Basic Divisions (for Aesthetic Considerations) Among Trees
Dichotomies:
- Evergreen vs. deciduous
- Conifer vs. broadleaf
- Rounded vs. pyramidal
- Leaves simple vs. compound
- Northern hemisphere vs. Southern Hemisphere
- Western Hemisphere vs. Eastern Hemisphere
Usually three elements go together, i.e. evergreen, pyramidal conifers vs. deciduous, rounded, broadleaf
But by no means always. There are:
- Deciduous conifers (always pyramidal?)
- Rounded conifers (always evergreen?)
“Multichotomies”:
- Taller than wide to tall as wide to wider than tall (rare)
- Tall to medium to short
- Fast to medium to slow
- Dense to medium to open
- Tropical to semi-hardy to hardy
- Leaves big to medium to small
- Hydrophytic to medium to xerophytic
- Low pH to neutral to high pH
- Low elevation to mid elevation to high elevation
- Flowering/fruiting/fall color values high to marginal to zero
- Long-lived to medium to short-lived
- Taxonomic group (major) e.g.: Myrtaceae, Fabaceae, palms, oaks, pines, bamboos . . .
- Geographic group (major) e.g.: Mediterranean, Californian, Australian, South African, Japan/China
- Obligate tree to versatile to obligate shrub
- Weedy to easy culture/non-weedy to difficult
- Full sun to versatile, or filtered sun to shade (rare)