Tree dictionary
Trees of Butler County
75 native and 7 invasive species recorded here. All of Missouri.
Invasive trees in Butler County
Spreading here on their own. Cutting is only half the job; the stump needs treating or it comes back.
The white-flowering, fish-smelling street tree of every subdivision, now seeding into fields and roadsides across Missouri as thorny wild thickets. Selling it is banned in Missouri as of 2025.
1 record in the county
Photo: Bruce Marlin · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Glossy, smooth-topped leaves and white-to-purple fruit; brought for silkworms, now in fencerows and lots statewide and crossing with native red mulberry.
5 records in the county
Photo: Emőke Dénes · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Fern-like leaves and pink powder-puff flowers in summer, escaping along roads and streams in the southern half of the state.
7 records in the county
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Huge velvety heart-shaped leaves and purple foxglove-like flowers before the leaves; seeds blow into disturbed ground, bluffs and roadsides, mostly southern and eastern Missouri.
1 record in the county
Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
The large shrub that greens up first and drops last, with hollow stems and red berries, crowding out everything under the trees in woodlots and parks across Missouri.
2 records in the county
Photo: Eric Hunt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Silver-backed leaves, fragrant spring flowers and red speckled berries; planted for wildlife, now blanketing old fields and roadsides statewide.
10 records in the county
Photo: KENPEI · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Semi-evergreen hedge shrub with small opposite leaves and blue-black berries, forming thickets in bottomland woods, worst in the southern counties.
3 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Native trees in Butler County
Missouri's signature forest tree, with rounded-lobed leaves, light gray flaky bark and a broad crown. Grows on uplands and slopes statewide and lives for centuries.
12 records in the county
Photo: Marty Aligata at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Thick corky bark, big fringed acorns and leaves widest near the tip. Found in bottoms, prairies and savannas across the state; tolerates drought and fire.
4 records in the county
Photo: Heath Cajandig · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cross-shaped leaves and a stocky form, common on dry rocky ridges in the Ozarks and southern counties. Slow-growing and long-lived.
17 records in the county
Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Two-toned leaves, dark green above and whitish below, with peeling bark on young limbs. Grows in bottomlands and wet flats, mostly north and east.
1 record in the county
Photo: Bruce Marlin · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Acorn cups that nearly cover the nut. A tree of swamps and flooded bottoms in the Bootheel and along the big rivers.
3 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Large wavy-toothed leaves and sweet acorns wildlife favor. Found in rich bottomland forests of southeastern Missouri.
9 records in the county
Photo: Jaknouse at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Pointed-lobed leaves, bark with shiny flat ridges, and fast growth for an oak. Common on moist slopes and in yards statewide.
3 records in the county
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Velela assumed (based on copyright claims). · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Dark blocky bark with yellow-orange inner bark, glossy leaves. One of the most common upland oaks in the Ozarks.
9 records in the county
Photo: Willow · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Deeply cut leaves that turn brilliant red in fall. A dry-ridge tree of the Ozarks and eastern Missouri.
9 records in the county
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Pyramid shape with lower limbs that droop, small deeply cut leaves, and leaves that hang on through winter. Native to wet bottoms, planted everywhere.
2 records in the county
Photo: Bruce Marlin · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
A big handsome red oak of bottomlands and lower slopes, mostly southern and eastern Missouri. Good red fall color.
1 record in the county
Photo: Tmasjeg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Leaves with a long drooping end lobe and a rounded base. Found on dry uplands in the southern tier of counties.
7 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
The tallest oak of the Bootheel bottomlands, with scaly bark like a black cherry's. Valued timber.
2 records in the county
Photo: miguelvieira · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Small, scrubby, with thick leathery club-shaped leaves and black blocky bark. Dry rocky glades and ridges of the Ozarks.
7 records in the county
Photo: DeepFork (talk) (Uploads) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
An oak with smooth, unlobed leaves like a laurel's. Common statewide on slopes and in fencerows.
4 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Narrow willow-like leaves on a true oak. Native to Bootheel bottoms and widely planted as a street tree.
15 records in the county
Photo: Freekhou5 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Spatula-shaped leaves of varied outline. A Bootheel bottomland tree at the north edge of its range.
20 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
A red oak of heavy, wet Bootheel soils, now widely planted for its tolerance and fall color.
3 records in the county
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Named for the long bark plates that curl away from the trunk. Five leaflets, sweet nuts, found statewide on slopes and bottoms.
3 records in the county
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Like shagbark but with seven leaflets and the largest nuts of any hickory. A bottomland tree, mostly along the larger rivers.
3 records in the county
Photo: Robert H. Mohlenbrock. USDA SCS. Midwest wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Fuzzy leaf undersides, tight furrowed bark, and nuts with thick shells and little meat. Common on Ozark uplands.
