31 Tree Names Starting With H

Our experienced writers spend hours deep researching, considering both scientific and experimental info to bring the insights you can trust.  

This is the complete list of tree species starting with the letter H.

This comprehensively researched guide will help you identify all trees whose names begin with the letter H.

1. Hackmatack

Scientific Name: Populus balsamifera

Family: Salicaceae

Native: Throughout Canada and U.S.

Type: Deciduous

This 18 to 40 m 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.

2. Hazelnut, Beaked

Scientific Name: Corylus cornuta

Family: Betulaceae

Native: North Alabama

Type: Deciduous

This shrub of about 2m tall or a small tree of 6m tall has simple, oval, dark green leaves and unisexual catkins borne on the same tree.

The fruit is an edible, brown nut whose tip is an elongated beak for a tip.

3. Heartnut

Scientific Name: Juglans ailantifolia

Family: Juglandaceae

Native: Japan

Type: Deciduous

This tree grows up to 20m tall with a trunk 15 to 20cm in diameter. The leaf is compound and has 11 to 17 leaflets.

It is oval or ovate with a yellow-green lustrous upper surface and a paler lower surface.

The flowers are small and produced in yellow-green catkins. The fruit is elliptical nut or drupe.

4. Hearts-a-bustin’

Scientific Name: Euonymus americanus

Family: Celastraceae

Native: Moist woods and floodplains of eastern North America

Type: Deciduous

This shrub has multiple stems and a distinct knobby red fruiting capsule.

The leaves are dark green and fine-toothed, and the stems are green as well.

The tree also bears a creamy white 4-petaled flower. The flowers are borne from the leaf axils.

5. Hedge, Pencil Rubber

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.

6. Hercules’ Club

Scientific Name: Zanthoxylum clava-herculis

Family: Rutaceae

Native: Southeast U.S.

Type: Deciduous

This shrub or tree grows to 20m tall and has a diameter of about 70cm.

The trunk is erect and singular, with thorny prickles on the lower part.

The leaf is pinnate and has leaflets, typically five. The flower is greenish-yellow, and the fruit is a follicle with lustrous black seeds.

7. Hobblebush, Florida

Scientific Name: Agarista populifolia

Family: Ericaceae

Native: Acid swamps around the southeastern United States

Type: Evergreen

Agaristas are small shrubby trees that grow around 4 to 7 meters tall and 7cm in diameter.

They have thick leaves with a smooth, lustrous upper surface and pale lower surface.

They bear white, 5-petaled flowers with constricted necks and a rounded fruit that matures late in summer.

8. Honey-balls

Scientific Name: Cephalanthus occidentalis

Family: Rubiaceae

Native: California, southern Arizona, western Texas

Type: Deciduous

This small tree or large shrub forms from 3 to 15m tall with whorled leaves with a dark green, shiny upper surface and a paler lower surface.

The flower is borne in dense spherical heads with a hairless calyx and a creamy-white corolla.

They are trumpet-shaped. The fruit is a woody capsule with segments packed into the spherical heads.

9. Honeytree, Smooth

Scientific Name: Casearia nitida

Family: Salicaceae

Native: West Indies

Type: Evergreen

This shrub or small tree grows to 5m tall and has an erect trunk with a dense crown.

The leaf is alternate, simple, and leathery with a lustrous green upper surface.

The flower is greenish-yellow, and the fruit is a rounded capsule that matures in summer.

10. Hopbush, Florida

Scientific Name: Dodonaea viscosa

Family: Sapindaceae

Native: Southern Florida, Arizona

Type: Evergreen

This evergreen shrub or small tree to 3m tall is erect and shrubby.

The leaves appear simple, leathery, and are narrowly oval.

The upper surface is shiny green with scales. The flower is small, red or yellow-green, and four or 5-petaled. The fruit is a winged pink to the yellow capsule.

