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Invasive Tree
Ailanthus altissima · Tree of Heaven
Current Invaded Range: Maine to Michigan, Nebraska and Oregon, south to Florida and California
Native Alternative
Cladrastis kentukea · Yellowwood
Attributes at a Glance
Cladrastis kentukea
- Medium to large tree with rounded to spreading form
- 20 to 60 feet tall and 20 to 40 feet wide
- Branched drooping clusters of white flowers
- Pinnately divided foliage
Native Habitat and Range
Open woods, bottomlands, and bluffs in scattered sites from Kentucky and North Carolina, west to Missouri and Arkansas
Hardiness Range
Zones 3 to 8
Ornamental Attributes and Uses
Yellowwood is a rounded to broadly oval medium to large tree that grows 20 to 60 feet tall and 20 to 40 feet wide. Elegant, pendent clusters of white pea-shaped flowers grace the horizontal to gracefully ascending branches in late spring. Pinnately divided leaves with five to nine broadly oval leaflets turn clear yellow in autumn. The smooth gray bark is attractive in every season, especially in winter when the zigzag twigs lend interest. Use as a patio tree, specimen tree, or slow-growing shade tree.
Growing Tips
Plant in rich, evenly moist soil in full sun or light shade. Once established, the tree is somewhat drought tolerant, but the foliage will scorch during prolonged dry, hot weather. In warmer zones, avoid planting sites with excessive reflected heat such as parking lots and the south or west sides of tall buildings.
Native Alternative
Carya illinoinensis · Pecan
Attributes at a Glance
Carya illinoinensis
- Large tree with an upright oval crown
- 60 to 90 feet tall and 30 to 50 feet wide
- Ragged bark
- Fine-textured pinnately divided leaves
- Yellow autumn color
- Edible nuts
Native Habitat and Range
Floodplains, bottomlands, and open woods from Indiana to Iowa, south to Louisiana, Texas and Mexico; widely cultivated elsewhere
Hardiness Range
Zones 5 to 10
Ornamental Attributes and Uses
A common lawn and shade tree on old farmsteads in the south, pecan is widely cultivated for its delectable nuts. The full, rounded crown and delicate foliage make it a handsome ornamental in its own right. Pinnately divided leaves have 9 to 11 broadly lance-shaped leaflets that turn yellow in autumn. The gray bark becomes furrowed to ragged with age.
Growing Tips
Plant in rich, moist, neutral to acidic soil in full sun or light shade. The tree tolerates drought and neglect once established. Pecan is easy to establish and relatively fast growing. It colors early and drops its foliage quickly, leaving the clustered nuts to decorate the autumn landscape.
Related Native Alternative
Native from Maine to Minnesota, south to northern Florida and Texas, Carya cordiformis, bitternut, is a forest giant, reaching 70 to 100 feet tall in rich bottomland soils. The tree’s elegant, fine-textured leaves have lance-shaped leaflets of rare beauty.
Native Alternative
Sorbus sitchensis · Sitka Mountain Ash
Attributes at a Glance
Sorbus sitchensis
- Small upright to rounded tree
- 10 to 20 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet wide
- Smooth, glossy bark
- Domed clusters of creamy-white summer flowers
- Red berries in autumn
Native Habitat and Range
Open woods, rock outcropping, seepage slopes, and bog margins from Alaska and Yukon, south to Montana and California
Hardiness Range
Zones 3 to 6
Ornamental Attributes and Uses
Showy white spring flowers in domed clusters and colorful trusses of large waxen red berries make Sitka mountain ash a desirable ornamental. The pinnately divided foliage with yellow to purple autumn color adds to the show. It is good as a patio, lawn, or specimen tree as well as in naturalistic plantings. Birds savor the berries.
Growing Tips
Plant in moist, rich soil in full sun or partial shade. Sitka mountain ash performs best when grown within its native range on appropriate soils. It often succumbs in areas with high nighttime temperature and humidity.
Related Native Alternative
Sorbus scopulina, Greene’s mountain ash, is similar but with greater stature and foliage of finer texture. It is more widely distributed, growing from Alaska south to South Dakota, New Mexico, and California.
More Native Alternatives
Amelanchier laevis, Allegheny serviceberry—Nova Scotia and Ontario, south to Georgia and Iowa. Cercis canadensis, redbud—Pennsylvania and Nebraska, south to Florida and Texas. For a list of additional native trees, visit Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants.
C. Colston Burrell is a garden designer, photographer, naturalist, and award-winning author. He gardens on ten wild acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Charlottesville, Virginia, where he grows natives and the best plants of the global garden. He is principal of Native Landscape Design and Restoration, which specializes in blending nature and culture through artistic design. Cole has written many books on gardening and plants, and he is a contributing editor for Horticulture and writes regularly for Fine Gardening, Landscape Architecture, and American Gardener. He has edited or contributed to more than a dozen Brooklyn Botanic Garden handbooks, including most recently Intimate Gardens (2005), Spring-Blooming Bulbs (2002), and The Sunny Border (2002). In addition to writing, Cole lectures in the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia as well as internationally on topics of design, plants, and ecology, drawing from a lifetime of studying native plants in the wild and in gardens as well as from his experience as a curator at the U.S. National Arboretum and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
Photo credits, in order of appearance: Chuck Bargeron, Jerry Pavia, Susan Glascock, Jerry Pavia