Random Trees

Press Pick 5 new trees for five real trees, each with its botanical name, home range and one checked fact.

Random Trees

Tasmanian blue gumEucalyptus globulus. Evergreen broadleaf, southeastern Australia. Usually about 45 m tall; the best can reach 90 m.
Red mapleAcer rubrum. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern and central North America. The most abundant native tree in eastern North America.
Eastern white pinePinus strobus. Evergreen conifer, eastern North America. Described as the tallest tree in eastern North America.
Cinnamon treeCinnamomum verum. Evergreen broadleaf, Sri Lanka. Its inner bark is the spice cinnamon.
AlerceFitzroya cupressoides. Evergreen conifer, southern Chile and Argentina. One tree in Chile was counted at 3,622 years old.

Next step Draw from every kind of plant Pick a biome and ask if it grows there

How it works

Random trees, five to a press, all real species. Each card gives the botanical name, whether the tree is a broadleaf, a conifer or a palm, whether it keeps its leaves, where it grows wild and one checked fact.

Read the full guide

Use it as a random tree generator for one kind

The list by the button reads Any kind. Choose Broadleaf trees, Conifers, or Palms and other kinds. More filters, its last entry, adds Native to, with six parts of the world, and Evergreen. Conifers with Europe leaves a short list that includes the Norway spruce and the European larch.

Guess where it grows

Press Hide all facts under the list. Read each name and guess its home before you press Show facts. Some names give it away, such as Cedar of Lebanon and Norfolk Island pine. Others mislead: the Norway maple also grows wild in western Asia, and the Western red cedar is not a true cedar.

Tips

Press Lock on the trees you know, then press the button again until all five are new to you.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between a broadleaf tree and a conifer?

A broadleaf tree has flat leaves and makes its seeds inside fruits. A conifer has needle-like or scale-like leaves and bears its seeds in woody cones.

Are all conifers evergreen?

No. Most are, but the larches, the Bald cypress and the Dawn redwood on this list drop their needles in autumn.

Why is the Joshua tree under palms and other kinds?

That choice holds the trees that are neither broadleaf trees nor conifers in the usual sense: the palms, the Joshua tree, which is a yucca, two dragon trees and the Ginkgo.

Is this the same list as the random plant generator?

No. The random plant generator deals plants of seven kinds. Some of its trees are here too, each with a different fact.

Where do the facts come from?

Botanical names were matched on GBIF, native regions come from Kew's World Checklist of Vascular Plants, and every line was checked against the tree's Wikipedia article, all on 30 September 2026.

All 150 trees

Broadleaf trees 99

African blackwood Dalbergia melanoxylon. Deciduous broadleaf, dry parts of Africa. Its wood is made into clarinets and oboes.
American basswood Tilia americana. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. The only tree of its genus in the Western Hemisphere.
American beech Fagus grandifolia. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Has smooth, silver-gray bark.
American chestnut Castanea dentata. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Chestnut blight devastated it in the early to mid-20th century.
American elm Ulmus americana. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Can live for several hundred years.
American sycamore Platanus occidentalis. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern and central United States. Its mottled bark flakes off in large pieces.
Avocado Persea americana. Evergreen broadleaf, the Americas. A tree of the laurel family, prized for its large, oily fruit.
Balsa Ochroma pyramidale. Deciduous broadleaf, the Americas. Grows so fast that its wood is lighter than cork.
Banyan Ficus benghalensis. Evergreen broadleaf, Indian subcontinent. The national tree of India.
Baobab Adansonia digitata. Deciduous broadleaf, mainland Africa and southern Arabia. One tree was dated at 1,275 years old.
Bay laurel Laurus nobilis. Evergreen broadleaf, the Mediterranean region. Its leaves are the bay leaves used in cooking.

Show all 150 trees (139 more)

