Field Guide

Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines

Showing 1 - 10 of 29 results
Illustration of red-berried elderberry leaves, flowers, fruits
Red-Berried Elderberry
Sambucus pubens
Red-berried elderberry reaches 24 feet in height and does not form colonies. Its white flowers, and later, red berries, are in pyramidal clusters. In Missouri, it’s known only from Marion County.
Illustration of common blackberry leaves, flowers, fruits.
Common Blackberry
Rubus allegheniensis
Common blackberry is only one of several species of blackberry in our state. It grows in rocky, open woods, along bluffs and fencerows, on glades, and in thickets, old fields, and open valleys nearly statewide.
Shagbark Hickory
Hickories
Carya spp.
Hickories are an important part of Missouri’s oak-hickory woodlands and forests. They have tremendous economic value, too. Learn about the nine species of hickory found in Missouri.
A closeup of an acorn
Oaks
Quercus spp.
Oaks are the most important group of trees in Missouri, in both human and ecosystem value. They dominate most of the forests, woodlands, and savannas in the state. Learn more about our 22 species.
Illustration of white ash leaf, fruit.
White Ash
Fraxinus americana
White ash leaves turn shades of yellow and purple in fall, and that is one reason it has been a popular landscaping tree. Many birds and mammals feed on the paddle-shaped seeds.
Illustration of scarlet oak leaf.
Scarlet Oak
Quercus coccinea
Scarlet oak is a common tree of the Missouri Ozarks. Today it occupies much the same area that shortleaf pine used to dominate before it was extensively cut prior to the 1920s.
Illustration of black hickory compound leaf and fruit.
Black Hickory
Carya texana
Black hickory's nut, like that of the pignut hickory, is awfully hard to crack. Because rural Ozarkers noticed their hogs had no trouble extracting the sweet kernels, both species came to be called "pignut hickories."
Illustration of mockernut hickory leaf, fruit.
Mockernut Hickory
Carya tomentosa
Missouri is rich with hickory trees. Mockernut hickory stands out from the rest for its hard wood, thick-shelled fruit enclosing relatively small kernels, large and light-colored terminal buds, and tight, never shaggy, bark.
Illustration of fragrant sumac leaves, flowers, fruits.
Fragrant Sumac
Rhus aromatica
Unlike its cousin poison ivy, fragrant sumac is a peasant, nontoxic plant. Note the middle leaflet of its "leaves of three": On fragrant sumac, there is no (or at most a very short) leaf stalk on that middle leaflet. Also, fragrant sumac has hairy, reddish fruits (not waxy whitish ones).
Photo of hawthorn trees blooming on lawn of Missouri state capitol
Hawthorns
Various species in the genus Crataegus
Our state flower, the hawthorn, is solidly represented in Missouri. There are about 100 different kinds of hawthorns that occupy almost every kind of soil in every part of the state. These members of the rose family are closely related to apples.
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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.