Native to: North America

Details: Redbuds are deciduous trees that grow from 15-30 ft, its branches spreading 20-35 ft like an upside-down umbrella. Little fuchsia clusters of flowers appear on their branches before its leaves do in April and May. The coolest thing about this tree is that these clusters of flowers grow directly down onto the trunk, too.

Where to find @ W&M: Redbuds are scattered all throughout campus—from the side of the Rec Center to along Jamestown Road. Keep an eye out for their bright flowers and dark, flaky bark!

Native to: southeastern, east-central, and south-central United States, southern Mexico, and central America

Details: Sycamores are deciduous trees, growing from 75-100 ft and spreading about the same. The key identifying feature of this tree is its white-to-brown gradient of bark from the top to the bottom of the tree. This is because as the tree grows and ages, the old bark sloughs off in scales, revealing the lighter inner bark.

Where to find @ W&M: On campus, you can find sycamore on the path from the Sunken Garden to Sadler—when approaching from Old Campus, look to the left right before the two paths converge.

Native to: Central and Eastern United States to Central America

Details: Sweetgums are deciduous trees, growing from 60-80 ft and spreading 40-60 ft. You likely already know this tree for its brown, spikey, globular fruit that looks painful to step on. These fruits stem off of the various clusters of leaves along the tree’s branches and start to fall onto the ground in December. Another identifying feature of Sweetgums are their leaves—they are deep-lobed and five-pronged, creating a distinct star shape.

Where to find @W&M: The most notable on campus is along Jamestown Road, towards the edges of Jamestown Field near Carroll F.S. Hardy Hall. The running club, Blitz, often stores their stuff amongst its roots before heading out for practice.

Native to: Eastern North America

Details: American beeches are deciduous trees that grow from 60-80 ft and spread 40-80 ft, with branches starting relatively low down on its trunk. Their bark is a smooth, grey-brown color, and you can identify them year round by looking at the buds on their branches—they are oblong, tapered, and about an inch in shape with a bright copper hue.

Where to find @W&M: On campus, you can find American beeches lining the paths around the Sunken Gardens.

Native to: the Mid Atlantic stretching into the South

Details: Virginia scrub pines are an evergreen tree that grows from 15-40 ft tall, with a 25-35 ft spread. They most often grow in stands rather than mixed groups, so you’ll see them around campus in clusters. The cones on this tree are persistent—meaning that once its seeds are released, the cones remain on the tree. Virginia scrub pines can be easily mistaken for Loblolly pines to the untrained eye, but an easy way to tell them apart is by their bark: if the plates along the tree’s trunk are larger at the base than towards the top, then it’s a Virginia scrub pine; if the plates are uniform in size throughout the trunk, then it’s a Loblolly pine. A fun fact about Virginia scrub pines is that they are bred as Christmas trees.

Where to find @ W&M: You can find a cluster of these trees in front of Sadler, lining the smaller parking lot next to the Bryan complex, as well as at many other places on campus.

Native to: the Mid Atlantic stretching into the South

Details: Loblolly pines are evergreen trees that grow 60-100 ft and spread about 25-35 ft. They are popular in the timber industry because of their rapid growth rate, capable of growing 2+ feet per year. Unlike Virginia scrub pines, Loblolly pine’s cones fall off a year after releasing their seeds. Loblolly pines can be easily mistaken for Virginia scrub pines to the untrained eye, but an easy way to tell them apart is by their bark: if the plates are uniform in size throughout the trunk, then it’s a Loblolly pine; if the plates along the tree’s trunk are larger at the base than towards the top, then it’s a Virginia scrub pine.

Where to find @ W&M: You can find a cluster of these trees in between Swem and Small Hall, as well as at many other places on campus.

Native to: Southeast United States

Details: Closely related to the dawn redwood is the bald cypress, growing about 50-70 ft tall with a spread of 20-45 ft. Although its leaves appear to be needled and evergreen, it’s a deciduous tree, meaning that it sheds its leaves in the winter (hence, “bald” cypress). This tree has high water tolerance, often growing in stands in swamps. Similar to the dawn redwood, they have red-brown bark and buttressed trunks. In water-logged environments, they develop knobby root growths (“knees”) that protrude above the water’s surface, though their function is not yet quite understood.

Where to find @W&M: You can see a bald cypress around campus near the Bryan Complex.