This large tree was once popular for landscaping parks and streets until Dutch elm disease nearly destroyed the North American population. Since the discovery of disease-resistant individuals, American elms have slowly returned to the landscape.
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Self-Guided Tours: Green & Leafy
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Green & Leafy
Get some shade as you visit some of the trees—some very old, all very beautiful—that helped earn Lincoln Park Zoo arboretum accreditation.
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Bald Cypress
The bald cypress is a deciduous conifer, meaning it drops its needles in the fall. It’s also known for developing cypress knees, or knobby root appendages, when growing in wet soil.
Bur Oak
This long-living and majestic oak, which thrives in prairies, has broad-spreading branches and develops thick bark tolerant of once-common prairie fires. Its memorable, large acorns have a fringed cup.
Cottonwood
Tall and fast growing, cottonwoods are poplars that thrive in wet lowlands and near bodies of water.
Eastern Hemlock
This graceful evergreen tree with small needles and cones is under threat in the wild from an invasive pest: the hemlock woolly adelgid.
Eastern Redbud
A popular landscaping tree, redbud blooms pink flowers in early spring before producing its iconic heart-shaped leaves
Eastern White Pine
This evergreen tree can grow to an enormous size and, as a useful source of lumber, was heavily logged by early European settlers. The eastern white pine is distinguishable by its large needles, which always grow in groups of five.
Flowering Dogwood
Before producing leaves in early spring, the flowering dogwood is distinguishable by the white or pink bracts that form cones around its small clusters of yellow flowers. This tree has very dense wood that has been used to make tools and golf clubs.
Freeman Maple
This naturally occurring hybrid of red and silver maple has bright orange leaves in the fall. It is popular for landscaping parks and streets.
Ginkgo
Ginkgo, distinguishable by their iconic leaves that turn gold in the fall, are sometimes called “living fossils” because they evolved before dinosaurs and have changed little in the past 270 million years. This species covered North America and Europe, as well, until the last ice age.
Goldenrain Tree
In July, small yellow flowers form clusters on the goldenrain tree’s branch tips, but in fall, they turn into papery seed capsules that remain through winter. This tree’s leaves appear lacy
Horse Chestnut
The horse chestnut’s leaves are palmately compound, meaning that its large leaflets sprout from one central point like fingers. In late
spring, it blooms upright clusters of white flowers.
Katsura Tree
The katsura tree’s heart-shaped, cascading leaves have a bluish tint through summer but turn yellow to apricot in the fall. Sometimes, it
emits a sweet fragrance similar to cotton candy.
London Plane Tree
This tree is a hybrid between the North American and Asian sycamores that first occurred when the two species were sharing a garden in London. Its cream- and silver-colored bark starts smooth but flakes away as the tree ages.
Prairifire Flowering Crabapple
The prairifire flowering crabapple sets itself apart from other crabapples with its magenta spring flowers, purple foliage, and small red fruit that grows in the fall. This cultivar is a complex hybrid introduced by the University of Illinois.
Purple Fountain European Beech
A weeping form of the European beech, this tree has dramatic, dark purple foliage. The seeds produced by beech trees are called beechnuts and are a key food source for wildlife.
River Birch
River birch grows well in moist locales, and its peeling, salmon-colored bark provides habitat for insects and foraging birds.
Thorny Honey Locust
The thornless honey locust’s leaves are pinnately compound, meaning that small leaflets form rows on either side of the leaf stem. In the
fall, its leaves turn golden yellow.
Tulip Poplar
In May and June, this tree blooms yellow tulip-shaped flowers marked with an orange band. In the fall, its leaves turn golden yellow