Trees of Eugene
Before settlement, much of present-day Eugene was
treeless prairie. The settlers who arrived in the mid-1800s
brought with them their favorite plants, mostly fruit and
nut trees. Since that time, thousands of trees have been
planted in private gardens and along the streets of Eugene,
creating the attractive setting that helps make Eugene such
a pleasant place to live.
This one-hour walking tour introduces you to 20 of the
many kinds of trees that grow in the West University
Neighborhood. Most of the 20 trees are uncommon,
unusually large, or old and grow on public property; those
on private property are easily viewed from the street.
The West University Neighborhood is one of Eugene’s
older residential areas, and most of the area has deep,
fertile and well-drained soil. As a result, an exceptional
variety of fine, old trees has developed during the past 100
years. Many of the older trees on public property are
accorded a degree of protection, as outlined in the Historic
Street Tree Charter Amendment passed in 1984.
Come back at different seasons to better appreciate the
various moods the trees can create. Stop by the female
ailanthus on a breezy, dry day in late fall to listen to the
wind blow through the seed clusters. In late February,
examine the swelling, pink buds of the flowering plums as
they prepare to open. Then visit the catalpa in late spring
when it’s in full bloom, and return in summer when the
leaves of all the trees flutter in the afternoon breeze.
With this brochure, we hope to foster appreciation of the
many trees growing in our city. As a community, we have
a special interest in preserving our old trees and also in
planting new ones. Trees, like other living organisms, are
subject to change and need to be continually replaced to
provide a variety of interesting and attractive trees for the
future. Those who lived before us, and planted and cared
for trees, left us this legacy. Let us cherish it, and ensure that
it remains for generations to come.
1 The Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
is one of Eugene’s most common street
trees in older neighborhoods built atop
deep, fertile river loam. A native of the
Northwest, its ascending main branches
and broadly domed crown make it an
exceptional street tree where there is
adequate room for its development. Its
enormous, deeply-cut leaves turn yellow in fall. This
individual is one of the largest in Eugene.
1262 Mill Street (park strip)
2 The American Elm (Ulmus americana) is
known throughout much of North
America for its picturesque crown of
arching branches that ascend fountain-
like from the trunk. Evening grosbeaks
relish the seeds, which ripen in April. In
fall, the rough, toothed leaves turn
yellow. A vessel-choking fungus called
Dutch Elm Disease can be fatal, but careful replanting in
scattered areas will ensure the trees’ long-term survival.
427 East 13th Avenue (park strip)
The Ailanthus or Tree-of-Heaven
3 (Ailanthus altissima) is important in its
native China, where the wood is used for
fuel and for food steamers, the leaves for
silkworms, and the bark for medicine. The
large, compound leaves have a distinctive
scent and are reddish as they emerge in spring. Male and
female flowers are produced on separate trees; the sweetly-
scented female flowers are especially fragrant on warm June
nights when the air is still.
1312 Mill Street (front garden)
Seldom planted these days, the Eastern
4 Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)was
popular with early Eugene settlers for its
delicious nuts. The tree grows
vigorously on this neighborhood’s fine
soils and develops a broad-spreading
canopy that turns gold in October. Many Eastern Black
Walnuts that grew on private property have been cut down in
recent decades because their wood is highly prized in the
furniture-making industry.
East 14th Avenue and Mill street (northeast corner)
5 A commonly planted tree throughout the
Northwest, the Flowering Plum (Prunus
cerasifera) blooms in early March and
heralds the arrival of spring. Cultivars
vary in flower color (white to pink) and
leaf color (greenish to bronze to purple). Branches cut anytime
after late January are easy to force into bloom indoors.
Although vigorous in their youth, these trees are relatively
short-lived, seldom reaching the age of more that 40-50 years.
East 14th Avenue and Mill Street (southeast corner)
The Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) grows
6 wild from the Midwest south to Mexico
and is seldom planted in Eugene. Our
summers are too cool for its edible nuts to
mature, but it is nonetheless an
interesting and hardy tree. Its leaves
resemble those of the Eastern Black
Walnut and have sickle-shaped leaflets;
they remain a lustrous green until falling in very late autumn.
435 East 15th Avenue (park strip)
The Flame Ash (Fraxinus oxycarpa
7 'Flame') is a cultivar (nursery-propagated
natural mutation) of a tree native from
southern Europe to Iran. Its symmetrical
growth habit, delicate leaflets, and easy
adaptation to a variety of soils make it a
popular tree. In fall, leaf color ranges from
purple at the perimeter of the tree's
canopy, to orange and yellow toward the center of the tree. This
cultivar is male, therefore it produces no fruit.
534 East 15th Avenue (park strip)
8 The Weeping Willow (Salix alba
'Tristis'), a native of Eurasia, is known to
most everyone. The tree is best planted in
open areas where its shoots can droop all
the way to the ground. Extracts of its bark
were at one time valuable in relieving rheumatism before
aspirin makers synthesized a similar compound. The willow
is one of the first trees to leaf out in spring, and the last to lose
its leaves in fall.
East 15th Avenue and Patterson Street (northwest corner)
9 The Colorado Spruce (Picea pungens) is
native to the central Rockies where it is
common at middle to higher
elevations. Seedlings differ greatly in
overall form and in needle color (from
greenish to silver-blue). The
pendulous cones are two to four inches
long, with thin, papery scales. This tree is better suited to
large parks or open areas, rather than park strips, and is most
stunning when it retains its branches to the ground.
1475 Ferry Street (west of church)
10 The Northern Red Oak (Quercus
rubra) is native to eastern North
America and is a popular street tree.
On suitable sites, it grows vigorously
and can attain 60 feet in less than 30
years. Note the pointed lobes of the
leaves and the grayish-white
underside; leaves turn red in fall. Young trees often have
“marcescent” leaves that are retained through the winter.
1441 Ferry Street (park strip)
11 The Northern Catalpa (Catalpa
speciosa) is native along rivers of the
south-central U.S. This fine specimen
was planted around 1900. Its large,
heart-shaped leaves turn yellow
in fall. It is most spectacular in June
when it produces showy clusters of white flowers that
provide a holiday for honeybees. The flowers are followed
by long, thin pods that persist into winter.
534 East 14th Avenue (park strip)
12 One of Eugene’s rarest trees is the
Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata), so
named for the long strips of peeling
bark along its trunk. It is native to
eastern North America, where its nuts
provide food for wild animals, as well
as for humans. The large, compound leaves turn a rich gold in
fall. West of this tree is another kind of hickory and a pecan.
470 East 14th Avenue (front garden)
 Trees of Eugene

