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Browse Plants

Narrowed By:Type: Shrubs, Trees+ Characteristics: Interesting Bark
Displaying 1 - 20 of 46 listings   1 | 2 | 3View AllNext > Sort By: Sort
Acer griseum Acer griseum
(Paperbark maple)
(2 user reviews)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This slow-growing understory tree has highly ornamental, peeling orange-cinnamon bark. Its dark green, three-lobed leaves turn a brilliant orange-red in autumn.

Acer triflorum Acer triflorum
(Three-flower maple)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This broadly columnar to spreading tree has peeling brown bark, three-palmate mid-green leaves, and brilliant orange-red fall foliage. It grows up to 30 feet tall and 25 feet wide.

Amelanchier alnifolia Amelanchier alnifolia
(Alder-leaved serviceberry, Saskatoon)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This multi-stemmed shrub or tree can reach almost 20 feet tall. At one time, it was used medicinally for many conditions. Its autumn color is bright red or yellow and its small, edible black fruits attract much wildlife.

no image available Arbutus unedo 'Elfin King'
(Strawberry tree)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This picturesque tree has rough, shredding, red-brown bark and glossy green leaves. It produces small white flowers followed by spherical, warty, reddish fruit.

Calocedrus decurrens Calocedrus decurrens
(California incense cedar)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This large, conical-shaped tree has dark green flattened sprays of evergreen scale-like leaves.

Calycanthus floridus Calycanthus floridus
(Carolina allspice, Strawberry shrub, Common sweetshrub)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This deciduous shrub has a dense, rounded habit, growing 6 to 9 feet tall and as wide. Its unusual, waterlily-like, fragrant flowers combine the scent of strawberries, banana, and pineapple. Flowers appear in May and continuing blooming on and off into June and July. The dark green leaves and bark release a clove or camphor-like scent when crushed.

Cephalanthus occidentalis Cephalanthus occidentalis
(Buttonbush, Button willow, Honey balls)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

A native small tree found in wetlands from Minnesota to Florida and from New England to California, buttonbush can reach 8 to 15 feet tall and is often wider than it is tall. Prune it into a small multi-trunked tree to reveal the curly bark of its young stems and the punctuated pale spots of its older stems. Blooms are extremely rich in nectar and attract butterflies and other insects.

Cephalotaxus harringtonii 'Prostrata' Cephalotaxus harringtonii 'Prostrata'
(Plum yew)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This slow-growing dwarf conifer has a wide, rounded crown and narrowly furrowed, partially peeling bark. Needles, 1 to 1.5 inches long, are arranged on V-shaped ranks on each shoot.

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Aurea' Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Aurea'
(Hinoki cypress)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Hinoki cypress is a conical, evergreen, coniferous tree with leaves that are actually minute scales on tiny branches in the form of fans. The outer foliage of 'Aurea' is golden and the inner is green. Growth can be slow. Use as a specimen or use several as screening.

Cladrastis lutea Cladrastis lutea
(Yellowwood)
(3 user reviews)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Yellowwood is a vase-shaped spreading tree with dark green foliage that turns a delicate yellow or orange in the fall and smooth light gray bark. Breathtaking, pendulous, foot-long, wisteria-like clusters of fragrant white flowers appear in late spring and early summer, often in alternate years.

Clethra acuminata Clethra acuminata
(Cinnamon clethra)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Larger in all respects than common sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), this sizable shrub or small understory tree grows 8 to 12 feet tall and wide. In early summer, long, slender racemes composed of small ivory flowers appear, then give way to peppercorn-shaped seed capsules that swoop out from the branch tips in fall. About the same time, lance-shaped leaves become a glowing golden yellow before falling to reveal the reddish brown bark. The bark peels in small, irregular patches in the fashion of sycamores (Plantus occidentalis) to expose a dusty gray under-bark. Cinnamon clethra is a good choice for a woodland garden, where the tiered branches and elegant stems look captivating against new fallen snow.

Cornus alba 'Elegantissima' Cornus alba 'Elegantissima'
(Redtwig dogwood, Cream-edge tatarian dogwood)
(2 user reviews)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This vigorous deciduous shrub provides a long season of interest in the garden with its variegated leaves, attractive berries, pretty fall color, and red winter stems.

no image available Cornus alba
(Redtwig dogwood)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

These showy shrubs have two distinct phases of garden interest. In winter, they display boldly colorful bark—red, yellow, or orange—on twiggy stems to make a striking scene. In spring, the stems lose their vivid color and produce bright green, gold, or variegated foliage that accents the garden through the fall. Twig and leaf color vary according to the cultivar.

Cornus florida Cornus florida
(Flowering dogwood)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This native flowering tree is best known for its early spring blossoms, which are actually yellowish green flowers clustered in the center of four showy, white to pink bracts 1-1/2 to 2 inches long. Clusters of four bright red fruits mature in early fall, often persisting into the beginning of winter. 

Cornus racemosa 'Emerald' Cornus racemosa 'Emerald'
(Snow Lace® gray dogwood)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This native shrub dogwood is more compact than the species with semiglossy, emerald green foliage and showy, white fruit. Purple fall leaf color and rosy pink pedicels make this gray dogwood a fine choice for the woodland edge. Its silvery gray bark in winter adds interest into another season. White flowers in the spring add to the list of what it offers. Plant this dogwood in the landscape where it will be seen in the fall and winter. It rarely suckers.

Cornus stolonifera Cornus stolonifera
(Red osier dogwood)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Red osier dogwood is a deciduous shrub with a rounded, spreading form. Opposite leaves with rounded bases are ovate to lance-shaped and dark green, turning a dull red, purple-red, or orange in autumn. Clusters of white flowers appear in late May to early June, followed by white to pale blue fruit. Green stems turn reddish or purple-red from late summer into early fall, becoming brighter in winter.

no image available Forestiera neomexicana
(New Mexico privet, Wild olive)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This perennial shrub or small tree has an upright form that reaches heights of up to 10 feet. It blooms before grayish-green foliage emerges. Leaves mature to bright green and contrast beautifully with one-year-old black bark. Small, attractive black berries appear in autumn.

Ginkgo biloba Ginkgo biloba
(Maidenhair tree)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

One of the oldest tree species on the planet, ginkgo grows only about a foot a year, reaching 50 to 80 feet. Female trees set fleshy fruit that smell unpleasant as they decay; they contain edible nuts.

Halesia carolina Halesia carolina
(Carolina silverbell)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Carolina silverbell is a handsome tree with clean green foliage and an upright spreading habit. In mid- or late spring, hundreds of silvery-white bell-shaped flowers dangle from every branch before foliage emerges. The tree also has attractive bark, unusual four-winged seedpods, and yellow fall color.

Heptacodium miconioides Heptacodium miconioides
(Seven-son flower)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

The tiered branches of this fast-growing species are covered with white blossoms for over a month, starting in late summer. The flowers fade to reveal fuchsia calyxes that persist well into autumn. The pale, peeling bark can be exposed by pruning the lower branches of the interior. Although the form of the species is variable (single or multi-stemmed), it can usually be pruned into an elegant vase-shaped specimen, or maintained as a shrub.


Displaying 1 - 20 of 46 listings   1 | 2 | 3View AllNext > Sort By: Sort