walnut
Juglans regia
A large deciduous broadleaf tree of Eurasian origin, prized for its rich oily nuts and the dark, beautifully grained heartwood favoured by gunmakers and cabinetmakers.
79
Weeping Willow
Salix babylonica
A graceful, water-loving deciduous tree of East Asian origin, with long pendulous branches that sweep the ground beside ponds and streams worldwide.
80
Western Hemlock
Tsuga heterophylla
A graceful, shade-loving evergreen conifer that dominates the wet temperate forests of the Pacific Northwest beneath the Douglas fir canopy.
81
White Oak
Quercus alba
An iconic deciduous oak of eastern North America with pale, fissured bark and dense timber that anchors hardwood forests from Quebec to Florida.
82
White Pine
Pinus strobus
A tall, soft-needled evergreen pine of eastern North America that built early colonial America and once towered above old-growth forests.
83
Whitebeam
Sorbus aria
A handsome small European deciduous tree with white-felted leaf undersides that flash in the breeze and bright autumn berries for wildlife.
84
Yew
Taxus baccata
A slow-growing, dark-needled European evergreen of immense longevity, the wood of medieval longbows and now a source of anticancer drugs.
About this trees index
That's our current full list of trees. We add new entries every week — if there's a tree you'd like us to cover, let us know and we'll write it up.
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