The People’s Choice for America’s National Tree: The Oak
Tree Candidates Table of Common Species
People were invited to vote for one of 21 candidate trees, which included the state trees of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Listed here are the 21 tree names or “genera” which appeared on the National Tree ballot.
Following each tree name is its Latin or scientific name, and some of the common species of that tree. This list of 21 broad types of trees (genera) incorporates all state trees and suggests the wealth of species across the United States.
| Tree | Latin Name | Some Common Species |
|---|---|---|
| BALDCYPRESS | Taxodium | Baldcypress |
| BIRCH | Betula | European White Birch, Paper Birch, Red Birch, River Birch, Water Birch |
| BUCKEYE | Aesculus | California Buckeye, Horsechestnut, Ohio Buckeye, Yellow Buckeye |
| COTTONWOOD (POPLAR) | Populus | Balsam Poplar, Bigtooth Aspen, Black Cottonwood, Eastern Cottonwood, Fremont Cottonwood, Lanceleaf Cottonwood, Lombardy Black Poplar, Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Plains Cottonwood, Quaking Aspen, White Poplar |
| DOGWOOD | Cornus | Brown Dogwood, Flowering Dogwood, Pacific Dogwood |
| DOUGLASFIR | Pseudotsuga | Douglasfir |
| ELM | Ulmus | American Elm, Chinese Elm, Cork Elm, Rock Elm, Siberian Elm, Slippery Elm |
| HEMLOCK | Tsuga | Eastern Hemlock, Mountain Hemlock, Western Hemlock |
| HOLLY | Ilex | American Holly, Yaupon Holly |
| KUKUI | Aleurites | Kukui |
| MAGNOLIA | Magnolia | Cucumbertree Magnolia, Saucer Magnolia, Southern Magnolia, Umbrella Magnolia |
| MAPLE | Acer | Amur Maple, Ashleaf Maple, Bigleaf Maple, Bigtooth Maple, Black Maple, Boxelder Maple, Canyon Maple, Ginnala Maple, Norway Maple, Red Maple, Rocky Mountain Maple, Silver Maple, Striped Maple, Sugar Maple. |
| OAK | Quercus | Arizona White Oak, Black Oak, Blue Oak, Bur Oak, California Black Oak, California Live Oak, Canyon Live Oak, Chestnut Oak, Chinkapin Oak, Coast Live Oak, Emory Oak, Engelmann Oak, English Oak, Gambel Oak, Interior Live Oak, Live Oak, Mexican Blue Oak, Northern Red Oak, Oregon White Oak, Overcup Oak, Pin Oak, Post Oak, Scarlet Oak, Shingle Oak, Shrub Live Oak, Southern Red Oak, Swamp White Oak, Valley Oak, Water Oak, White Oak, Willow Oak |
| PALM | Sabal | Bush Palmetto, Cabbage Palmetto |
| PALOVERDE | Cercidium | Blue Paloverde, Yellow Paloverde |
| PECAN (HICKORY) |
Carya | Bitternut Hickory, Mockernut Hickory, Pecan, Pignut Hickory, Shagbark Hickory, Shellbark Hickory. |
| PINE | Pinus | Apache Pine, Austrian Pine, Bishop Pine, Bristlecone Pine, Chihuahua Pine, Colorado Pinyon Pine, Coulter Pine, Digger Pine, Eastern White Pine, Foxtail Pine, Jack Pine, Jeffrey Pine, Monterey Pine, Parry Pinyon Pine, Pinyon Pine, Pitch Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Red Pine, Scotch Pine, Scots Pine, Scrub Pine, Shortleaf Pine, Singleleaf Pinyon Pine, Slash Pine, Southwestern White Pine, Sugar Pine, Torrey Pine, Western White Pine, Whitebark Pine. |
| REDBUD | Cercis | California Redbud, Eastern Redbud, Western Redbud |
| REDWOOD | Sequoia | California Redwood, Giant Sequoia. |
| SPRUCE | Picea | Black Spruce, Blackhills Spruce, Colorado Blue Spruce, Engelmann Spruce, Norway Spruce, Red Spruce, Sitka Spruce, White Spruce. |
| TULIPTREE | Liriodendron | Tuliptree, (Tulip Poplar, Yellow Poplar). |