City of New York
Parks & Recreation
Street Trees for New York City
Central Forestry & Horticulture
718-760-6794
The following is a list of tree species approved by Parks for sidewalk and lawn planting sites in the public right-of-way in New York City. Superior cultivars may be substituted with the permission of the Agency. Call 311 to
request a free tree. To plant a tree on your own, call the division of Central Forestry & Horticulture for a permit (718-760-6794). To donate money to plant a tree call (212) 360 - TREE
LARGE TREES: Mature height greater than 50 feet tall
TREE SPECIES
Scientific Name
Common Name
SHAPE
GROWTH RATE
Slow
Medium
Eucommia ulmoides
Hardy Rubber Tree
Rounded
z
Ginkgo biloba
Ginkgo
Upright
z
Gleditsia triacanthos inermis
Honeylocust
Irregular
Gymnocladus dioicus
Liquidambar styraciflua
Kentucky Coffeetree
Sweetgum
VISUAL INTEREST
ENVIRONMENTAL
SENSITIVITIES
NOTES
Permanently Wet Soils
Male Only - Does Not Bear Fruit
Excellent Median Tree
Drought / Wide pH / Full Sun
z
Yellow
Drought / Salt / High pH
Yellow
Wet or Dry Soils / Salt / High pH
z
Rounded
ENVIRONMENTAL TOLERANCES
Pyramidal
z
Yellow
Red
Excellent Median Tree
Drought / Salt
Needs large pits
Wet or Dry Soils / Full Sun / Pollution
Drought / High pH
Male Preferred - Does Not Bear Fruit
Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits
Plant Spring Only, Messy Fruit
Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits
Plant Spring Only,
Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits
Liriodendron tulipifera
Tulip Tree
Pyramidal
z
Yellow
Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Dawn Redwood
Pyramidal
z
Needles
Wet and Dry Soils / High pH
Salt / Needs Large Pits
Can Grow 2 to 3 Feet per Year
Quercus bicolor
Swamp White Oak
Rounded
Yellow / Red
Wet soils / Acidic Soils
High pH
Plant Spring Only
Drought / Wide Range of Soil Condition
z
Needs space / Drought
Quercus imbricaria
Shingle Oak
Rounded
z
Yellow
Red
Quercus palustris
Pin Oak
Pyramidal
z
Maroon
Wet or dry soils
High pH
Excellent Median Tree
Yellow
Orange
Drought / Wet or dry soils
High pH
Plant Spring Only
Can Adapt to Almost Any Habitat
Maroon
Compaction
Drought / High pH
Plant Spring Only
Maroon
Wet or dry soils
High pH
Excellent Median Tree
Cream
Drought / Salt / Compaction
Excellent Median Tree
Wide Range of Soil Conditions
Shade / High pH
Plant Spring Only / Ideal For Wet Soils
Drought / Wide pH / Wet soils
Salt / Air Pollution
Lindens Are Also Known as Lime Trees
Excellent Tree for Partial Shade, Fragrant Flowers
Pollution
Salt / Drought
Fragrant Flowers
z
Quercus phellos
Willow Oak
Rounded
Quercus rubra
Northern Red Oak
Rounded
Quercus spp. 'Fastigiata'
Fastigiata Oak
Columnar
Styphnolobium japonicum
Scholar Tree
Rounded
z
Pyramidal
z
Needles
z
Cream
Yellow / Green
Cream
Yellow
Cream
Yellow
Taxodium distichum
Tilia americana
Baldcypress
Basswood / American Linden Rounded
z
z
z
Plant Spring Only
Tilia cordata
Littleleaf Linden
Tilia x euchlora
Crimean Linden
Rounded
z
Drought / Pollution
Pest Resistant
Tilia tomentosa
Silver Linden
Rounded
z
Cream
Drought / Salt
Fragrant Flowers
Under Side of Leaf is Silver
Zelkova serrata
Japanese Zelkova
Vase-Like
z
Red / Bronze
Drought / High pH / Pollution
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Green Ash
Pyramidal
z
Ornamental Bark
High pH / Salt
American Elm
Vase-Like
z
Yellow
Drought / Salt / Wide pH
Pyramidal
Shade
Excellent Median Tree
ASIAN LONG HORN BEETLE QUARANTINE SPECIES - PLANTING PROHIBITED IN BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN, AND QUEENS
Ulmus americana
Key:
Fall Leaf Color
Flower Color
Ornamental Bark
Needles
Ash Borer Sensitive
'Patmore' Cultivar Is Most Hardy
Only Dutch Elm Disease-Resistant Cultivars
Street Trees for New York City (continued)
MEDIUM TREES: Mature height between 35 feet and 50 feet tall
TREE SPECIES
Scientific Name
Common Name
SHAPE
GROWTH RATE
Slow
Medium
VISUAL INTEREST
Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata'
European Hornbeam
Narrow
z
Yellow