11. Hoptree, Common

Scientific Name: Ptelea trifoliata

Family: Rutaceae

Native: East North America

Type: Deciduous

This colony-forming shrub or small tree grows to 7.5m tall with a single, erect trunk and a broad crown.

The leaf is alternate, compound and releases a fetid odor when crushed.

The flowers are small, greenish-white, and the fruit is a circular samara.

12. Horsebush

Scientific Name: Peltophorum dubium

Family: Fabaceae

Native: South America

Type: Deciduous

The tree grows to 13m tall with a single trunk and a broad high branching crown.

The leaf is alternate and 20cm broad with 15-25 pairs of primary segments.

The flower is produced in several numbers with yellow buds in the summer. The fruit is a flattened, winged legume.

13. Horseradish-tree

Scientific Name: Moringa oleifera

Family: Moringaceae

Native: India and Sri-Lanka

Type: Deciduous

This shrub or tree grows to 12m tall with a diameter of 40cm.

The leaf is alternate and compound. The leaf exudes a strong aroma of horseradish upon being crushed. The flower is creamy-white or yellow, resembling a pea.

The fruit is a bean-like capsule.

14. Horse Sugar

Scientific Name: Symplocos tinctoria

Family: Symplocaceae

Native: Southeast U.S.

Type: Deciduous

This shrub or small tree grows from 2 to 15m tall with an erect trunk and a gray to pink bark.

The leaf is simple, elliptical, and leathery with a lustrous green upper surface.

The flower is bisexual and fragrant, creamy-white or yellow in color. The fruit is an oblong drupe.

15. Hypericum, Spongebark

Scientific Name: Hypericum chapman

Family: Clusiaceae

Native: Florida panhandle

Type: Evergreen

This low shrub or small tree grows to 4m tall with a single, erect trunk. The leaves are whorled, angling upward from the branch.

The bark is thick and spongy. The flower is yellow, borne in a 3-flowered inflorescence.

The fruit is an ovoid capsule.

16. Haw, Purple

Scientific Name: Condalia hookeri

Family: Rhamnaceae

Native: Sandy brush areas of Texas and Mexico

Type: Evergreen or Deciduous

This shrub or tree forms thickets and grows up to heights of 6-9m tall.

It has thorn-tipped rigid twigs with spoon-shaped leaves that are lustrous and yellow-green.

The flower is bowl-shaped and light green, and the fruit is a circular drupe that darkens as it matures. 

17. Headache Tree

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.

18. Hemptree

Scientific Name: Vitex agnus castus

Family: Verbenaceae

Native: Eurasia

Type: Deciduous

This aromatic shrub or small tree grows to 7m tall with a 10cm diameter.

The leaves are palmately compound with 3 to 9 leaflets.

The upper surface is dull green and hairless while the lower surface is grayish-green. The flower is blue, white, or lavender and the fruit is a dry, hard drupe.

19. Holdback, Spiny

Scientific Name: Caesalpinia spinosa

Family: Fabaceae

Native: Peru

Type: Evergreen

This evergreen shrub or small tree grows from 2 to 5m tall. The leaf is bipinnate and 25cm long with 6 to 20 leaflets.

The flowers are yellowish red with the upper petal spotted with red.

The tree bears leguminous oblong-shaped fruits.

20. Hollyberry

Scientific Name: Heteromeles arbutifolia

Family: Rosaceae

Native: California and Baja California

Type: Evergreen

This shrub or tree has a thin gray bark with dark red twigs and simple, leathery leaves that have a dark green upper surface.

The flowers are small and borne in white clusters.

The fruit is a pear-shaped bright red pome.

21. Horsebean

Scientific Name: Parkinsonia aculeata

Family: Fabaceae

Native: Mexico

Type: Deciduous

This tree is nearly evergreen and grows up to 12m in height. The trunk is low-branched with several branches stooping low, giving it a round crown.

The bark is smooth and green.

