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California Native Plant Society

Santa Clara Valley Chapter

Locally Native Trees for Landscaping

Our locally native trees are beautiful and easy to grow--they are well adapted to our climate and soils. Native trees offer special values for wildlife as well. 

The valley oak and coast live oak, two beautiful species, grow fairly quickly and are easy to cultivate. While ancient trees which grew to maturity under summer dry conditions may resent irrigation, young oaks adapt to garden watering. Indeed, under garden conditions oaks may reach 25 feet in ten years--they actually grow faster than many commonly planted trees! Our native oaks deserve to be planted far more often than they are. There are smaller oaks if you do not have space for a large tree -- the scrub oak is a beautiful little tree that stays under 20' while providing the same habitat benefits as its larger relatives.

Our California laurel becomes a stately tree. It is slow growing, but well-situated specimens are a fine gift to future generations.

The madrone is one of the world's most beautiful broadleaf evergreen trees. It can be challenging to establish, but if you like a gardening challenge, try this treasure!

The California buckeye has interesting fruits, spectacular flowers and exquisite spring foliage. It is the first to drop its leaves after the end of the rainy season, revealing its lovely structure as the deciduous leaves turn brown. Its flowers have pollen that is somewhat toxic to the non-native honeybee, but no flowers have more value to butterflies and native bees. In bloom this tree is often festooned with butterflies.! The tiger swallowtail, mourning cloak, California sister, California tortoiseshell, spring azure and many others visit this tree. It is easy to grow.

Blue elderberry has summer fruit that attract a wider range of birds than any other tree. Songbirds favor it highly for food and nesting. It is easy to grow and very fast. A stump-sprouter, it is amenable to pruning.

If you have space, big-leaf maple is a very attractive species, and also fast growing--it deserves a place in more landscapes.


Native Trees of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties

Aceraceae (Maple Family)
Acer macrophyllum big-leaf maple
Acer negundo var. californicum box elder
Betulaceae (Birch Family)
Alnus rhombifolia white alder
Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle Family)
Sambucus mexicana blue elderberry
Ericaceae (Heath Family)
Arbutus menziesii Pacific madrone
Fagaceae (Oak Family)
Lithocarpus densiflorus tanbark oak
Quercus agrifolia coast live oak
Quercus chrysolepis canyon live oak
Quercus douglasii blue oak
Quercus garryana Oregon white oak
Quercus kelloggii California black oak
Quercus lobata valley oak
Quercus wislizeni interior live oak
Hippocastanaceae (Buckeye Family)
Aesculus californica California buckeye
Lauraceae (Laurel Family)
Umbellularia californica California laurel
Oleaceae (Olive Family)
Fraxinus dipetala flowering ash
Fraxinus latifolia Oregon ash
Pinaceae (Pine Family)
Pinus attenuata knobcone pine
Pinus ponderosa Pacific ponderosa pine
Pinus sabiniana gray pine
Pseudotsuga menziesii Douglas fir
Platanaceae (Sycamore Family)
Platanus racemosa Western sycamore
Salicaceae (Willow Family)
Populus fremontii ssp. fremontii Fremont cottonwood
Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa black cottonwood
Salix laevigata red willow
Salix lasiolepis arroyo willow
Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra shining willow
Taxaceae (Yew Family)
Torreya californica California nutmeg
Taxodiaceae (Bald Cypress Family)
Sequoia sempervirens redwood

 

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