Field Guide

Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines

Showing 41 - 50 of 58 results
Illustration of swamp dogwood leaves, flowers, fruits.
Swamp Dogwood (Silky Dogwood)
Cornus amomum
Swamp dogwood, or silky dogwood, grows nearly statewide in wet locations. Recognize it by its reddish-brown or dark brown young branchlets and blue, berrylike fruit, conspicuous in late fall.
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 buttonbush leaves, flowers, fruits.
Buttonbush
Cephalanthus occidentalis
White flowers clustered in round balls give buttonbush its name. It's always found near water, and thickets of buttonbush help protect lakeshores from wave action. This shrub is also planted as an ornamental.
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 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 pin oak leaf.
Pin Oak
Quercus palustris
Pin oak is one of the easiest trees to recognize by its shape alone: It has a tall, straight trunk, an overall pyramidal or conical shape and, most notably, the branches on the lower third of the tree angle downward.
european black alder
European Alder (Black Alder)
Alnus glutinosa
Native to Europe and Asia, European, or black alder is planted widely as an ornamental. In some parts of the United States and elsewhere in the world, this species becomes weedy, even invasive. In Missouri, you are most likely to encounter it in landscaped areas, and not in the wild.
Illustration of poison ivy leaves, flowers, fruits.
Poison Ivy
Toxicodendron radicans
Poison ivy is a toxic plant that contains an oil in all its parts that, if you come into contact with it, can cause an intense skin reaction. Learn to recognize it, and sidestep it on your outings.
Illustration of ninebark leaves, flowers, fruits.
Ninebark
Physocarpus opulifolius
An attractive shrub with wide-spreading, graceful, recurved branches and bark peeling off in conspicuous thin strips, ninebark is found throughout southern and eastern Missouri on gravel bars, rocky stream banks, and bluffs along streams. It's very popular as a native landscaping shrub, too.
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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.