Temple College - Landscape - Arboretum Tree List

A tree can be defined in many ways. An edition of Webster's Dictionary defines a tree as "a woody perennial plant usually with a single main stem and a head of branches and leaves at the top." Benny J. Simpson, Co-Founder and former President of the Texas Native Plant Society is remembered for saying, "if you could walk under it, it was a tree, but if you had to walk around it, it was a shrub." A list of trees has some gray areas; it is difficult to draw a hard and fast line between trees and shrubs. For example, there is a Texas Buckeye that is about five feet high and five feet wide, but at Enchanted Rock in the Hill Country the same species will grow to a height of over twelve feet.

Trees in cultivation will react differently from those in their native habitat. At Temple College an effort is made to get a tree well established after planting and then let it grow on its own. Trees that are out of their natural range are put into a microclimate that will encourage survival and growth. The Wild Olive (Cordia boissieri) on campus is protected from the north and the east by a building; the Montezuma Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) is placed in a low spot that receives runoff water when it rains.

Future plans for the Arboretum include the addition of suitable trees that are native to this area of Texas as well as those that are well adapted. The Arboretum is for the use and enjoyment for those who come to study plants. It also here for the enjoyment of those who might discover what the evergreen Mexican Silktassel (Garrya ovata var. lindheimeri) looks like, or see a Texas Smoke Tree (Cotinus obvatus) in glorious fall color, or smell the blossoms of the Anacacho Orchid Tree (Bauhinia congesta) and decide that trees add more to the landscape than just oxygen and shade.

Acacia farnesiana var. smallii Huisache
Acacia wrightii Wright Acacia
Acer grandidentatum Bigtooth Maple
Acer negundo var. drummondii Box Elder
Acer rubrum Red Maple
Acer truncatum Shantung Maple
Aesculus arguta Texas Buckeye
Aesculus parvia var. parvia Scarlet Buckeye

Bauhinia congesta Anacacho Orchid Tree
Bauhinia mexicana Mexican Orchid Tree
Betula nigra River Birch "Dura Heat"

Caesalpinia gilliesii Bird of Paradise
Caesalpinia mexicana Mexican Poinciana
Carya illinoensis Pecan
Catalpa spp. Caltalpa
Celtis laevigata Sugarberry
Cercidium spp. Palo Verde
Cercis canadensis var. canadensis Eastern Redbud
Cercis canadensis Forest Pansy Redbud
Cercis canadensis var. mexicana Mexican Redbud
Cercis canadensis var. texensis Texas Redbud
Chilopsis linearis Desert Willow
Cordia boissieri Wild Olive
Cornus drummondii Rough-leaf Dogwood
Cornus florida Flowering Dogwood
Cotinus obovatus Smoke Tree
Crataegus marshallii Parsley Hawthorn
Cupressus arizonica Arizona Cypress

Diospyros texana Texas Persimmon
Diospyros virginiana Common Persimmon

Ehretia anacua Anacua
Eriobotrya japonica Loquat
Eysenhardtia texana Texas Kidneywood

Fraxinus greggii Little-leaf Ash
Fraxinus texensis Texas Ash
Fraxinus velutina Arizona Ash
Fraxinus cuspidate Fragrant Ash

Garrya ovata ssp. lindheimeri Mexican Silk-tassel
Ginkgo biloba Gingko

Ilex x attenuata "Foster" Foster Holly
Ilex decidua Possumhaw Holly
Ilex vomitoria Yaupon Holly
Ilex vomitoria Yaupon Holly (Weeping form)

Juglans microcarpa Little Walnut
Juglans nigra Black Walnut

Lagerstroemia indica Crape Myrtle
Lagerstroemia x fauriei "Natchez" Natchez Crape Myrtle
Leucaena retusa Golden Ball Lead Tree
Ligustrum lucidum Japanese Ligustrum
Liquidambar styraciflua Sweetgum

Magnolia grandiflora Southern Magnolia
Magnolia soulangeana Saucer Magnolia and Tulip Tree
Melia azedarach Chinaberry
Metasequoia glyptostroboides Dawn Redwood
Morus rubra Red Mulberry
Morus alba White Mulberry
Myrica cerifera Wax Myrtle
Myrospermum sousanum Arroyo Sweetwood

Parkinsonia aculeata Retama
Paulownia imperialis Royal Paulownia
Pinus eldarica Afghan Pine
Pinus cembroides Papershell Pinyon Pine
Pistacia chinensis Chinese Pistache
Pistacia texana Texas Pistache
Platycladus orientalis Arbrovitae
Populus deltoids Cottonwood
Prosopis grandulosa Honey Mesquite
Prunus mexicana Mexican Plum
Prunus serotina var. eximia Escarpment Black Cherry
Ptelea trifoliata Wafer Ash
Punica granatum Pomegranate
Pyrus calleryana Ornamental Pear
Pyrus ioensis Blanco Crabapple

Quercus Canbyi Canby Oak
Quercus virginiana Live Oak
Quercus muhlenbergii Chinquapin Oak
Quercus laceyi Lacey Oak
Quercus macrocarpa Bur Oak
Quercus polymorpha Mexican White Oak
Quercus pungens var. vaseyana Vasey Oak
Quercus shumardii Shumard Red Oak
Quercus sinuate var. breviloba Bigelow Oak

Rhamnus caroliniana Carolina Buckthorn
Rhus copallina Shining Sumac, Flame Leaf Sumac
Rhus lanceolata Prairie Flame Leaf Sumac
Rhus microphylla Little-leaf Sumac

Salix nigra var. lindheimeri Black Willow
Sambucus canadensis Elderberry
Sapindus drummondii Soapberry
Sapium sebiferum Chinese Tallow
Sophora affinis Eve's Necklace
Sophora secundiflora Texas Mountain Laurel
Styrax americana America Snow Bell
Styrax texana Texas Snow Bell

Taxodium districhum Bald Cypress
Taxodium mucronatum Montezuma Cypress
Tilia americana American Linden, Basswood
Tilia caroliniana Carolina Linden, Basswood

Ulmus americana American Elm
Ulmus crassifolia Cedar Elm
Ulmus parvifolia Chinese Elm
Ulmus rubra Slippery Elm

Viburnum rufidulum Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum
Vitex agnus-castus Vitex

Zanthoxylem hirsutum Toothache Tree