This is the complete list of tree species starting with the letter P.
This guide is comprehensively researched and will help you identify all trees whose names begin with the letter P.
Let’s get right into it.
Contents
- 1. Palma Pita
- 2. Palmella
- 3. Palmetto, Mexican
- 4. Parasoltree, Chinese
- 5. Pea Tree, Siberian
- 6. Peach
- 7. Pear, Bradford
- 8. Pecan
- 9. Poui, Black
- 10. Peppermint, White
- 11. Peppertree
- 12. Pepperwood
- 13. Persimmon, Black
- 14. Pin Gris
- 15. Planetree, Arizona
- 16. Plum, American
- 17. Poinciana, Dwarf
- 18. Poison Plant, Arrow
- 19. Pomegranate
- 20. Popcorn Tree
- 21. Poplar, Balsam
- 22. Porlieria, Texas
- 23. Potatotree
- 24. Powderpuff-tree
- 25. Prickly Moses
- 26. Pricklypear, Blind
- 27. Privet, Chinese
- 28. Pain-in-the-back
- 29. Palm, African Date
- 30. Paradisetree
- 31. Pawpaw, Common
- 32. Peepul Tree
- 33. Peltophorum (Genus)
- 34. Pencil Tree
- 35. Pepperbush, Mountain
- 36. Peregrina
- 37. Pisonia
- 38. Poonga-oil Tree
- 39. Possumhaw
- 40. Princesstree
- 41. Princewood, Caribbean
- 42. Pruche du Canada
- 43. Punktree
- 44. Pines (Genus)
- 45. Pistachios (Genus)
- 46. Pricklyashes (Genus)
- Bottom Line
1. Palma Pita
Scientific Name: Yucca faxoniana
Family: Asparagaceae
Native: Western Texas to Northern Mexico
Type: Evergreen
This plant grows to a large 7m tall with a single rosette of dense leaves.
The leaf is stiff, and tapering, resembling a dagger in a pale blue-green color. The flower is bell-shaped and pendant.
The fruit is a succulent and fleshy berry.
2. Palmella
Scientific Name: Yucca elata
Family: Asparagaceae
Native: Central Arizona to Western Texas and North Mexico
Type: Evergreen
This tree grows to 4.5m tall with several narrow leaves in dense clusters. The leaves are flexible and linear.
The flower is ovoid, spreading, and borne in panicle-like clusters. The fruit is an ovoid cylindrical capsule with three lobes.
3. Palmetto, Mexican
Scientific Name: Sabal mexicana
Family: Arecaceae
Native: Southern Texas to Central America
Type: Evergreen
This tree grows from 12 to 15m tall with circular leaves that lack spines.
The upper surface is lustrous green and the lower surface is gray-green.
The flowers are tiny, bisexual, and creamy-white in color. The fruit is a round black drupe.
4. Parasoltree, Chinese
Scientific Name: Firmiana simplex
Family: Malvaceae
Native: China
Type: Deciduous
This tree grows up to 20m long with a clustered crown of branches.
The leaves are alternate, simple, and palmate. The flowers are unisexual with greenish-white sepals and mature from June to July.
The fruit is five follicles that mature into a leaf-like structure.
5. Pea Tree, Siberian
Scientific Name: Caragana arborescens
Family: Fabaceae
Native: North Asia
Type: Deciduous
This stiffly branched tree grows to 5m tall with alternate and pinnately compound leaves that have a dark green upper surface.
The flowers are yellow, borne in clusters on the leaf axils from April to June.
The fruit is an oblong, compressed legume with a thick and pulpy texture.
6. Peach
Scientific Name: Prunus persica
Family: Rosaceae
Native: China
Type: Deciduous
This deciduous shrub or small tree is 3 to 10m tall with a single, erect trunk.
The leaves are alternate, simple, and lanceolate. The flower is borne singularly or in clusters with rich pink petals.
