Species List
The following is a list of tree species approved by Parks for sidewalk and lawn planting sites in the public right-of-way in New York City. Superior cultivars may be substituted with the permission of the Agency.
There are two ways to have a street tree planted in front of your home. You can request a free tree or you can plant one on your own. More information is available here
Download a color printable PDF version of this list.
LARGE TREES: Mature height greater than 50 feet tall |
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| TREE SPECIES | SHAPE | GROWTH RATE | VISUAL INTEREST | ENVIRONMENTAL TOLERANCES | ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITIES | NOTES | ||
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Slow | Medium | |||||
| Eucommia ulmoides | Hardy Rubber Tree | Rounded | • |
Drought / Wide pH / Full Sun | ||||
| Ginkgo biloba | Ginkgo | Upright | • |
Yellow | Drought / Salt / High pH | Permanently Wet Soils | Male Only - Does Not Bear Fruit Excellent Median Tree | |
| Gleditsia triacanthos inermis | Honeylocust | Irregular | • |
Yellow | Wet or Dry Soils / Salt / High pH | Excellent Median Tree | ||
| Gymnocladus dioicus | Kentucky Coffeetree | Rounded | • |
Drought / Salt | Needs large pits | Male Preferred - Does Not Bear Fruit Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits | ||
| Liquidambar styraciflua | Sweetgum | Pyramidal | • |
Yellow Red | Wet or Dry Soils / Full Sun / Pollution | Drought / High pH | Plant Spring Only, Messy Fruit Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits | |
| Liriodendron tulipifera | Tulip Tree | Pyramidal | • |
Yellow | Needs space / Drought | Plant Spring Only, Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits | ||
| Metasequoia glyptostroboides | Dawn Redwood | Pyramidal | • |
Needles | Wet and Dry Soils / High pH | Salt / Needs Large Pits | Can Grow 2 to 3 Feet per Year | |
| Quercus bicolor | Swamp White Oak | Rounded | • |
Yellow / Red | Wet soils / Acidic Soils | High pH | Plant Spring Only | |
| Quercus imbricaria | Shingle Oak | Rounded | • |
Yellow Red | Drought / Wide Range of Soil Condition | Plant Spring Only | ||
| Quercus palustris | Pin Oak | Pyramidal | • |
Maroon | Wet or dry soils | High pH | Excellent Median Tree | |
| Quercus phellos | Willow Oak | Rounded | • |
Yellow Orange | Drought / Wet or dry soils | High pH | Plant Spring Only Can Adapt to Almost Any Habitat | |
| Quercus rubra | Northern Red Oak | Rounded | • |
Maroon | Compaction | Drought / High pH | Plant Spring Only | |
| Quercus spp. 'Fastigiata' | Fastigiata Oak | Columnar | • |
Maroon | Wet or dry soils | High pH | Excellent Median Tree | |
| Styphnolobium japonicum | Scholar Tree | Rounded | • |
Cream | Drought / Salt / Compaction | Excellent Median Tree | ||
| Taxodium distichum | Baldcypress | Pyramidal | • |
Needles | Wide Range of Soil Conditions | Shade / High pH | Plant Spring Only / Ideal For Wet Soils | |
| Tilia americana | Basswood / American Linden | Rounded | • |
Cream Yellow / Green | Drought / Wide pH / Wet soils | Salt / Air Pollution | Lindens Are Also Known as Lime Trees Excellent Tree for Partial Shade, Fragrant Flowers | |
| Tilia cordata | Littleleaf Linden | Pyramidal | • |
Cream Yellow | Pollution | Salt / Drought | Fragrant Flowers | |
| Tilia x euchlora | Crimean Linden | Rounded | • |
Cream Yellow | Drought / Pollution | Pest Resistant | ||
| Tilia tomentosa | Silver Linden | Rounded | • |
Cream | Drought / Salt | Fragrant Flowers Under Side of Leaf is Silver | ||
| Zelkova serrata | Japanese Zelkova | Vase-Like | • |
Red / Bronze | Drought / High pH / Pollution | Shade | Excellent Median Tree | |
| ASIAN LONG HORN BEETLE QUARANTINE SPECIES - PLANTING PROHIBITED IN BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN, AND QUEENS | ||||||||
| Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Green Ash | Pyramidal | • |
Ornamental Bark | High pH / Salt | Ash Borer Sensitive | 'Patmore' Cultivar Is Most Hardy | |
| Ulmus americana | American Elm | Vase-Like | • |
Yellow | Drought / Salt / Wide pH | Only Dutch Elm Disease-Resistant Cultivars | ||
MEDIUM TREES: Mature height between 35 feet and 50 feet tall | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TREE SPECIES | SHAPE | GROWTH RATE | VISUAL INTEREST | ENVIRONMENTAL TOLERANCES | ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITIES | NOTES | ||
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Slow | Medium | |||||
| Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata' | European Hornbeam | Narrow | • |
