species

Common Maine Trees

Only the most common trees in Maine are described. Species are listed from most shade tolerant to least shade tolerant. Identifying trees is not discussed. There are many excellent books at your local library or book store that do an excellent job of teaching tree identification; mainly using drawings and pictures. You may also learn tree identification on your computer. Check out the Dendro on Disk web site. The Maine Forest Service publishes an excellent guide to trees in Maine (call 287-2791). The following defines the categories used to describe each species.

Tolerance: Ability to grown in shade

Shade: Can grow underneath a full canopy of trees

Partial: Needs some openings in the canopy to grow (about 50% open)

Sun: Needs more than 50% full sunlight to grow

Site: Type of soil and location that the species is most often found. Keep in mind that most trees can grow the fastest on moist, fertile, well-drained sites; but only the best competitors grow there (sugar maple, black spruce, white ash, yellow birch). A sugar maples may be able to take over a fertile site growing poplars, but they will not be able to take over an infertile site of poplars. This results in poplars being commonly found on infertile sites, eventhough they would grow best on fertile sites.

Regeneration: Type of soil and site needed for successful regeneration. Includes temperature, moisture, fertility, and shade.

Longevity: Average life of tree. Most trees die younger than this number from competition.

Associates: Species commonly found growing with this one.

Pests: Common insect and disease problems -see the Protection web page

Products: General categories of products made

Lumber: Used for construction

Pulp: Used for making paper products

Veneer: Used to produce high quality thin sheets of wood (only the highest quality trees)

Specialty Products: Miscellaneous products like toothpicks and baseball bats

Other: Anything else pertinent or of interest

Conifers / Hardwoods

Conifers

Hemlock / Fir / Red Spruce / White Spruce / Cedar / Black Spruce / White Pine / Red Pine / Larch

Eastern Hemlock Tsuga canadensis

Tolerance: Shade
Site: cool and moist, along streams and lakes
Regeneration: Cool and moist, Encourage regeneration by scarifying the forest floor, Can sprout on stumps, logs, and moss-covered boulders, Can grow as small tree in shade for more than 200 years and then grow fast when exposed to sunlight.
Longevity: 300-1000 years
Associates: White pine, red spruce, maple, beech, yellow birch
Pests: Hemlock woolly adelgid and hemlock looper
Products: Lumber and pulp
Other: Beautiful tree

Balsam Fir Abies balsamea

Tolerance: Shade
Site: Moist and wet
Regeneration: Prolific seeder
Longevity: 80 years, fungus rots stem from inside at about 40 years old
Associates: Spruces and hardwoods
Pests: First to die in a spruce budworm epidemic, fungi that rot wood of standing trees
Products: Pulp, Lumber, Christmas trees, and Christmas wreaths
Other: Shallow roots make susceptible to windthrow

Red Spruce Picea rubens

Tolerance: Shade
Site: Moist, best on sandy soils and moist loams
Regeneration: Can grow as small tree in shade for more than 200 years and then grow fast when exposed to sunlight. Prolific seeds every 3-8 years
Longevity: 300-400 years
Associates: Fir and northern hardwoods
Pests: One of last trees spruce budworm will kill in an epidemic, spruce bark beetle
Products: Lumber, pulp, and Christmas tree
Other: Shallow roots make susceptible to windthrow

White Spruce Picea glauca

Tolerance: Shade
Site: Moist soil, along streams, wetlands rich in calcium (called fens)
Regeneration: Fast growing, often used in plantations in Canada
Longevity: 200 years
Associates: Aspen, birch, fir, other spruces
Pests: Spruce budworm
Products: Lumber, pulp, and Christmas trees
Other:

Northern White Cedar Thuja occidentalis

Tolerance: Partial
Site: Moist and wet, bogs, swamps, soils rich in calcium
Regeneration: Moist organic soil
Longevity: 400 years
Associates: Fir, hemlock, pine, spruce, larch, black ash, yellow birch, maples
Pests: Stems rot in center to create hollow trees
Products: Lumber and shingles, decay and weather resistant
Other: Favorite browse of deer

Black Spruce Picea mariana

Tolerance: Partial
Site: Wet; bogs, organic soils (mountain tops) and other nutrient poor sites
Regeneration: Layering and seeds. Paper companies plant in Maine because of its fast growth on fertile, well-drained soils. Slow growing on the poor sites it inhabits naturally.
Longevity: 250 years
Associates: Larch, Poplar, Cedar, Fir, Birches, Other spruces
Pests: Serious insect pest is dwarf mistletoe, a plan parasite that cause the top of the tree to look like a witches broom.
Products: Excellent pulpwood for high grade paper, lumber, Christmas trees
Other: Grown in paper company plantations

White Pine Pinus strobus

Tolerance: Partial
Site: Wide range, Wet (bogs) and dry, often found on sandy soils where it uses its deep taproot to get to water
Regeneration: Prolific seed crop roughly every 7 years, fast growth, often first to colonize old fields, Seedlings are tolerant of shade and saplings are not
Longevity: 200+ years
Associates: Hardwoods on fertile sites, other pines on dry sites, often taller than main canopy (100' tall)
Pests: White pine blister rust (killing bark disease) and white pine weevil (kills top shoot which results in a many forks in the main stem)
Products: Excellent lumber, furniture, specialty products, and pulp
Other: Maine's State Tree, Extremely windfirm

Red Pine Pinus resinosa

Tolerance: Sun
Site: Sandy soils, shallow soils, often on soils too nutrient poor and dry for white pine; dry, rocky ridges
Regeneration: Has often been planted in old fields and areas stripped of topsoil (roadsides) as a land reclamation measure. Good seed crop every 3-7 years
Longevity: 350 years
Associates: White pine and jack pine
Pests: Nantucket pine tip moth and European pine shoot moth
Products: Poles, lumber, and pulp
Other:

