As you might guess, we have a lot of trees and other woody plants in The Arboretum! These include those growing naturally in our forested areas, those we have planted to naturalize, and specimen plants from all over the Northern Hemisphere displayed in our collections and gardens. In the spring, the blooms of our roses, lilacs, serviceberries and tulip trees will delight you. In the summer, the shade from our specimen trees in the Park in The Garden provides an excellent picnic spot. In the fall, the oranges, yellows, reds and purples of our sumac, maples and oaks will wow you. In the winter, our large variety of evergreens look stately against the snow.
Research
The Arboretum conducts its own research as well as provides a site for others to do research projects. We are studying elms to try to develop trees that are resistant to Dutch Elm Disease and yet are genetically diverse (Elm Recovery Project [1]). We also have a gene bank of rare Ontario trees (Rare Woody Plants of Ontario [2]). This means that we have trees, shrubs and vines here that have been grown from seed collected in wild sites in Ontario. The Arboretum is also in charge of the Ontario Tree Atlas Project [3] which is a record of the distribution of trees in Ontario.
Workshops
If you want to learn about trees, you may be interested in one of our courses. Please click here to go to our workshop page [4].
Pests
Many people try to contact us about tree pests, but the best place to go for that is the pest diagnostic clinic [5] here at the University of Guelph. You can also try to identify your pest yourself by using this key [6] developed by a University of Guelph graduate student.
Native Trees
Our native tree species are the backbone of many different Ontario habitats. Each species account in the list below includes photos, identification information, natural history and cultural aspects of our leafy friends. We will continue to add species to the following list as accounts are completed. You can search for specific trees and plant collections in the Arboretum Explorer website.
CONIFERS
[7]
Balsam Fir [7]
[8]
Black Spruce [8]
[9]
Eastern Hemlock [9]
[10]
Eastern Red Cedar [10]
[11]
Eastern White Pine [11]
[12]
Jack Pine [12]
[13]
Northern White Cedar [13]
[14]
Pitch Pine [14]
[15]
Red Pine [15]
[16]
Red Spruce [16]
[17]
Tamarack [17]
[18]
White Spruce [18]
HICKORIES
[19]
Bitternut Hickory [19]
[20]
Pignut Hickory [20]
[21]
Shagbark Hickory [21]
[22]
Shellbark Hickory [22]
MAPLES
[23]
Manitoba Maple [23]
[24]
Striped Maple [24]
[25]
Red Maple [25]
[26]
[27]
Silver Maple [27]
[28]
Black Maple [28]
[29]
Sugar Maple [29]
[30]
Mountain Maple [30]
ASHES
[31]
Black Ash [31]
[32]
Blue Ash [32]
[33]
Green Ash [33]
[34]
Pumpkin Ash [34]
[35]
Red Ash [35]
[36]
White Ash [36]
POPLARS
[40]
Balsam Poplar [41]
[42]
Eastern Cottonwood [42]
[43]
Large-tooth Aspen [43]
[44]
Trembling Aspen [44]
OAKS and BEECHES
[45]
American Beech [45]
[46]
Black Oak [46]
[47]
Bur Oak [47]
[48]
Chinquapin Oak [48]
[49]
Hill's Oak [49]
[50]
Red Oak [50]
CHERRIES and SERVICEBERRIES
[54]
[55]
Black Cherry [55]
[56]
Choke Cherry [56]
[57]
Downy Serviceberry [57]
[58]
Pin Cherry [58]
[59]
Wild Plum [59]
OTHER SPECIES
[60]
[61]
American Basswood [61]
[62]
American Hackberry [62]
[63]
American Sycamore [63]
[64]
Black Gum [64]
[65]
Black Walnut [65]
[66]
Blue Beech [66]
[73]
Hop Tree [73]
[74]
Ironwood [74]
[75]
Kentucky Coffeetree [75]
[76]
Pawpaw [76]
[77]
Red Mulberry [77]
[78]
Rock Elm [78]
[79]
Sassafras [79]
[80]
Showy Mountain Ash [80]
[81]
Staghorn Sumac [81]
[82]
Tulip Tree [82]
[83]
White Elm [83]
NON-NATIVE BUT NATURALIZED SPECIES
[84]
Black Locust [84]