The fruit is a round orange drupe, tinged with red, and having a pitted stone.
7. Pear, Bradford
Scientific Name: Pyrus calleryana
Family: Rosaceae
Native: China and Vietnam
Type: Deciduous
This plant is popularly grown for ornamental purposes and has a dense, oval, crown.
The leaf is dark green in color and becomes purple or red in autumn, making it an attractive and eye-catching sight.
The fruit is brown and 15mm long.
8. Pecan
Scientific Name: Carya illinoinensis
Family: Juglandaceae
Native: North Asia
Type: Deciduous
This large deciduous tree grows from 40 to 6m tall with a single trunk. The leaves are alternate with a dark green upper surface and a paler lower surface.
The flowers are slender catkins. The fruits are nuts, borne in clusters of 2-10, having a rich brown color.
9. Poui, Black
Scientific Name: Jacaranda mimosifolia
Family: Bignoniaceae
Native: South America
Type: Deciduous
This tree grows to heights of 8 to 16 meters tall with a diameter of 20 to 30 centimeters. The leaf is alternate and compound with a stout petiole and multiple leaflets.
The flowers are tubular and flare at the apex. The fruit is a brown capsule that is winged.
10. Peppermint, White
Scientific Name: Eucalyptus pulchella
Family: Myrtaceae
Native: Southern Tasmania
Type: Evergreen
This tree grows from 6 to 20m tall with erect branches and smooth bark.
The leaf is dark green and 5 to 10cm long, to 5mm wide.
The flower is borne in axillary umbels of 9 to 15. The fruit is an ovoid to a cup-shaped capsule.
11. Peppertree
Scientific Name: Schinus molle
Family: Anacardiaceae
Native: Western South America
Type: Evergreen
This shrub or tree grows to 15m tall with one or many trunks. The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound and the upper surface is green and hairless.
The flowers are small, white to cream in color, and produced in drooping clusters. The fruit is a round pink drupe.
12. Pepperwood
Scientific Name: Umbellularia californica
Family: Lauraceae
Native: Redwood forests, slopes, and canyons of California
Type: Evergreen
This magnificent tree stands up to 45m tall with a trunk up to 1m in diameter. It has highly aromatic pungent leaves and pale-yellow flowers in clusters of 6 to 8.
The fruit is a circular to ovoid drupe that resembles a golf ball on a tee.
13. Persimmon, Black
Scientific Name: Diospyros texana
Family: Ebenaceae
Native: Southern half of Texas, south to northeast Mexico
Type: Evergreen or Deciduous
This slow-growing shrub or small tree is 2 to 16m tall with a diameter of 50 cm. The leaf is alternate, simple, and leathery with a dark-green upper surface.
The flower is urn-shaped, creamy-white, and borne in small clusters. The fruit is a blackberry.
14. Pin Gris
Scientific Name: Pinus banksiana
Family: Pinaceae
Native: Arctic timberline
Type: Evergreen
This tree grows to 27m tall with a diameter of 60 cm. The leaf is a needle about 2 to 5 cm long, yellow-green in color, thick, and twisted.
The pollen cone is yellow to orange-brown. The seed cone is borne in whorls and is light brown.
15. Planetree, Arizona
Scientific Name: Platanus wrightii
Family: Platanaceae
Native: Arizona, New Mexico, Northwest Mexico
Type: Deciduous
This tree has a massive trunk and large arching white-barked branches.
The leaves are alternate, simple, and have palmate lobes.
The female flowers are borne on a common stalk up to 30 cm long. The fruit is 5 to 8 mm long.
16. Plum, American
Scientific Name: Prunus americana
Family: Rosaceae
Native: Western U.S.
Type: Deciduous
This thicket-forming shrub grows to 5 m tall with alternate, simple, and elliptical leaves that are hairy.
The flower has white petals that become pink with age and is about 20 to 25 mm in diameter.
The fruit is an ellipsoid red, orange, or yellowish drupe.