Carpinus caroliniana
American Hornbeam
Rounded
z
Cercidiphyllum japonicum
Katsura Tree
Rounded
Yellow
Orange
Yellow
Orange
Corylus colurna
Turkish Filbert
Pyramidal
Ostrya virginiana
American Hophornbeam
Rounded
z
z
z
ENVIRONMENTAL
SENSITIVITIES
NOTES
Wide pH
Salt
Can Grow 20-30' Wide with Maturity
Plant Spring Only
Light Shade
Drought/Compaction
Pyrus calleryana
Callery Pear
Rounded
z
Quercus acutissima
Sawtooth Oak
Rounded
z
Yellow
Quercus robur
English Oak
z
Shade / Drought / High pH
Tree Does Best In Lawn Pits
Also Known as Turkish Hazelnut
Drought / Salt / Wide pH
Yellow
White
Maroon
Rounded
ENVIRONMENTAL TOLERANCES
Salt
Plant Spring Only
Drought / Salt / High pH / Compaction
Do Not Plant 'Bradford' Cultivars
'Cleveland Select' Is Structually Superior
Drought / High pH
Plant Spring Only
Drought / Salt / High pH
Plant Spring Only
ASIAN LONG HORN BEETLE QUARANTINE SPECIES - PLANTING PROHIBITED IN BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN, AND QUEENS
Red Maple
Rounded
z
Celtis occidentalis
Hackberry
Rounded
z
Drought / Pollution / Wide pH
Native Species
Ulmus parvifolia
Chinese Elm
Rounded
z
Drought / Salt / Wide pH
Also Known as Lacebark Elm
Acer rubrum
Red
Tree Does Best In Lawn Pits
Wet Soils
SMALL TREES: Mature height less than 35 feet tall (suitable for planting under low overhead utility wires)
TREE SPECIES
Scientific Name
Common Name
SHAPE
GROWTH RATE
Slow
Medium
z
VISUAL INTEREST
White
Red / Yellow
Pink
Yellow / Green
White
Maroon
ENVIRONMENTAL TOLERANCES
Amelanchier canadensis
Serviceberry
Rounded
Cercis canadensis
Eastern Redbud
Irregular
Crataegus spp.
Hawthorn
Rounded
Koelreuteria paniculata
Goldenraintree
Rounded
Yellow
Drought / Salt / High pH / Poor Soils
Maackia amurensis
Amur Maackia
Rounded
z
White
Wide pH
Malus spp.
Crabapple
Rounded
z
White
Red / Yellow
Low pH
Prunus cerasifera
Purpleleaf Plum
Rounded
z
Pink Maroon
Prunus 'Okame'
Okame Cherry
Rounded
z
Prunus padus
European Birdcherry
Rounded
z
Prunus sargentii
Sargent Cherry
Rounded
z
Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan'
Japanese Flowering Cherry
Rounded
z
Prunus virginiana 'Schubert'
Schubert Cherry
Pyramidal
Prunus x yedoensis
Yoshino Cherry
Rounded
Pink
Red / Bronze
White
Yellow / Bronze
Pink
Red / Bronze
Pink
Red / Orange
White
Maroon
White
Yellow
Syringa reticulata
Japanese Tree Lilac
Rounded
Acer campestre
Hedge Maple
z
z
z
z
z
White
ENVIRONMENTAL
SENSITIVITIES
Wet Soils / Shade
Drought / Full Sun / Compaction
Shade / Wide pH
Compaction
Drought / Salt
NOTES
'Autumn Sunset,' 'Cumulus,' and 'White Pillar' Are
Particularly Suited for Street Trees.
Useful as Understory Species For Partial Shade
Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits
Fruits Persist; Many Cultivars Have Thorns; 'Winter
King' and 'Princeton Sentry' Suited for Street Trees.
Some species and cultivars are highly
disease-prone
Fixes Its Own Nitrogen in the Soil
Late Bloomer
Fruits Persist Through Winter ; M. baccata , M. zumi ,
and 'Donald Wyman' Recommended
Wet soils
'Atropurpurea' and 'Thundercloud' Recommended
Drought / Clay Soils
Earliest Blooming Cherry
Flowers in Late March - Early April
One of the First Trees to Leaf Out in the Spring
Clay Soils / High pH
'Accolade' is Semi-double Flowering;
'Columnaris' Has a Narrow Vase-shape
Double-flowering
Tree Does Not Normally Fruit
Excellent Median Tree
Leaves Maroon Most of Summer
Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits
Drought
Extremely Disease-resistant
Fragrant Flowers
ASIAN LONG HORN BEETLE QUARANTINE SPECIES - PLANTING PROHIBITED IN BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN, AND QUEENS
Key:
Rounded
Acer ginnala
Amur Maple
Rounded
Acer truncatum
Shantung Maple
Rounded
Fall Leaf Color
Flower Color
Ornamental Bark
Needles
z
Yellow
z
z
Cream
Red / Yellow
Greenish Yellow
Red / Yellow
Wide pH / Drought / Compaction /
Pollution
'Queen Elizabeth' is Most Vigorous Cultivar
Drought / Wide pH
Excellent Median Tree
Drought / Wide pH
Excellent Median Tree
Subspecies Mono is Slightly Larger