The leaves are alternate bipinnately compound, and the flowers are yellow and grow in terminal clusters.

22. Huata

Scientific Name: Juniperus californica

Family: Cupressaceae

Native: Nevada, California, Arizona

Type: Evergreen

This shrub or tree up to 8m tall has a rounded crown and scalelike, light green leaves with a noticeable gland.

The bark is smooth and becomes exfoliating as the tree matures.

The seed cone matures in a year, is round, and may be a glaucous, blue-brown color.

23. Huisache

Scientific Name: Vachellia farnesiana

Family: Fabaceae

Native: California, South America

Type: Deciduous

This shrub or small tree to 9m tall has a tall, round crown. The bark is a dark gray-brown and the leaves are compound, crowded on spur twigs.

The flowers are bright yellow and produced in clusters.

The fruit is a flattened, curved, and leathery legume.

24. Hornbeam, American

Scientific Name: Carpinus caroliniana

Family: Betulaceae

Native: East North America

Type: Deciduous

This tree is 8 to 25m tall with a single, erect trunk that is low branching. The bark is thin, tight, and mottled.

The leaf is alternate, simple, and elliptic with a dark green upper surface.

The flowers are catkins borne in spring. The fruit is a ribbed brown nutlet.

25. Hackberries (Genus)

Scientific Name: Celtis

Family: Cannabaceae

Native: Distributed across the world

Type: Deciduous

This genus has 70 to 100 species distributed throughout the world in low elevations.

The bark is thick, gray, and smooth and the leaves are simple and alternate.

The flower is greenish and borne in small clusters while the fruit is a small drupe.

26. Hawthorns (Genus)

Scientific Name: Crataegus

Family: Rosaceae

Native: Northern Hemisphere

Type: Deciduous

This genus has 150-280 species that are typically shrubs or small trees with distinct piercing thorns on the branches.

The flowers are showy and produced numerously in drooping clusters at the end of branches. The fruit is a small pome.

27. Hibiscuses (Genus)

Scientific Name: Hibiscus

Family: Malvaceae

Native: Tropical and subtropical regions of the world

Type: Deciduous

This is a genus of 200-600 species that are popular as garden plants and for ornamental purposes. These species are widely planted around the world in tropical regions.

They may be shrubs, trees, or herbs.

The leaf is alternate and simple. The flowers are large and variously colored, and the fruit is a rounded capsule.

28. Hickories (Genus)

Scientific Name: Carya

Family: Juglandaceae

Native: North America, Mexico, Asia

Type: Deciduous

This is a genus of 18 species distributed in North America. The trees grow up to 50m tall with alternate, compound leaves.

The flowers are catkins, and the fruit is a nut enclosed in a husk. This genus is widely planted for its nuts and wood.

29. Hollies (Genus)

Scientific Name: Ilex

Family: Aquafoliaceae

Native: East Asia, South America

Type: Evergreen

This family is a collection of 400 trees and shrubs with mottled gray bark and, gray, brown twigs. The leaves are alternate, simple, and have toothed margins.

The flowers have 3 to 9 petals, typically in greenish-white, yellowish-white, or creamy-white colors.

The fruit is round and red, yellow, orange, or black drupe.

30. Harbison’s Hawthorn

Scientific Name: Crataegus harbisonii

Family: Rosaceae

Native: Limestone soils of Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tennessee

Type: Deciduous

Harbison’s Hawthorn is usually a small tree about 8 m tall, 25–30 cm in diameter.

The bark is gray to brown, scaly, furrowed, chestnut brown in color, armed with lustrous, straight brown or nearly blackthorns, 3-5 cm long.

The leaves are alternate and slightly lobed with white, circular flower petals.

!! Suggested: How to identify Harbison’s Hawthorn !!

Bottom Line

Hopefully, this guide has helped you identify trees, starting with the letter H.

Your suggestions for more species and genera are most welcome.

Do share this guide with your friends and family if you enjoyed it.