17. Poinciana, Dwarf
Scientific Name: Caesalpinia pulcherrima
Family: Fabaceae
Native: Tropical America
Type: Evergreen
This shrub or small tree grows from 3 to 5 m tall with bipinnate leaves.
The flowers are distinct, colored yellow with red stamens. The fruit is a flat oblong legume. The branches often have scattered prickles on them.
18. Poison Plant, Arrow
Scientific Name: Sebastiana bilocularis
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Native: Arizona to north-west Mexico
Type: Evergreen
This shrub has many stems and grows from 2 to 6 m tall with alternate, simple leaves that are bright green or reddish.
The flowers are small and greenish-yellow without petals, borne in spikes 2 to 6 cm long.
The fruit is a plump heart-shaped capsule.
19. Pomegranate
Scientific Name: Punica granatum
Family: Punicaceae
Native: Asia
Type: Deciduous
This shrub is upright, rounded, or small, growing from 2 to 8 m tall.
The leaves are opposite and lustrous green while the flower is bisexual and radial with a reddish calyx.
The fruit is round, red, yellow, or white with a leathery texture.
20. Popcorn Tree
Scientific Name: Sapium sebiferum
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Native: East Asia
Type: Deciduous
This shrub or tree grows from 6 to 17 m tall and exudes a milky sap when twigs and leaves are broken. The leaves are alternate and ovate.
The flowers are yellowish, borne in spike-like clusters from April to June. The fruit is a capsule with 3 lobes.
21. Poplar, Balsam
Scientific Name: Populus balsamifera
Family: Salicaceae
Native: Throughout Canada and U.S.
Type: Deciduous
This 18 to 40m tall tree has a slender trunk and alternate, simple leaves that are large, ovate, and bluntly toothed.
The flowers are catkins during the spring with strongly scented buds and the fruit is an egg-shaped capsule with two valves.
22. Porlieria, Texas
Scientific Name: Guaiacum angustifolium
Family: Zygophyllaceae
Native: Southern Texas, Northern Mexico
Type: Evergreen
This small-leaved shrub is extremely gnarled and grows to 7m tall.
The leaves are opposite, compound, and bear leaflets in pairs of 4 to 8. The flower is scented and borne solitarily or in clusters.
The petals are blue to violet and the flowers bloom in March through September. The fruit is a leathery capsule.
23. Potatotree
Scientific Name: Solanum erianthum
Family: Solanaceae
Native: Peninsular Florida and Southeast Texas
Type: Evergreen
This shrub or small tree grows to about 5m tall with alternate, simple, and thick leaves. The upper surface is grayish-green.
The twig is densely hairy and gray with star-shaped hairs.
The flowers are white and have 5 petals and sepals with yellow anthers. The fruit is a round yellow berry.
24. Powderpuff-tree
Scientific Name: Albizia julibriss
Family: Fabaceae
Native: Asia
Type: Deciduous
This tree grows to about 15 m tall with a short, singular trunk.
The leaf is bipinnate with 3o to 60 leaflets per segment. The flower is small, tubular, and produced numerously in showy heads.
They are pink and white. The fruit is a flattened legume.
25. Prickly Moses
Scientific Name: Acacia verticillata
Family: Fabaceae
Native: Southeast Australia
Type: Evergreen
This shrub or small tree grows to 5 m tall and has prickly leaves.
The leaves appear simple and are borne in whorls of 4 to 7. The flowers are yellow to cream colored, produced in axillary spikes.
The fruit is a linear legume.
26. Pricklypear, Blind
Scientific Name: Opuntia rufida
Family: Cactaceae
Native: Big Bend, Texas; North Mexico
Type: Evergreen
This shrub or small tree is blue-green or gray-green, growing from 0.5 to 1.5 m tall.
It has a round pad with minute hairs. The areole is wool white to tan without spines.
