The 14 Most Iconic Trees Native to Vermont

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Written by Arlene Mckanic

Published: October 1, 2023

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Vermont has a climate that is just right for many species of trees, both deciduous and evergreen. However, biologists only consider trees that were in the state before European settlers to be native trees. Here are 14 of the most iconic trees native to Vermont.

1. American Beech

American Beech Tree leaves

People love the singular beauty of the American beech.

Prized for the beauty of its bark and leaves, the American beech grows to between 80 and 115 feet tall, though some have been taller. Its leaves are oval, pointed and toothed. They’re blue green on top and pale green beneath and seem to glow when the sunlight shines through them. The tree’s thin, bluish gray bark keeps the tree looking beautiful even after all the leaves have fallen. Its fruits are triangular and enclosed in a husk that splits into woody, spiny lobes. The tree thrives in Vermont’s cool climate and its chalky, alkaline soils.

2. Balsam Fir

Balsam fir cones

The beautiful cones of the balsam fir grow upright.

This fascinating coniferous tree produces an oleoresin called Canada balsam that’s used as a glass cement for microscopes and other optical instruments. The tree itself grows to around 80 feet high and has a brownish gray bark, and younger trees produce the valuable resin. The needle-like leaves are about an inch long, grayish on top and sometimes grooved or glossy. When they fall, they leave a scar on the tree branch. The tree is also known for having upright cones with scales that overlap. At first, they’re greenish gray or dark blue then eventually turn a mauve-brown color. The tree produces male and female flowers, and the male flowers are greenish yellow with a pink tinge. Female flowers are lemon yellow.

3. Black Cherry

Blossoming branches of Prunus serotina in May. Wild black cherry (Prunus serotina) blossoms shine brightly in the spring sun. Wild Black Cherry blossoms in the spring hanging from a branch.

The fruit of this tree is relished by birds.

This cherry tree isn’t closely related to the domesticated cherry trees that produce the cherries you’d buy in the supermarket, even though all of them are part of the Prunus genus. This medium sized tree grows to between 49 and 79 feet high and has shiny, dark green, oval leaves with fine teeth. For the first 10 years or so of its life it has attractive, smooth, banded trunk. Over the years the bark becomes furrowed and turns charcoal gray to black. When you break a branch, you’ll notice a lovely smell like almonds. However, this means that the tree contains cyanide, and this chemical accumulates in the seeds of the cherries and the leaves of the tree.

The black cherry produces racemes of tiny, white, five petaled flowers that eventually give way to bunches of red-black cherries that are sought after by birds instead of people. People do love the tree’s beautiful yellow or red fall foliage.

4. Black Willow

black willow vs weeping willow

Black willow trees rely on insects and not the wind for pollination.

Another medium sized tree, the black willow grows between 35 and 100 feet tall. It has long, lance-shaped leaves with the tiniest serrations at the edges. They’re dark green on top and light green on the underside. The dark brown or black bark is scaly and sometimes rough and fissured, and the trunks of black willow trees often fork near the bottom. The trees are either male or female. Male catkins are 1 to 2 inches long, and female flowers are even smaller. However, the wind doesn’t carry pollen to fertilize the female flowers. Fertilization relies on insect pollinators, since the flowers contain nectaries. The resulting seeds have silky down that allows the wind to carry them a distance from the tree. Another way the plant reproduces is through natural cuttings.

You’ll find black willows, like many willows, by a water course. Twigs break off from the tree and are swept downstream until they’re stranded on a muddy bank. Once there, they sprout roots, and another tree grows.

5. Eastern Red Cedar

eastern red cedar

The eastern red cedar can live for nearly 1,000 years.

The eastern red cedar takes a while to reach its full height of between 16 and 66 feet tall, but individuals have been known to live for close to a millennium. It probably gets its name from its shedding, reddish brown bark. When it’s young, the leaves are needle-like, but when the tree matures, they become scaly and come in tight pairs or whorls. Easter red cedar trees are male or female. In male trees, the cones start producing pollen in earliest spring or even late winter. In female trees, seed cones are purplish blue, look like berries and have a waxy coating that makes them look blue. They hold one to three seeds and are favored by birds, who scatter the seeds in their droppings.