Eastern Larch Larix laricina

Tolerance: Sun
Site: Cool and wet, bogs; can grow well on dry sites too
Regeneration: Layering and seeds. Exotic faster growing varieties are often planted by the paper companies in Maine
Longevity: 100-200 years
Associates: Black and white spruce
Pests: Larch sawfly and European casebearer
Products: Pulp and lumber
Other: Deciduous conifer, meaning it loses its needles in the winter

Hardwoods

Sugar Maple / Beech / Yellow Birch / Ash / Red Maple / Oak / Black Cherry / Paper Birch / Gray Birch / Poplar / Pin Cherry

Sugar Maple Acer saccharum

Tolerance: Shade
Site: Deep, fertile, moist, and well-drained soils; old fields
Regeneration: Heavy seed crop every 2-3 years, stump sprouts, root suckers
Longevity: 300-400 years
Associates: Beech, hemlock, and yellow birch
Pests:
Products: Lumber, furniture, syrup, veneer, specialty products
Other:

American Beech Fagus grandifolia

Tolerance: Shade
Site: Moist soil, uses large amounts of water to grow
Regeneration: Root suckers (especially after a disturbance), stump sprouts, large nut crop every 2-3 years
Longevity: 300 years -less if infected with beech bark disease
Associates: Yellow birch, hemlock, and maples
Pests: Beech bark disease has affected most beech in Maine, making it a financially undesirable tree
Products: Firewood and specialty products
Other: Important mast (beechnut) producer for wildlife, keep uninfected trees as seed source for a new generation of disease resistant beech

Yellow Birch Betula alleghaniensis

Tolerance: Partial
Site: Cool, moist soils (northern aspects)
Regeneration: Prolific seeder, can germinate in any moist place (logs, stumps, mossy boulders)
Longevity: 150-300 years
Associates: Beech, hemlock, and sugar maple
Products: Veneer, furniture, lumber, firewood
Other: Chew on a twig as a wintergreen breath freshener

White Ash Fraxinus americana

Tolerance: Partial
Site: deep, moist, well-drained soils; fertile upland soils
Regeneration: Seedlings are shade tolerant, fast growth, colonizes abandoned fields, large seed crop every 3-5 years
Longevity: 150+
Associates: Beech, birch, maple, oak, and black cherry
Pests: Ash yellows
Products: Furniture, specialty products, and pulp
Other:

Red Maple Acer rubrum

Tolerance: Partial
Site: Wide range, From dry to wet (swamps)
Regeneration: Vigorous stump sprouter, fast growth
Longevity: 70-100 years
Associates: Northern hardwoods, pines, and spruces
Pests: Stem rot
Products: Specialty products, furniture, and pulp
Other:

Northern Red Oak Quercus rubra

Tolerance: Partial
Site: Moist and well-drained, best on soils having silt or clay
Regeneration: Prolific sprouter and seeder, large acorn crop every 2-5 years, acorns germinate the spring after they drop from the tree
Longevity: 200-300 years
Associates: White pine and northern hardwoods
Pests: Gypsy moth (repeated defoliation kills the tree)
Products: Lumber, flooring, furniture, specialty products, lobster traps
Other: Important mast (acorn) producer for wildlife

Black Cherry Prunus serotina

Tolerance: Sun
Site: Often found in fertile upland soils, well-drained moist loams
Regeneration: Seeds remain viable for years, stump sprouts, seeds are spread by birds (seeds germinate well after passing through bird's digestive tract)
Longevity: 150-200 years
Associates: Oak, ash, maple, pine, and hemlock
Pests: Tent catipillar and ugly-nest catipillar (defoliators), wood fungi
Products: Valuable timber for cabinets, fine furniture, and veneer
Other:

Paper Birch Betula papyrifera

Tolerance: Sun
Site: Wide range, sandy and gravelly soils
Regeneration: Prolific wind blown seeds that require a coarse, cool, moist, mineral soil; stump sprouts; fast growth
Longevity: 80 years
Associates: Poplar, pin cherry, and gray birch
Pests: Bronze birch borer
Products: Specialty products (toothpicks), firewood, very valuable in Maine because of presence of specialty mills
Other: Aesthetically appealing

Gray Birch Betula populifolia

Tolerance: Sun
Site: Can survive on the most infertile of sites
Regeneration: Prolific wind blown seeds, fast growth
Longevity: 50 years
Associates: Poplar, pin cherry, paper birch
Pests: Bronze birch borer
Products: Firewood and pulp
Other: Usually many crooked stems coming from same base

Poplar (Quaking and Bigtooth Aspen) Populus tremuloides and grandidentata

Tolerance: Sun
Site: Wide range, sandy and gravelly soils
Regeneration: Prolific wind blown seeds that require a moist mineral soil and are only viable for 2-3 weeks, root sprouts (especially after cutting), fast growth
Longevity: 60 years
Associates: Paper birch, gray birch, and pin cherry
Pests: Hypoxylon canker (fungus), forest tent catipillar, beaver
Products: Soft, light wood that does not splinter; specialty products; pulp
Other: Beaver prefers this tree to build dam because of the lightness of the wood

Pin Cherry Prunus pensylvanica

Tolerance: Sun
Site: Wide range; mineral soils, including sand
Regeneration: Seeds remain viable in the soil for 90+ years
Longevity: 50 years
Associates: Poplar, paper birch, and gray birch
Pests:
Products: Firewood
Other: Considered a weed tree

(MFS 1995 and Harlow et al. 1991)

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