Trees Native To Michigan Hardwood

Despite urbanization about 50 percent of michigan is still forested.

Trees native to michigan hardwood.

Not all trees are present in all locations reflecting species preferences for differing sites and environments. A majestic large tree white oak is found in sites with well drained soils in dry and moist wooded areas. The wood from hardwood trees tends to be harder because the trees grow at a slower rate giving the wood its greater density. Of all the native conifers calling eastern north america home this tree is the tallest.

Most common hardwoods unlike the conifers or softwood firs spruce and pines hardwood trees have evolved into a broad array of common species. More than 100 different species of trees grow in the state. Beautiful landscapes begin with a strong foundation of woody trees and shrubs. Hardwood trees usually have broad flat leaves as opposed to coniferous needled or scaled tree foliage another name for a hardwood tree is appropriately broadleaf.

This is part 1 in a two part series on native trees and shrubs for the michigan landscape. It towers at 150 feet and lives as long as 450 years sometimes longer. Most but not all hardwoods are deciduous perennial plants which are normally leafless for some time during the year. You can identify deciduous trees in winter by their wood and buds and in summer by the shapes and sizes of their leaves.

Beyond the popular array of easy to find exotic plants there are many native plants that can provide natural beauty and enhanced habitat for wildlife. Read part 2 shrubs. Michigan is home to the shagmark bitternut and pignut species of hickory trees which will grow anywhere there is moist organically enriched soil. Michigan s forests are diverse.

This tree was once the dominant tree of washtenaw county. You can easily identify a hardwood from a conifer. Its relatively short trunk and thick wide spreading branches display spring leaves that are red turning silvery until summer when they turn blue green and then burgundy in the fall. Eastern white pine is the state tree of several states.

In addition to several different varieties of oak and hickory trees we have other native trees some of which are unusual and hard to find in nurseries. Before settlement michigan was a heavily forested area with broad expanses of deciduous and evergreen forests. Over 100 kinds of trees are native. It most likely used to grow even taller and older before the colonist arrived.

The state is home to one of the largest populations of sugar maple trees three times more than vermont the largest producer of maple syrup in the. Michigan is one of the best states for trees. Michigan made it theirs in 1955. From genus carya the hickory tree is comprised of dense shock proof wood that is used to make wheels bows skis and carts.

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