The flowers are pale yellow petaloids and the fruit is fleshy and red.
27. Privet, Chinese
Scientific Name: Ligustrum lucidum
Family: Oleaceae
Native: Eastern Asia
Type: Evergreen
This large shrub or small tree grows to 6 m tall with many trunks.
The leaves are opposite, simple, and leathery with a dark green upper surface.
The flowers are small and greenish-white, borne in panicles. The fruit is a blue-black drupe.
28. Pain-in-the-back
Scientific Name: Trema lamarckiana
Family: Cannabaceae
Native: Asia
Type: Evergreen
This shrub to 3 m tall or tree to 6 m tall has alternate, simple leaves that are distinctly 2-ranked. Their upper surface is dull, dark green.
The flower is white or pink, produced in dense clusters around leaf-axils. The fruit is an egg-shaped drupe.
29. Palm, African Date
Scientific Name: Phoenix reclinata
Family: Arecaceae
Native: Africa, Madagascar
Type: Evergreen
This thicket-forming small tree or shrub grows from 9 to 15 m tall.
The leaf is pinnate and 3 to 4.5 m long. The petiole has stiff and sharp spines.
The flower is cream-colored and has 3 petals and sepals. The fruit is rounded and drupe-like.
30. Paradisetree
Scientific Name: Simarouba glauca
Family: Simaroubaceae
Native: Florida, Florida Keys
Type: Evergreen
This small tree grows from 10 to 15 m tall with alternate, pinnately compound leaves that have 10 to 20 leaflets.
The upper surface is dark green and the lower surface paler.
The flower is unisexual, small, and cream or yellow. The fruit is an oval drupe.
31. Pawpaw, Common
Scientific Name: Asimina triloba
Family: Annonaceae
Native: East Nebraska to East New York
Type: Deciduous
This tree grows to about 14m tall with a single straight trunk and an open crown with slender branches that spread out.
The leaf is large, simple, thin, and flexible.
The flower is 6-petaled and a dull red color. The fruit is an aggregate of berries that are oblong and green-yellow.
32. Peepul Tree
Scientific Name: Ficus religiosa
Family: Moraceae
Native: Asia
Type: Deciduous or Evergreen
This tree is potentially 30 m tall. The leaf is ovate and has a narrow tip. The surface of the leaf is yellowish-green or light green and hairless.
The fruit is hairless, rounded, and dark purple in color.
33. Peltophorum (Genus)
Family: Fabaceae
Native: South America
Type: Deciduous
This genus consists of about 8 species.
The leaves are alternate and bipinnate with even number of leaf segments and the flower is a yellow, bisexual structure with 5 petals that have frilly margins.
The fruit is a flat, winged legume.
34. Pencil Tree
Scientific Name: Euphorbia tirucalli
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Native: Africa
Type: Evergreen
This succulent shrub or small tree grows to 9m tall with many branches resembling pencils. The leaves may be absent or simple and spoon-shaped.
The flower is small and yellowish, borne year-round in ball-like heads. The fruit is a 3-parted capsule.
35. Pepperbush, Mountain
Scientific Name: Clethra acuminata
Family: Clethraceae
Native: Pennsylvania
Type: Deciduous
This shrub or small tree grows to about 6 m tall with a single short trunk.
The leaf is alternate, simple, and crowded near the tip of the twig. The flower is bisexual, white, and borne in hairy racemes.
The fruit is an ovoid 3-parted capsule.
36. Peregrina
Scientific Name: Jatropha integerrima
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Native: Cuba
Type: Deciduous
This shrub with several trunks grows from 4 to 5 m tall and is related to the Barbados Nut.
The leaf is alternate and simple with sharp-pointed lobes at the base of the blade.
This species has been naturalized in the U.S. due to ornamental planting.
37. Pisonia
Scientific Name: Pisonia rotundata
Family: Nyctaginaceae
Native: Lower Florida Keys
Type: Deciduous
This tree is 4 to 5m tall and has a low-branching dense crown.
