A team of researchers at Morton Arboretum has identified 881 species of native trees in the contiguous US states. The inventory only includes native trees in the wild, not in home landscapes. Oaks and hawthorns top the list of most common genera, followed by willows and pines. The inventory includes a threat evaluation.
Does this inventory and evaluation have value beyond botanic interest? Murphy Westwood of the Morton Arboretum says, “I would love for the average person to realize that they have a role to play. Just because you don’t live next to an old growth forest in the Pacific Northwest or Florida doesn’t mean you have nothing to do with this.”
Read the WTTW article
Read the Morton Arboretum report
Read the Journal Article in Plants, People, and Planet (8/22/2022)