The tree is often one of the first to repopulate a disturbed area and is often found in old pastures or waste places. Its heartwood is prized because it resists rot, and people use it for fence posts. Since cedar wood also repels moths, clothes chests and closets are famously built out of it. Unfortunately, the eastern red cedar is a source of cedar-apple rust, so be careful not to plant apple trees near it.

6. Eastern Hemlock

Background with Tsuga canadensis tree (canadian hemlock, eastern hemlock)

The state tree of Pennsylvania, the eastern hemlock is also one of the iconic trees of Vermont.

Though the eastern hemlock is the state tree of Pennsylvania, it is also native to Vermont. Unfortunately, these long-lived trees are declining due to an insect called the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive species that was accidentally brought over from Japan. Because of this infestation, its conservation status is near threatened.

Like the eastern red cedar, the eastern hemlock is a long-lived tree. The oldest tree known is over 500 years old. The tree can grow to around 100 feet tall and the trunk, which is usually straight and not forked, can be over 4 feet in diameter. The leaves are short in length, just barely toothed and flat. The underside is grayish while the top of the leaf is green or yellowish green. The leaf buds are oval and tiny, and the seed cones are oval, scaly and can be up to an inch long.

Like the red cedar, the wood of the eastern hemlock is useful but not as decay resistant. Still, eastern hemlock wood is good for railroad ties since it can hold on to spikes. Other uses are for general construction and pulp for paper.

7. Northern White Cedar

Northern white cedar

The northern white cedar is said to have medicinal properties.

Another name for this medium sized tree is arborvitae, as it is thought to have medicinal value and arborvitae means “tree of life.” The leaves are high in vitamin C and its essential oil is used as a disinfectant and an insecticide. However, the tree also has high levels of thujone, which is toxic.

The northern white cedar usually grows to about 49 feet tall. Its bark is reddish brown and peels off in strips. The branches are arranged in fans, and the needles are flat and scaly, with seed cones that start yellowish green and turn brown as they mature. They hold about eight seeds.

You’ll find the northern white cedar growing in wet areas, especially swamps. This gives it its other name of swamp cedar. It’s not unheard of to see the tree growing out of rocks or clinging to cliffs. This tree has an even longer life span than the red cedar or the eastern hemlock, as specimens have been found that are well over 1,000 years old. The trees are able to live this long despite poor conditions and being stripped of their evergreen foliage by deer during the winters.

The lumber of the northern white cedar is popular for making shingles and fence posts and was popular for making canoes and log cabins.

8. Paper Birch

paper birch closeup

The paper birch’s bark sheds in papery sheets.

The most notable characteristic of this iconic Vermont tree is its bark. Thin and white, it peels from the trunk of the tree in what looks like sheets of paper. Even though these sheets don’t deliver much nutrition, they’re a staple for moose in the winter.

The paper birch is a deciduous tree that usually grows to about 66 feet in height. The trunk may be single, especially if the tree is in a forest. The trunk is more likely to be forked if it’s grown in a garden. In contrast with cedars and hemlocks, the paper birch is notoriously short-lived. In warmer climates the tree may only live 30 years, though in Vermont’s colder climate a paper birch may live to be 100 or older. The tree isn’t particular about soil and can grow in stony soils or cold weather bogs called muskegs.

Paper birch leaves are smooth and dark green on top, and somewhat downy underneath. They’re alternate on the stem and shaped like ovals or triangles, with a round base, pointed tip, and toothed edges. The leaves turn brilliant yellow in fall and add to the beauty of Vermont’s autumn landscape.