6 records in the county
Photo: Photo by David J. Stang · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Smooth-looking leaves, pear-shaped nuts, tight bark. Dry upland woods across the southern two-thirds of the state.
4 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Bright yellow winter buds give it away. Moist woods and bottoms statewide; the fastest-growing hickory.
1 record in the county
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. MPF assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Native to the Missouri and Mississippi river bottoms and the Bootheel; many leaflets and the familiar nut. Planted well beyond its range.
3 records in the county
Photo: Bruce Marlin · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A smaller hickory of dry Ozark ridges, with dark bark and rusty-scaled buds.
3 records in the county
Photo: Te Chang · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Dark furrowed bark, long compound leaves, and the round green-husked nuts that stain everything. Rich bottoms and slopes statewide; Missouri leads the nation in wild nut harvest.
2 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Five-lobed leaves with smooth edges and the best orange fall color of any native tree. Rich wooded slopes, mostly the eastern half and the Ozark border.
6 records in the county
Photo: Superior National Forest · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Deeply cut leaves silvery underneath, fast growth, and shaggy bark. Native to river bottoms statewide and planted in countless yards.
3 records in the county
Photo: Darkone (talk · contribs) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Red twigs, red flowers in late winter and red fall leaves. Native to the eastern Ozarks and Bootheel swamps; cultivars planted everywhere.
6 records in the county
Photo: Ayotte, Gilles, 1948- · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A maple with compound leaves, often mistaken for poison ivy as a seedling. Grows fast in bottoms, fencerows and neglected lots statewide.
3 records in the county
Photo: CK Kelly · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The vase-shaped shade tree of old main streets, with lopsided double-toothed leaves. Native to bottoms statewide; Dutch elm disease has taken most large ones.
1 record in the county
Photo: Marty Aligata · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Native
Rough sandpaper leaves and a slimy inner bark once used as a remedy. Moist slopes and bottoms statewide.
3 records in the county
Corky wings along the twigs and small leaves. A tree of dry uplands and old fields in the southern half of the state.
11 records in the county
Photo: Ronnie Nijboer · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Small stiff leaves and late-summer flowering, at the edge of its range in southwest and southeast Missouri bottoms.
5 records in the county
Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Diamond-furrowed bark, opposite compound leaves whitish underneath, purple fall color. Upland woods statewide.
1 record in the county
Photo: Willow · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
The common bottomland ash, planted by the thousands as a street tree for decades. Leaves green on both sides.
3 records in the county
Photo: Jerzy Opioła · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A swamp ash with a swollen, pumpkin-shaped base, in Bootheel wetlands.
2 records in the county
Photo: Wdvanhem · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Missouri's fastest-growing and often largest tree, with triangular leaves that rattle in wind and cottony seeds in June. River bottoms and wet ground statewide.
5 records in the county
Photo: Laurent Bélanger · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Rounder, heart-shaped leaves than eastern cottonwood, in Bootheel swamps and sloughs.
4 records in the county
Photo: Robert H. Mohlenbrock. USDA NRCS. 1995. Northeast wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. Northeast National Technical Center, Chester. Courtesy of USDA NRCS Wetland Science Institute. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
The native streambank willow, often with several leaning trunks and dark rough bark. Statewide along water.
4 records in the county
Photo: Bruce Marlin · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
White upper bark peeling in patches, huge leaves and dangling seed balls. Creek and river bottoms statewide; among the largest trees in the state.
10 records in the county
Photo: Marty Aligata · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Warty, corky bark and lopsided leaves; purple berries birds love. Bottoms, slopes and city lots statewide, tough as nails.
4 records in the county
Photo: Chhe (talk) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
The southern hackberry, smoother-barked with narrower leaves, in Bootheel and southern bottomlands.
3 records in the county
Photo: Gaberlunzi (Richard Murphy) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Dark scaly bark like burnt potato chips, glossy leaves and small black cherries in summer. Fencerows and woods statewide.
8 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A thicket-forming small tree with white spring flowers and red-yellow plums. Fencerows and woodland edges statewide.
5 records in the county
Photo: Homer Edward Price · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Mitten-shaped leaves in three forms on one tree, spicy-scented twigs, orange fall color. Old fields and woodland edges across the southern two-thirds.
14 records in the county
Photo: Randy Everette · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Tall and straight with square-tipped leaves and tulip-shaped green-and-orange flowers in May. Native to the eastern Ozarks and Bootheel; planted widely.
6 records in the county
Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Star-shaped leaves, corky twigs and the spiky gum balls that litter yards. Native to the Bootheel and southeastern bottoms, planted statewide.