Broadleaf trees, continued

Bigleaf maple Acer macrophyllum. Deciduous broadleaf, western North America. Has the largest leaves of any maple.
Black poplar Populus nigra. Deciduous broadleaf, Europe, Asia and northwest Africa. One form was first picked out in Lombardy, Italy.
Black tupelo Nyssa sylvatica. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Its leaves turn purple in autumn, then bright scarlet.
Black walnut Juglans nigra. Deciduous broadleaf, central and eastern North America. Its deep brown wood is easily worked.
Brazil nut Bertholletia excelsa. Deciduous broadleaf, the Amazon rainforest. One of the largest and longest-lived trees there.
Broad-leaved paperbark Melaleuca quinquenervia. Evergreen broadleaf, eastern Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia. Has thick, papery bark.
Bur oak Quercus macrocarpa. Deciduous broadleaf, central and eastern North America. Has the largest acorns of any North American oak.
Cacao Theobroma cacao. Evergreen broadleaf, tropical Americas. In 2022 the most cocoa beans came from Côte d'Ivoire.
Cannonball tree Couroupita guianensis. Deciduous broadleaf, Costa Rica to Brazil. Planted for its fragrant flowers and large fruit.
Carob Ceratonia siliqua. Evergreen broadleaf, the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. Grown for its edible seed pods.
Cashew Anacardium occidentale. Evergreen broadleaf, tropical South America. Bears both the cashew nut and the cashew apple.
Chinese elm Ulmus parvifolia. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern Asia. Also called lacebark elm for its flaking, mottled bark.
Cinnamon tree Cinnamomum verum. Evergreen broadleaf, Sri Lanka. Its inner bark is the spice cinnamon.
Common walnut Juglans regia. Deciduous broadleaf, southwest and central Asia. Bears the walnuts eaten around the world.
Cork oak Quercus suber. Evergreen broadleaf, southwest Europe and northwest Africa. Its bark is cut for cork every 9 to 12 years.
Eastern redbud Cercis canadensis. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Pink flowers open on bare stems before the leaves.
English oak Quercus robur. Deciduous broadleaf, Europe and western Asia. Feeds a great range of insects, birds and mammals.
European ash Fraxinus excelsior. Deciduous broadleaf, Europe east to the Caucasus. Known in winter by its jet-black buds.
European beech Fagus sylvatica. Deciduous broadleaf, much of Europe. Its flowers ripen into small, triangular beechnuts.
Golden rain tree Koelreuteria paniculata. Deciduous broadleaf, China and Korea. Yellow flowers grow in sprays 20 to 40 cm long.
Guava Psidium guajava. Evergreen broadleaf, South America. Its fruit can be as small as an apricot or as large as a grapefruit.
Gumbo-limbo Bursera simaruba. Semi-evergreen broadleaf, Florida and Mexico to Brazil. Has shiny dark red bark.
Handkerchief tree Davidia involucrata. Deciduous broadleaf, central and southeast China. Two large white bracts frame each flower head.
Holly Ilex aquifolium. Evergreen broadleaf, western and southern Europe and northwest Africa. The holly long tied to Christmas.
Holm oak Quercus ilex. Evergreen broadleaf, the Mediterranean region. Its acorns ripen in a single summer.
Honey locust Gleditsia triacanthos. Deciduous broadleaf, central North America. Thorns 6 to 10 cm long grow from its branches and trunk.
Illawarra flame tree Brachychiton acerifolius. Deciduous broadleaf, east coast of Australia. Red bell flowers often cover the whole bare tree.
Indian sandalwood Santalum album. Evergreen broadleaf, Indonesia to Western Australia. The traditional source of sandalwood oil.
Jackfruit Artocarpus heterophyllus. Evergreen broadleaf, India. Bears the largest fruit of any tree, up to 50 kg.
Japanese maple Acer palmatum. Deciduous broadleaf, Korea, Japan and China. Many garden forms are grown worldwide.
Japanese zelkova Zelkova serrata. Deciduous broadleaf, Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. Often grown as an ornamental tree and as bonsai.
Jarrah Eucalyptus marginata. Evergreen broadleaf, south-west of Western Australia. Its hard, dense timber resists insects.
Kapok Ceiba pentandra. Briefly deciduous broadleaf, Mexico to northern South America. Grown for the cotton-like fiber of its seeds.
Kentucky coffeetree Gymnocladus dioicus. Deciduous broadleaf, midwestern United States. Stands bare for up to six months a year.
Lignum vitae Guaiacum officinale. Evergreen broadleaf, Caribbean and northern South America. Its bloom is Jamaica's national flower.
Mango Mangifera indica. Evergreen broadleaf, Pakistan to Malesia. A large fruit tree that can grow about 30 m tall and as wide.
Moreton Bay fig Ficus macrophylla. Evergreen broadleaf, eastern Australia. Best known for its huge buttress roots.
Mountain ash Eucalyptus regnans. Evergreen broadleaf, Tasmania and Victoria. The tallest of all flowering plants.
Neem Azadirachta indica. Evergreen broadleaf, Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. Its fruits and seeds give neem oil.
Northern red oak Quercus rubra. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern and central North America. Fast growing: 5 to 6 m tall at ten years old.
Norway maple Acer platanoides. Deciduous broadleaf, Europe and western Asia. Taken to North America in the mid-1700s as a shade tree.
Ombú Phytolacca dioica. Evergreen broadleaf, the Pampas of South America. Its umbrella-like crown spreads 12 to 15 m wide.
Osage orange Maclura pomifera. Deciduous broadleaf, south-central United States. Its bumpy, round fruit looks like an unripe orange.
Pacific madrone Arbutus menziesii. Evergreen broadleaf, British Columbia to California. Its thin orange-red bark peels away in sheets.
