Tree species list - tolerance to stresses | Minnesota Stormwater Manual

Tree species list - tolerance to stressors

Information on tolerance to stressors for several trees that can be used in tree trenches/tree boxes.
Scientific name^1,2,3,4	Common name^1,2,3,4	Minimum zone hardiness ²	Demonstrated tolerance to urban stresses ^4,5	Tolerance to soil texture conditions (C=coars, M=medium, F=fine) ³	Salt tolerance^2,3	Stress tolerance (A=anaerobic, L=alkali, V=vehicle exhaust, D=drought)³
Acer x freemanii²	Freeman maple	4			Yes
Acer rubrum ²	Red maple	3b	Yes	CMF	No	ALD
Acer saccharinum^1,2	Silver maple	3b	Yes	CMF	Limited	AL
Acer saccharum^1,2	Sugar maple	3b		CM	No	LD
Alnus glutinosa ²	European alder	4a		CMF	Yes	D
Alnus incana ssp. rugosa ^1,2	Speckled alder	3		CMF		A
Amelanchier spp. ²	Juneberry/serviceberry	3b		CMF	No	L
Betula nigra 'Cully' & 'BNMFT'^1,2	Heritage and Dura-Heat river birch	4a	Yes	CMF	No	A
Betula populifolia²	Gray birch	3		CMF	Limited	LD
Carpinus betulus²	European hornbeam	4b	Yes	CM	No
Carpinus caroliniana ²	American hornbeam	3b		CM	No
Carya ovata ²	Shagbark hickory	3		CMF	Limited	L
Catalpa speciosa ²	Narthern catalpa	4a	Yes	CM	Limited	D
Celtis occidentalis ²	Common hackberry	2a	Yes	CMF	Limited	ALD
Cercis canadensis ²	Eastern redbud	4b		MF	Limited	D
Cladrastis kentukea ²	Yellowood, Kentucky yellowood	4b		CM	No	L
Crataegus crus-galli var. inermis ²	Thornless cockspur hawthorn	4a	Yes	CMF	Yes	LD
Crataegus phaenopyrum ²	Washington hawthorn	4b	Yes	MF	Limited	D
Fraxinus americana ²	White ash	4a		CM	Yes	L
Fraxinus Manchurian	manchrian ash	2b		CM		L
Fraxinus nigra ¹	Black ash	3		CM	No	L
Fraxinus pennsylvanica ^1,2	Green ash	2	Yes	CMF	Yes	ALD
Gingko biloba ²	Gingko – male only	4b	Yes	CM	Yes
Gleditsia tricanthos var. inermis ²	Thornless common honeylocust	3b	Yes	MF	Yes	LD
Gymnocladus dioicus ²	Kentucky coffeetree	4a		CMF	Limited	D
Larix decidua ³	European larch	3		CM	No
Larix laricina ¹	Tamarack	1		CM	No
Maackia amurensis ²	Amur maackia	4a	Yes			AD
Malus spp. ²	Crabapple spp.	4		CM	Yes	LD
Ostrya virginiana ²	American hophornbeam, ironwood	3b		CMF	No	LD
Phellodendron amurense ²	Amur corktree	4a				ALD
Populus grandidentata Michx. ²	Bigtooth aspen	1		CM	Limited	L
Populus deltoides ^1,2	Eastern cottonwood	3		CMF	Limited	ALD
Populus tremuloides ^1,1	Quaking aspen	1		CMF	Limited	L
Prunus sargentii ²	Sargent cherry	4b	Yes	CM	Yes
Prunus virginiana ²	Chokecherry	2		CMF	Limited	ALD
Pyrus fauriei 'Westwood' ²	Korean SunTM pear	4	Yes	CMF	Limited	D
Pyrus ussuriensis ²	Ussurian pear, Chinese pear	4	Yes	M	No	D
Quercus bicolor ²	Swamp white oak	4	Yes	CMF	No	A
Quercus macropcarpa ²	Bur oak	3a	Yes	CMF	No	LD
Quercus rubra ²	Red oak	3b	Yes	CMF		Yes
Robinia pseudoacacia ²	Black locust, false acacia, robinia	4		CMF	Yes	LD
Salix nigra ¹	Black willow	3		CMF	No	A
Salix babylonica	Weeping or Babylon willow	2		CMF	Yes
Sorbus americana ³	American mountainash	4		CMF	No
Sorbus alnifolia ²	Korean mountainash	4b		M
Sorbus x hybrida, Sorbus x thuringiaca ²	Oak-leaf mountainash	3b
Syringa reticulata²	Japanese tree lilac	3a			Yes
Taxodium distichum ²	Common baldcypress	4	Yes	CMF	Yes	A
Tilia americana ²	Basswood	3a	Yes	CM	No
Tilia cordata ²	Littleleaf linden	4	Yes	CM	No	D
Tilia x euchlora ²	Crimean linden, Caucasian lime	4	Yes	M	No
Ulmus x species²	Elm hybrids	3b	Yes	CMF	Yes
¹ Shaw, D. and R. Schmidt. 2024. Plants for Stormwater Design: Species Selection for the Upper Midwest. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) ² Bassuk, N. et al. 2009. Recommended Urban Trees: Site Assessment and Tree Selection for Stress Tolerance. Urban Horticulture Institute, Dept of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY ³ USDA Plants Database. ⁴ Dirr, M.. 1998. Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 5th Ed.. Timber Press, Inc. Portland, OR. ⁵ Does not consider tolerance to salt, which can be an important urban stress. See column on salt tolerance.
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