14 records in the county
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Horizontal branching, glossy leaves that turn scarlet early, blocky bark. Dry Ozark ridges and acid flats in the southern half.
4 records in the county
Photo: Eric Hunt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Swollen buttressed trunk standing in Bootheel swamp water beside bald cypress.
1 record in the county
Photo: Nhu Nguyen · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Blocky black bark and orange fruit that is mouth-puckering until frost. Old fields and edges across the southern two-thirds.
8 records in the county
Photo: Peterwchen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wicked branched thorns on wild trees, fine feathery leaves and long twisted pods. Bottoms and pastures statewide; thornless forms are planted.
3 records in the county
Photo: Plant Image Library from Boston, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A swamp locust with short oval pods, in Bootheel wetlands.
2 records in the county
Photo: François André Michaux (book author), Augustus Lucas Hillhouse (translator), iii (illustrator), eee (engraver) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Huge twice-compound leaves, thick leathery pods and a coarse, bare winter look. Rich bottoms and slopes, scattered statewide.
2 records in the county
Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Pink-purple flowers on bare branches in early April, then heart-shaped leaves. Woodland edges statewide and a favorite yard tree.
14 records in the county
Photo: Greg Hume · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Missouri's state tree: white bracts in April, red berries and maroon fall leaves, under taller trees in the Ozarks and eastern counties.
8 records in the county
Photo: Eric Hunt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Big lopsided heart-shaped leaves and fragrant June flowers that hum with bees. Moist slopes and bottoms, more common north and east.
1 record in the county
Photo: Plant Image Library · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Salmon-pink peeling bark and doubly toothed leaves. Native along streams statewide; the most planted birch in Missouri yards.
2 records in the county
Photo: Greg Hume · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Smooth gray bark, papery winter leaves on young trees, and triangular nuts. In Missouri only in the far southeast, Bootheel ridges and the eastern Ozark foothills.
1 record in the county
Photo: Marqqq · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Red tubular flowers that hummingbirds visit in April, in the Bootheel and southeastern lowlands.
11 records in the county
Photo: Eric Hunt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Big drooping tropical-looking leaves and the largest native fruit, like a mango-banana in September. Moist bottoms and shaded slopes statewide.
4 records in the county
Photo: Scott Bauer, USDA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
NativeSmooth gray bark with muscle-like ridges, along streams under taller trees in the southern and eastern counties.
5 records in the county
Photo: Photo by and (c)2005 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
The first white bloom in the woods each March, then sweet purple berries in June. Bluffs and slopes across the Ozarks and eastern Missouri.
7 records in the county
Photo: Dcrjsr · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Large sandpapery leaves, some mitten-lobed, and dark purple fruit in June. Moist woods and bottoms statewide; hybridizes with the invasive white mulberry.
1 record in the county
Photo: Douglas Goldman · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A conifer that drops its feathery needles each fall, with buttressed trunks and knees rising from swamp water. Native to the Bootheel and lower Mississippi lowlands; planted statewide.
9 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
The evergreen that takes over every unmowed pasture and glade, with shreddy red bark and blue berry-like cones. Statewide.
5 records in the county
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Missouri's only native pine: needles in twos and threes, plated bark with resin pockets. Ozark ridges and sandy soils in the southern counties.
4 records in the county
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
The evergreen Christmas holly, native to the Bootheel and southeastern lowlands and planted farther north.
1 record in the county
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Bare gray branches loaded with red berries all winter. Wet bottoms and stream edges across the southern half.
12 records in the county
Photo: Eric Hunt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Flat white flower clusters in May and blue-black fruit; a small stiff tree of woodland edges statewide.
1 record in the county
Photo: Robert H. Mohlenbrock. USDA SCS · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Huge heart-shaped leaves, orchid-like white flowers in June and long bean pods. Native to the Bootheel bottoms; planted and naturalized statewide.
3 records in the county
Photo: Mark Wagner · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Dozens of hard-to-tell-apart native species: thorny small trees with white spring flowers and red haws. The state flower comes from this group. Pastures and edges statewide.
24 records in the county
Photo: Nadiatalent · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
A spiny single stem topped by enormous compound leaves and a cloud of white summer flowers. Moist woods in the Ozarks and southeast.
9 records in the county
Photo: Eric Hunt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A small elm relative with warty fruit, standing in Bootheel swamp margins.
3 records in the county
Photo: François André Michaux (book author), Augustus Lucas Hillhouse (translator), Henri-Joseph Redouté (illustrator), Gabriel (engraver), Nonenmac (eraser) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Glossy leaves with straight veins and red-to-black berries, on limestone slopes in the Ozarks.
12 records in the county
Photo: Mason Brock (Masebrock) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Records from GBIF (herbarium specimens and verified observations). A species missing here may still grow in the county; nobody has filed a record.