Paper birch Betula papyrifera. Deciduous broadleaf, northern North America. Its thin white bark peels in paper-like layers.
Pará rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis. Deciduous broadleaf, the Amazon basin. Tapped trees stay small: drawing latex slows growth.
Pawpaw Asimina triloba. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Bears a large, yellowish-green to brown fruit.
Pecan Carya illinoinensis. Deciduous broadleaf, southern United States and northern Mexico. A hickory, and the state tree of Texas.
Persian ironwood Parrotia persica. Deciduous broadleaf, northern Iran and Azerbaijan. Bark flakes into pink, green and pale yellow patches.
Persian silk tree Albizia julibrissin. Deciduous broadleaf, southwestern and eastern Asia. Its Latin name means silk flower in Persian.
Pōhutukawa Metrosideros excelsa. Evergreen broadleaf, New Zealand. Crimson flowers cover it in December: the New Zealand Christmas tree.
Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides. Deciduous broadleaf, cooler parts of North America. The most widely spread tree in North America.
Queensland bottle tree Brachychiton rupestris. Deciduous broadleaf, Queensland. Its bulging trunk can be 3.5 m across.
Rain tree Samanea saman. Semi-deciduous broadleaf, Central and South America. Has a large, even, umbrella-shaped crown.
Red alder Alnus rubra. Deciduous broadleaf, western North America. The largest alder in North America.
Red mangrove Rhizophora mangle. Evergreen broadleaf, tropical Americas and West Africa. Its seeds become young plants before they drop.
Red maple Acer rubrum. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern and central North America. The most abundant native tree in eastern North America.
Rowan Sorbus aucuparia. Deciduous broadleaf, most of Europe and parts of Asia. Its small red fruits feed many birds.
Royal poinciana Delonix regia. Deciduous broadleaf, Madagascar. Known for fern-like leaves and a blaze of orange-red flowers.
Sacred fig Ficus religiosa. Semi-evergreen broadleaf, India to Indochina. Buddha is said to have reached enlightenment under one.
Sal Shorea robusta. Broadleaf, evergreen where wet, deciduous where dry, India to Nepal. Its wood is resinous and durable.
Sandbox tree Hura crepitans. Evergreen broadleaf, tropical Americas. Its ripe fruit bursts and throws seeds at 70 m a second.
Sapodilla Manilkara zapota. Evergreen broadleaf, southern Mexico and Central America. Its bark holds chicle, a white, gummy latex.
Sassafras Sassafras albidum. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. One branch can carry three shapes of leaf.
Sausage tree Kigelia africana. Broadleaf, evergreen or deciduous, tropical Africa. Its sausage-shaped fruit grows up to 60 cm long.
Shagbark hickory Carya ovata. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Can live more than 350 years.
Shea tree Vitellaria paradoxa. Deciduous broadleaf, Africa. Shea butter is pressed from its oil-rich seed.
Silver birch Betula pendula. Deciduous broadleaf, Europe and temperate Asia. Finland's national tree.
Silver maple Acer saccharinum. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. A breeze shows the silver undersides of its leaves.
Snow gum Eucalyptus pauciflora. Evergreen broadleaf, eastern Australia. Stands out for how much cold it bears.
Southern live oak Quercus virginiana. Semi-evergreen broadleaf, southeastern United States. Drops its old leaves just as the new ones open.
Southern magnolia Magnolia grandiflora. Evergreen broadleaf, southeastern United States. Bears white, fragrant flowers up to 30 cm across.
Strawberry tree Arbutus unedo. Evergreen broadleaf, the Mediterranean Basin and Western Europe. Its fruits look a little like strawberries.
Sugar maple Acer saccharum. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Its wood is sold as hard maple or rock maple.
Sweet chestnut Castanea sativa. Deciduous broadleaf, Southern Europe and Anatolia. Its brownish nuts grow inside spiky cases.
Sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua. Deciduous broadleaf, North and Central America. Has star-shaped leaves and hard, spiked fruits.
Sycamore maple Acer pseudoplatanus. Deciduous broadleaf, Central Europe and Western Asia. Its winged seeds twirl to the ground in pairs.
Tamarind Tamarindus indica. Evergreen broadleaf, tropical Africa. Its brown pods hold a sweet, tangy pulp.
Tasmanian blue gum Eucalyptus globulus. Evergreen broadleaf, southeastern Australia. Usually about 45 m tall; the best can reach 90 m.
Tea tree Melaleuca alternifolia. Evergreen broadleaf, Queensland and New South Wales. The main source of tea tree oil.
Teak Tectona grandis. Deciduous broadleaf, south and southeast Asia. Its wood resists water and is used for boat building.
Tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Named for its flowers, which look like tulips.
Weeping willow Salix babylonica. Deciduous broadleaf, northern China and nearby lands. Traded west along the Silk Road.
White ash Fraxinus americana. Deciduous broadleaf, eastern North America. Its wood makes baseball bats and tool handles.
White mulberry Morus alba. Deciduous broadleaf, China. Grown to feed silkworms.
White willow Salix alba. Deciduous broadleaf, Europe and western and Central Asia. Named for the white undersides of its leaves.
Wych elm Ulmus glabra. Deciduous broadleaf, Ireland to the Ural Mountains. Has the widest range of the European elms.
Yerba mate Ilex paraguariensis. Evergreen broadleaf, South America. A holly whose leaves are steeped to make the drink mate.