The leaves are simple, leathery, and stiff with a lustrous upper surface and paler lower surface.
The flower is greenish-white, tubular, or urn-shaped. The fruit is a nutlet that matures in summer and ripens quickly.
38. Poonga-oil Tree
Scientific Name: Pongamia pinnata
Family: Fabaceae
Native: Southeast Asia
Type: Deciduous
This tree grows to about 10 m tall and has erect, ascending branches.
The leaf is alternate and pinnate with 5 to 7 leaflets. The flower is white, pink, or lavender.
The fruit is a yellow to brown legume that is flat, semicircular in shape, and dangling.
39. Possumhaw
Scientific Name: Viburnum nudum
Family: Adoxaceae
Native: Eastern U.S.
Type: Deciduous
This shrub or small tree grows to 6 m tall with erect or ascending branches.
The leaf is opposite, simple, and elliptic. The upper surface is dark green and lustrous.
The flower is white and borne in flat-topped cymes. The fruit is an ellipsoid drupe.
40. Princesstree
Scientific Name: Paulownia tomentosa
Family: Paulowniaceae
Native: Europe
Type: Deciduous
This tree is also known as princesstree and grows from 18 to 20m tall with a 60cm diameter. It has a single, erect trunk with a round, spreading crown.
The flower is bisexual and fragrant. It may be lavender, pinkish purple, or purple on the outside. The fruit is sticky, hard, and egg-shaped.
41. Princewood, Caribbean
Scientific Name: Exostema caribaeum
Family: Rubiaceae
Native: Southern Florida
Type: Evergreen
This shrub or small tree grows from 6 to 8 m tall with a spreading crown.
The leaves are opposite and appear whorled. The upper surface is a lustrous dark-green.
The flower is bisexual, white or pinkish colored. The fruit is an ovoid dark-brown capsule.
42. Pruche du Canada
Scientific Name: Tsuga canadensis
Family: Pinaceae
Native: Eastern U.S.
Type: Evergreen
This tree grows to 30 m tall with a diameter of 150 cm. It has a conical crown that becomes cylindrical as the tree ages. The leaf is a needle 8 to 15 mm long.
Pollen cones are produced numerously, and they are yellow in color.
43. Punktree
Scientific Name: Melaleuca quinquenervia
Family: Myrtaceae
Native: Australia
Type: Evergreen
This tree is 15 to 30m tall with a single trunk and stiffish leagues that are oval-shaped and have a grayish-green upper surface.
The flowers are small, 5-petaled, white, and circular with several stamens.
They blossom year-round. The fruit is a round or square capsule.
44. Pines (Genus)
Scientific Name: Pinus
Family: Pinaceae
Native: Occur worldwide
Type: Evergreen
This genus is the most economically and commercially important tree genus. They have needle-shaped leaves and typically rounded or irregular crowns.
The barks are scaly and the twig is slender to stout. The seed cones are few with several scales.
45. Pistachios (Genus)
Scientific Name: Pistacia
Family: Anacardiaceae
Native: Mediterranean region
Type: Deciduous or Semievergreen
This genus consists of about 11 species with alternate, pinnately compound leaves that have a flattened rachis and are winged along the 2 sides.
The flower is unisexual and borne in dense open-branched clusters. The fruit is a fleshy spherical drupe.
46. Pricklyashes (Genus)
Scientific Name: Zanthoxylum
Family: Rutaceae
Native: Warm regions worldwide
Type: Deciduous or Evergreen
This genus consists of 200 species occurring in the warm regions of the world.
The leaves are alternate and compound. The flowers are tiny and borne in branched clusters. The fruit is a spherical follicle that resembles a bladder.
Various species in this genus are commercially valuable.
Bottom Line
Hopefully, this guide has helped you effectively identify trees, starting with the letter P.
Your suggestions for more species and genera are most welcome.
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