Field Guide

Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines

Showing 11 - 20 of 38 results
Illustration of sugar maple leaves, twigs, fruits
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum
Sugar maple is a tree that inspires much “oohing and aahing” during fall color season. Its sap is famous as a source for maple syrup, but its use in landscaping and for furniture is also widespread.
Illustration of hop hornbeam leaves, twig, fruit.
Eastern Hop Hornbeam (Ironwood)
Ostrya virginiana
Eastern hop hornbeam is named for its fruits, which are clusters of flattened, papery, scalelike sacs arranged in an overlapping pattern, like scales on a pinecone — resembling the hops that beer is made from.
Illustration of Osage orange flowers and fruit.
Osage Orange
Maclura pomifera
Osage orange is a densely branched, short-trunked, thorny tree. It bears weird-loooking, softball-sized, chartreuse, brainlike fruits, which often lie beneath the tree in abundance in autumn.
Illustration of eastern wahoo leaves, twigs, flowers, and fruit
Eastern Wahoo
Euonymus atropurpureus
Eastern wahoo is a native shrub or small tree that grows in wooded areas, near streams, and in thickets. In fall, dainty pink or purplish four-lobed fruit capsules dangle from its branches.
rough-leaved dogwood
Dogwoods
Cornus spp.
Missouri’s five species of dogwoods are shrubs or small trees with distinctive flowers, fruits, and bark. The fruits may be red, white, or blue. The leaves have characteristic arching veins.
Illustration of chinkapin oak leaf.
Chinkapin Oak (Chinquapin Oak)
Quercus muehlenbergii
Chinkapin oak is fairly easy to identify because of its distinctively toothed leaves. Look for it growing in rocky soils derived from limestone or dolomite on bluffs and in upland woods, and in floodplain forests and lower slopes along streams.
Illustration of gray dogwood branch, leaves, flowers, fruits.
Gray Dogwood (Stiff Dogwood)
Cornus foemina
Gray dogwood is a deciduous, thicket-forming shrub. Its small, creamy-white flowers occur in branched clusters, and its white or pale blue fruits are supported by red stalks — a characteristic that makes it attractive for ornamental uses.
Illustration of rough-leaved dogwood leaves, flowers, fruits.
Rough-Leaved Dogwood
Cornus drummondii
Rough-leaved dogwood is one of Missouri's hardiest shrubs, capable of withstanding cold and drought. The leaves of this thicket-forming species emit a faint odor of sour milk.
Illustration of black oak leaf.
Black Oak
Quercus velutina
Black oak grows throughout Missouri, in upland woods, on glades, and along borders of woods and fields. It and scarlet oak were the primary colonizers of Ozark pinelands when the native pines were cleared in the early 1900s.
Illustration of Shumard oak leaf.
Shumard Oak
Quercus shumardii
Shumard oak is worth knowing: it can rise to 100 feet in height and gain a trunk diameter of 5 feet, with wide-spreading, muscular boughs.
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About Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines in Missouri

There are no sharp dividing lines between trees, shrubs, and woody vines, or even between woody and nonwoody plants. “Wood” is a type of tissue made of cellulose and lignin that many plants develop as they mature — whether they are “woody” or not. Trees are woody plants over 13 feet tall with a single trunk. Shrubs are less than 13 feet tall, with multiple stems. Vines require support or else sprawl over the ground.