The flowers appear in early to mid-late spring, and the tree has both male and female flowers. The female flowers are fertilized by pollen blown by the wind. Flowers are followed by winged fruit. The paper birch is often one of the first trees to arrive in an area that’s been disturbed, either by storms or wildfire.

9. Red Maple

Closeup of colorful red maple (acer rubrum) leaves in the fall.

The red maple tree offers spectacular fall foliage.

One of eastern North America’s most common trees, the red maple is beloved for its blazingly scarlet fall foliage. Not only are the leaves of this tree shades of red, but so are its twigs, seeds, and flowers. Even though it’s another of the iconic trees of Vermont, the red maple is the state tree of Rhode Island.

The tree, Acer rubrum, grows to around 100 feet tall and can grow in a variety of conditions. It is so adaptable that there are places where it’s considered invasive in spite of its beauty. Its leaves are opposite, around 2 to 4 inches long and palmate, with three to five toothed lobes. If the leaves have five lobes, the three at the top are larger than the two at the bottom. During the growing season, the top of the leaf is light green, while the underneath is glaucous.

The flowers appear well before the leaves. They may come as early as late winter and because they are also red, they add to the tree’s beauty. Male and female flowers often appear on different trees, and female trees tend to be more orange in the fall, while male trees are more red. The cool climate of Vermont makes the tree’s autumn foliage especially glorious.

As with all maples, the fruit of the red maple is called a samara. It can be 0.625 to 1 inch long and ripens in the spring, even before the tree has fully leafed out.

10. Northern Red Oak

red oak (Quercus rubra)

The red oak is loved for its sensational fall foliage.

This tree usually grows to around 92 feet, though some have grown considerably taller. The trunk is straight and usually has a 20-to-39-inch diameter with a ridged, striped, reddish-gray bark that differentiates it from other oaks. Its branches grow at 90-degree angles to their stems, which gives the tree a beautiful round habit.

The northern red oak is a fast-growing tree and can be 20 feet tall when it’s a decade old. It’s also long-lived, and botanists believe it can live for 400 years. The leaves are arranged alternately on the branch, are oval or oblong and have seven to nine lobes. They’re between 5 to 10 inches long and 4 to 6 inches wide. The tree doesn’t start to leaf out until there’s 13 hours of sunlight a day, no matter what the temperature is. During the growing season they’re smooth, glossy dark green, and yellow green underneath.

Red oak acorns are long ovals and can have stalks or grow straight from the branch. They have a shallow cup that only covers the base. These acorns only germinate when there’s at least three months of temperatures beneath 40 degrees Fahrenheit. They take two years to mature, and though they’re very bitter to humans they’re readily eaten by deer, birds, and squirrels.

11. Red Spruce

Close up of a branch of the Red Spruce

The purplish red cones of the red spruce contrast beautifully with its pale green leaves.

This coniferous tree with its conical habit is used to make something called spruce beer. Known for its shade tolerance, Picea rubens usually grows to between 59 and 131 feet tall and lives between 250 to over 450 years. Its leaves are needle-like, four-sided, green, yellow, lightly banded and emerge from all around the twig. The tree’s bark is grayish brown and breaks into small plates. The wood beneath the plates is reddish brown. The flowers arrive in May, and both male and female flowers are found on this tree. Later, the cones grow to about 2 inches long and have rounded scales. They hang down and drop from the tree as soon as they open up.

Red spruce trees are one of a number of coniferous trees used as a Christmas tree. The wood is also used to make musical instruments and for construction and millwork. People make spruce beer by boiling twigs with needles on them with sugar and spices.

12. Shadbush

Amelanchier lamarckii deciduous flowering shrub, group of white flowers and leaves on branches in bloom, snowy mespilus plant cultivar

The shadbush has sweet smelling flowers followed by sweet tasting fruit.

Also called the Amelanchier or the serviceberry, this is a deciduous small tree related to the rose. It gets its name because the flowers are said to appear when the shad are running. As it grows between half a foot and 65 feet tall, the shadbush can also grow as a shrub.