Conifers 35

Alerce Fitzroya cupressoides. Evergreen conifer, southern Chile and Argentina. One tree in Chile was counted at 3,622 years old.
Atlas cedar Cedrus atlantica. Evergreen conifer, mountains of Morocco and Algeria. Its forests can shelter the Barbary macaque.
Bald cypress Taxodium distichum. Deciduous conifer, southeastern United States. The state tree of Louisiana since 1963.
Balsam fir Abies balsamea. Evergreen conifer, Canada and the northeastern United States. Very popular as a Christmas tree.
Bristlecone pine Pinus longaeva. Evergreen conifer, high mountains of California, Nevada and Utah. Named a state tree of Nevada in 1987.
Bunya pine Araucaria bidwillii. Evergreen conifer, Queensland. Its cones can weigh up to 10 kg.
Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani. Evergreen conifer, mountains of the eastern Mediterranean. Ancient Phoenicians built ships from its wood.
Dawn redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Deciduous conifer, south-central China. Its genus was first described from fossils, in 1941.
Deodar cedar Cedrus deodara. Evergreen conifer, the Himalayas. Its name comes from Sanskrit for wood of the gods.
Douglas fir Pseudotsuga menziesii. Evergreen conifer, western North America. The tallest tree in the pine family.
Eastern hemlock Tsuga canadensis. Evergreen conifer, eastern North America. The state tree of Pennsylvania. Many live more than 500 years.
Eastern red cedar Juniperus virginiana. Evergreen conifer, eastern North America. A juniper whose scented wood moths avoid.
Eastern white pine Pinus strobus. Evergreen conifer, eastern North America. Described as the tallest tree in eastern North America.
English yew Taxus baccata. Evergreen conifer, much of Europe and parts of West Asia. Its wood was prized for making longbows.
European larch Larix decidua. Deciduous conifer, mountains of central Europe. Its needles turn bright yellow and fall in autumn.
European silver fir Abies alba. Evergreen conifer, mountains of Europe. The first kind of tree used as a Christmas tree.
Giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum. Evergreen conifer, western Sierra Nevada, California. Its bark may be 90 cm thick at the base.
Hinoki cypress Chamaecyparis obtusa. Evergreen conifer, central Japan. Its lemon-scented wood builds temples and shrines.
Japanese cedar Cryptomeria japonica. Evergreen conifer, Japan. Called sugi in Japan and planted around temples and shrines.
Japanese umbrella pine Sciadopitys verticillata. Evergreen conifer, Japan. The only living member of its family, with no close relatives.
Longleaf pine Pinus palustris. Evergreen conifer, southeastern United States. Stands up to wildfire and depends on it.
Mediterranean cypress Cupressus sempervirens. Evergreen conifer, eastern Mediterranean and Iran. Some trees are said to be over 1,000 years old.
Monkey puzzle Araucaria araucana. Evergreen conifer, central and southern Chile and western Argentina. The national tree of Chile.
Monterey pine Pinus radiata. Evergreen conifer, coast of central California. Planted for timber in many temperate lands.
Norfolk Island pine Araucaria heterophylla. Evergreen conifer, Norfolk Island. Not a true pine.
Norway spruce Picea abies. Evergreen conifer, northern, central and eastern Europe. Its branchlets usually hang down.
Ponderosa pine Pinus ponderosa. Evergreen conifer, mountains of western North America. The most widely spread pine in North America.
Scots pine Pinus sylvestris. Evergreen conifer, Western Europe to Eastern Siberia. The only pine native to northern Europe.
Sitka spruce Picea sitchensis. Evergreen conifer, west coast of Canada and the United States. By far the largest spruce.
Stone pine Pinus pinea. Evergreen conifer, Southern Europe and the Levant. Grown for its pine nuts since prehistoric times.
Sugar pine Pinus lambertiana. Evergreen conifer, Pacific mountains, Oregon to Baja California. The tallest and most massive pine.
Tamarack Larix laricina. Deciduous conifer, Canada and the northeastern United States. A larch of swamps, fens and bogs.
Western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla. Evergreen conifer, northwest coast of North America. The largest hemlock; state tree of Washington.
Western red cedar Thuja plicata. Evergreen conifer, Pacific Northwest of North America. Not a true cedar. Used for canoes and totem poles.
Wollemi pine Wollemia nobilis. Evergreen conifer, New South Wales. Discovered only in 1994.