Yellow | Wide pH | Salt | Can Grow 20-30' Wide with Maturity | |
| Carpinus caroliniana | American Hornbeam | Rounded | • |
Yellow Orange | Plant Spring Only | |||
| Cercidiphyllum japonicum | Katsura Tree | Rounded | • | Yellow Orange | Light Shade | Drought/Compaction | Tree Does Best In Lawn Pits | |
| Corylus colurna | Turkish Filbert | Pyramidal | • | Drought / Salt / Wide pH | Also Known as Turkish Hazelnut | |||
| Ostrya virginiana | American Hophornbeam | Rounded | • |
Yellow | Shade / Drought / High pH | Salt | Plant Spring Only | |
| Pyrus calleryana | Callery Pear | Rounded | • | White Maroon | Drought / Salt / High pH / Compaction | Do Not Plant 'Bradford' Cultivars 'Cleveland Select' Is Structually Superior | ||
| Quercus acutissima | Sawtooth Oak | Rounded | • | Yellow | Drought / High pH | Plant Spring Only | ||
| Quercus robur | English Oak | Rounded | • |
Drought / Salt / High pH | Plant Spring Only | |||
| ASIAN LONG HORN BEETLE QUARANTINE SPECIES - PLANTING PROHIBITED IN BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN, AND QUEENS | ||||||||
| Acer rubrum | Red Maple | Rounded | • | Red | Wet Soils | Tree Does Best In Lawn Pits | ||
| Celtis occidentalis | Hackberry | Rounded | • | Drought / Pollution / Wide pH | Native Species | |||
| Ulmus parvifolia | Chinese Elm | Rounded | • | Drought / Salt / Wide pH | Also Known as Lacebark Elm | |||
SMALL TREES: Mature height less than 35 feet tall (suitable for planting under low overhead utility wires) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TREE SPECIES | SHAPE | GROWTH RATE | VISUAL INTEREST | ENVIRONMENTAL TOLERANCES | ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITIES | NOTES | ||
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Slow | Medium | |||||
| Amelanchier canadensis | Serviceberry | Rounded | • |
White Red / Yellow | Wet Soils / Shade | Drought / Full Sun / Compaction | 'Autumn Sunset,' 'Cumulus,' and 'White Pillar' Are Particularly Suited for Street Trees. | |
| Cercis canadensis | Eastern Redbud | Irregular | • |
Pink Yellow / Green | Shade / Wide pH | Compaction | Useful as Understory Species For Partial Shade Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits | |
| Crataegus spp. | Hawthorn | Rounded | • |
White Maroon | Drought / Salt | Fruits Persist; Many Cultivars Have Thorns; 'Winter King' and 'Princeton Sentry' Suited for Street Trees. | ||
| Koelreuteria paniculata | Goldenraintree | Rounded | • |
Yellow | Drought / Salt / High pH / Poor Soils | |||
| Maackia amurensis | Amur Maackia | Rounded | • |
White | Wide pH | Fixes Its Own Nitrogen in the Soil Late Bloomer | ||
| Malus spp. | Crabapple | Rounded | • |
White Red / Yellow | Low pH | Some species and cultivars are highly disease-prone | Fruits Persist Through Winter ; M. baccata , M. zumi , and 'Donald Wyman' Recommended | |
| Prunus cerasifera | Purpleleaf Plum | Rounded | • |
Pink Maroon | Wet soils | 'Atropurpurea' and 'Thundercloud' Recommended | ||
| Prunus 'Okame' | Okame Cherry | Rounded | • |
Pink Red / Bronze | Drought / Clay Soils | Earliest Blooming Cherry Flowers in Late March - Early April | ||
| Prunus padus | European Birdcherry | Rounded | • |
White Yellow / Bronze | One of the First Trees to Leaf Out in the Spring | |||
| Prunus sargentii | Sargent Cherry | Rounded | • |
Pink Red / Bronze | 'Accolade' is Semi-double Flowering; 'Columnaris' Has a Narrow Vase-shape | |||
| Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan' | Japanese Flowering Cherry | Rounded | • |
Pink Red / Orange | Double-flowering Tree Does Not Normally Fruit | |||
| Prunus virginiana 'Schubert' | Schubert Cherry | Pyramidal | • |
White Maroon | Clay Soils / High pH | Excellent Median Tree Leaves Maroon Most of Summer | ||
| Prunus x yedoensis | Yoshino Cherry | Rounded | White Yellow | Tree Does Best in Lawn Pits | ||||
| Syringa reticulata | Japanese Tree Lilac | Rounded | • |
White | Drought | Extremely Disease-resistant Fragrant Flowers | ||
| ASIAN LONG HORN BEETLE QUARANTINE SPECIES - PLANTING PROHIBITED IN BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN, AND QUEENS | ||||||||
| Acer campestre | Hedge Maple | Rounded | • |
Yellow | Wide pH / Drought / Compaction / Pollution | 'Queen Elizabeth' is Most Vigorous Cultivar | ||
| Acer ginnala | Amur Maple | Rounded | • |
Cream Red / Yellow | Drought / Wide pH | Excellent Median Tree | ||
| Acer truncatum | Shantung Maple | Rounded | • |
Greenish Yellow Red / Yellow | Drought / Wide pH | Excellent Median Tree Subspecies Mono is Slightly Larger | ||