The Amelanchier has gray or brown bark that’s smooth when the tree is young but fissures when it matures. The leaves are oval or lance-shaped and thin and grow on the upper part of the stem. Delicate and fragrant white flowers appear in May just as the leaves are unfurling. When they’re unfurling, the leaves are pink. The fruit appears in the summer and is red to dark purple. It’s edible and can range from not having much taste at all to being wonderfully sweet. To add to all this, the shadbush’s leaves turn scarlet in the fall.

13. Silver Maple

silver maple leaves

The leaves of this tree show their silvery undersides in the slightest breeze.

This tree was given its common name because of its silvery gray bark and leaves that show their silvery undersides when a breeze blows. A commonly found tree, it usually grows between 49 and 82 feet high and has a 36-to-49-foot spread. The silver maple is a fast-growing tree, and a 10-year-old could be as tall as 26 feet.

The silver maple flourishes in wet areas and near bodies of water. When it’s young, its bark is silvery and smooth. It becomes shaggy as the tree gets older. Often, the bark presents suckers and shoots. The leaf is palmate with five lobes with deep notches between them. Their autumn colors aren’t as spectacular as the leaves of other maples. Usually, silver maple leaves turn pallid yellow or red. They also drop earlier than the leaves of other maples.

Silver maple flowers arrive in clusters and open in March, before the leaves. The samaras each have one seed and are larger than the samaras of other maples found in Vermont. Because they’re so large, the silver maple’s samaras are taken away by water instead of wind. The tree is also unusual in that it produces its fruit in the spring. The only other maple that does that in Vermont is the red maple. The seed also sprouts immediately after it finds a suitable place to grow.

Like other maples, the silver maple can be male, female or both. It can also change from one sex to the other, and it starts producing seeds when it’s about 11 years old. Its wood is used for pulp, furniture, flooring, and musical instruments.

14. Sugar Maple

Acer saccharum sugar maple tree changing color in Fall

The sugar maple’s fall colors are breathtaking.

The silver maple and the sugar maple have curiously similar scientific names (silver maple is Acer saccharinum while the sugar maple is Acer saccharum). They’re both iconic trees in Vermont, but the sugar maple is not only the tree that provides syrup but is the state tree of Vermont. You can find it on the state quarter. It also provides amazing fall foliage and beautiful figured wood.

Usually, the sugar maple grows between 80 and 115 feet, and there are trees noteworthy for their large spread and the diameter of their trunks. Like other maples, it has palmate leaves, but the notches between the lobes aren’t as pronounced as they in the leaves of the silver maple. The bark of an older tree is grayish brown and shaggy.

Flowers, Samaras, Wood

Sugar maple flowers open in April in clusters. They’re found on stalks and lack petals. The tree can start to produce flowers when it’s about 10 years old, but others wait till they’re about 200 to flower. This is often near the end of the tree’s life, though sugar maples can live to be 300. The tree also has deeper roots than other maples and can pull water up from deep in the earth.

The sugar maple is also unlike the silver or red maple in that its samaras arrive in the fall, and in order to germinate they need to be exposed to at least 45 days of temperatures lower than 39 degrees F. Even then, the seeds won’t germinate until spring after the last frost date, but they won’t germinate if the temperature goes over 50 degrees F. The tree itself needs to endure a hard freeze to go dormant.

Besides its syrup, the tree is loved for its fall colors and its beautiful wood. Leaves turn gold, brilliantly yellow, red, orange, or a sizzling reddish orange. Often, they don’t all color at once, and one part of the tree can display fall foliage even while another part is still green. Moreover, there are some trees where all of the above-mentioned colors appear simultaneously.


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About the Author

Arlene Mckanic

Arlene Mckanic is a writer for A-Z Animals whose focus is on plants and animals of all kinds, from ants to elephants. She has a Bachelor's Degree from City College of New York. A resident of South Carolina, she loves gardening and though she doesn't have pets, a black racer snake does live in her kitchen.

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