Palms and other kinds 16

Açaí palm Euterpe oleracea. Evergreen palm, eastern Amazonia. Grown for its fruit, the açaí berry.
African oil palm Elaeis guineensis. Evergreen palm, west and southwest Africa. Named for the old region of Guinea, not the modern country.
Cabbage palmetto Sabal palmetto. Evergreen palm, southeastern United States and the West Indies. The state tree of Florida and South Carolina.
California fan palm Washingtonia filifera. Evergreen palm, US Southwest and northwestern Mexico. A skirt of dead fronds hangs round its trunk.
Canary Island date palm Phoenix canariensis. Evergreen palm, Canary Islands. A natural symbol of the islands, with the canary.
Canary Islands dragon tree Dracaena draco. Evergreen dragon tree, Macaronesia and northwest Africa. Cut bark oozes a red resin called dragon's blood.
Chilean wine palm Jubaea chilensis. Evergreen palm, central Chile. The second most massive of all palms.
Chinese windmill palm Trachycarpus fortunei. Evergreen palm, China, Japan, Myanmar and India. A hardy palm with a fiber-wrapped trunk.
Coco de mer Lodoicea maldivica. Evergreen palm, two islands of the Seychelles. Has the largest seed in the plant kingdom.
Coconut palm Cocos nucifera. Evergreen palm, Southeast Asia to the southwestern Pacific. The only living species of its genus.
Date palm Phoenix dactylifera. Evergreen palm, the Gulf States and Iraq to Pakistan and India. Grown for its sweet fruit, the date.
Doum palm Hyphaene thebaica. Evergreen palm, northern and western Africa and Arabia. Its trunk forks into branches.
Dragon blood tree Dracaena cinnabari. Evergreen dragon tree, the Socotra islands of Yemen. The national tree of Yemen.
Ginkgo Ginkgo biloba. Deciduous gymnosperm, East Asia. Its order first appeared over 290 million years ago.
Joshua tree Yucca brevifolia. Evergreen yucca, mostly the Mojave Desert. Said to have been named by Mormon colonists.
Talipot palm Corypha umbraculifera. Evergreen palm, eastern and southern India and Sri Lanka. Flowers only once, at 30 to 80 years old.

How this list was compiled: We chose these trees and wrote every line ourselves, checked 2026-09-30. Membership: a tree species with its own English Wikipedia article whose botanical name is an exact match to an accepted species on the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match, saved per item as src) and whose native areas are listed in Kew's World Checklist of Vascular Plants, the data behind Plants of the World Online, read through GBIF (https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/<key>/distributions; powo.science.kew.org itself turned scripts away that day). The Native to filter (x.native) comes from those Kew records: each area's continent in the TDWG world scheme (https://github.com/tdwg/wgsrpd), with Asia-Temperate and Asia-Tropical joined as Asia, Australasia and the Pacific joined, and New Guinea placed with Australia and the Pacific; North America includes Mexico, and Central and South America includes the Caribbean. A tree carries a continent only where Kew lists it as native there and the tree's Wikipedia article agrees. The range in words, the leaf habit and the fact were read in the tree's own Wikipedia article (saved as wiki) and checked by script after the file was written: the words each line rests on must stand in the article. Where a tree's own article does not say whether it keeps its leaves, the word comes from the article of its genus or family: Pinaceae, Cupressaceae, Araucaria, Cedrus, Spruce, Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Arecaceae (palms), Beech, Platanus and Liriodendron. Trees whose leaf habit could not be read in either place were left out (kauri and tōtara among them). USDA PLANTS was not used. Trees that also sit on the random plant generator carry a different fact here. Poison and remedy claims are left out. Licence: own work