Field Guide

Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines

Showing 1 - 10 of 11 results
Illustration of green ash leaf.
Green Ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Green ash is one of the most widely planted shade trees around homes and along streets. In the wild, it lives along streams and in low grounds. Sadly, it is one of the trees most vulnerable to the emerald ash borer, an exotic invasive pest.
Illustration of red maple leaves and fruits.
Red Maple
Acer rubrum
Red maple is one of our most useful — and beautiful — native trees. You can find it in the woods as well as in landscape plantings statewide. Many horticultural varieties are available at nurseries.
Illustration of silver maple leaf and fruit.
Silver Maple
Acer saccharinum
In nature, silver maple is a bottomland tree. Silver maples pay for their rapid growth by having rather brittle branches that easily break off in windy and other inclement weather.
willow
Willows
Salix spp. (about 12 species in Missouri)
Exotic willows are available at lawn and garden centers, but there are several willow species that are native to Missouri. Most are rather humble colonizers of gravel bars, riverbanks, and lakesides. Many are important for human economic interests. All have a place in our wild ecosystems.
Illustration of wintercreeper leaves, flowers, fruits.
Wintercreeper
Euonymus fortunei
Introduced from Asia as a groundcover, wintercreeper has escaped cultivation in all the eastern states. It’s frequently found near urban centers, with heavy infestations in woodlands around St. Louis and Kansas City.
Illustration of American bladdernut leaves, flowers, fruits.
American Bladdernut
Staphylea trifolia
American bladdernut is a thicket-forming shrub or small tree that grows in moist soils. It produces clusters of bell-shaped white flowers in spring and unusual 3-parted air-filled capsules in late summer that turn papery and persist into winter.
Illustration of buckbrush leaves, flowers, fruits
Buckbrush (Coralberry)
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
Buckbrush, or coralberry, grows throughout Missouri. This familiar thicket-forming shrub bears dense clusters of pinkish-red berries that persist through most of the winter.
white ash leaves
Ashes
Fraxinus spp.
Missouri has six species of ashes that you might find in natural settings. They have been very popular as shade trees, and their wood is famously useful. Ash trees of all the species in North America are currently being killed by the invasive, nonnative emerald ash borer.
sugar maple
Maples
Acer spp.
Missouri has five species of maples that are either native or naturalized, plus several that are known only in cultivation. Maples are important members of native ecosystems. They also provide stunning fall color, welcome shade in summer, commercially important lumber, and sap for syrup.
Illustration of swamp privet branch, leaves, flowers, and fruits
Swamp Privet
Forestiera acuminata
Swamp privet is a straggly shrub or small tree growing in wet to swampy ground. It is quite noticeable in early spring, with the clusters of yellow flowers and bracts appearing along the gray branches before the leaves come out. In this way, it is similar in aspect to spicebush.
See Also

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.