13 Anyone who has seen Alfred

Hitchcock’s, “The Trouble with
Harry,” filmed on location in
17 The Butternut (Juglans cinerea) is native
to eastern North America, where its
long, slender nuts are prized. The large,
10th AVE. Trees
Vermont in October, should
recognize the Sugar Maple (Acer
saccharum). Native from Québec
west to Minnesota and south to Texas, this tree turns into
compound leaves are usually covered
with sticky hairs, as are the green husks
enclosing the nuts. This superb
specimen is one of the largest in North America and exhibits 11th AVE.
13
15 4

17
NORTH
13 of
a fireball of orange-red foliage every fall. A columnar
selection of this species called ‘Newton Sentry’ can be seen
at 487 and 503 East 11th Avenue.
the typically broad crown acquired by the butternut when
grown out in the open. It is closely related to the walnuts.
465 East 11th Avenue (front garden)
18
19
20
16
15
Eugene
451 East 14th Avenue (park strip) 12th AVE.

STHER
This Oregon White Oak (Quercus

AR E
18

Perhaps the oldest of its kind in
14 Eugene, this Lombardy Poplar
(Populus nigra ‘Italica’) is past its
prime, but still makes a notable
contribution to the neighborhood.
Originally from the Lombardy
region of northern Italy, it has been
planted from Europe to Australia, often in long lines along
grand avenues and sometimes as windbreaks around
farmhouses on the Great Plains and in central Oregon. It
grows rapidly during its youth, but seldom lives more
than a century, at least in our area.
T
garryana) is said to have been planted
on June 29, 1856 by the father of Edith
Belshaw Linton, in celebration of her
1 1
2
1
14
13th AVE.
birth. Native from Vancouver Island to
3 1
central California, it is common in 5
woodlands suurounding Eugene. However, it is seldom
4 13
planted here even though it makes a fine, hardy street tree
that is very tolerant of our summer drought. During the rainy 14th AVE.
season, a veritable garden of epiphytic licorice ferns, mosses, 5 12 10 11
NOTE: NUMBERS NOT CIRCLED
and lichens cloaks the tree’s older limbs. INDICATE OTHER EXAMPLES OF
TREES ALREADY INTRODUCED 9
280 East 11th Avenue (front garden) 6 8
15th AVE.

PATTERSON
561 East 13th Avenue (park strip) Although absent from this part of the
19 7

PEARL

FERRY
HIGH

This lovely Ponderosa Pine (Pinus
15 ponderosa) was planted in the late
1800s. Its native range extends from
MILL
valley, the Western Red-Cedar (Thuja
plicata) is a common component of moist
Pacific Northwest forests and grows
well here in Eugene, especially if
16th AVE.

British Columbia to Mexico and east
to the Great Plains. The long needles
are borne in groups of three. The
thick bark at the base of the tree is resistant to the once-
frequent groundfires that swept through its native habitat,
including here in the upper Willamette Valley.
488 East 11th Avenue (park strip southeast of building)
provided with summer irrigation. Its
fragrant foliage is often used in holiday
wreaths and trimming. The scale-like leaves are shiny green
on top, with whitish markings beneath. In the absence of forest
fires, the tree can live to the age of more than 1,000 in the wild.
1158 High Street (front garden)
The American Linden or Basswood

16 This enormous tree is a Persian

Walnut or English Walnut (Juglans
20 (Tilia americana) is native to eastern
North America. Its heart-shaped,
Public Works
Maintenance
regia) and was probably planted in the toothed leaves are sometimes ten inches City of Eugene
1880s. It is native from eastern Europe
to the Himalayas. Most planted
across on young trees; leaves turn
yellowish in fall. The clusters of fragrant,
1820 Roosevelt Blvd. A walking tour of the
Eugene, OR 97402
walnuts are cultivars, selected for nut
quality, but this extraordinarily large
pale yellow flowers appear in late June
and are beloved by honeybees. The
541-682-4800 West University
one is probably a seedling. The large, compound,
untoothed leaves and light gray bark are characteristic.
Linden’s upright habit makes it a fine shade and street tree.
361 East 12th Avenue (park strip)
Neighborhood
488 East 11th Avenue ( park strip east of building) August 2001