Shrubs

Shrub or tree?

A tree usually has a single main trunk and grows tall, often to more than 5 or 6 metres. A shrub usually has several stems from the ground and stays smaller. The line is blurred: lilacs, hazels, dogwoods and witch hazel can grow either way. Use the same questions on both.

Use the leaf

Start with the same checks as for a tree: simple or compound, opposite or alternate, and the edge and shape. Opposite shrubs include dogwood, lilac, viburnum, honeysuckle and forsythia. Alternate shrubs include hazel, serviceberry, witch hazel, sumac and most roses and hollies. Spiny stems with compound leaves point to rose or bramble.

Shrubs with distinctive leaves

• Sumac: alternate, pinnate compound leaves, with upright red fruit clusters. Staghorn sumac has fuzzy twigs.
• Hydrangea: large, opposite, coarsely toothed leaves.
• Lilac: opposite, heart-shaped, smooth-edged leaves.
• Holly: glossy, spiny or smooth evergreen leaves, red berries on female plants.
• Rhododendron: large, leathery evergreen leaves in clusters at the ends of stems.
• Boxwood: small, oval, opposite evergreen leaves.

Beware poisonous look-alikes

Poison ivy has leaves in threes, in a vine or low shrub. Poison sumac, a wetland shrub, has leaves of 7 to 13 leaflets with smooth edges. Learn to recognise them before you pick, prune or clear brush. Rinse skin promptly with soap and water after contact.

Next steps

For anything not covered here, use your regional extension service or a wild-flower and shrub guide. The Royal Horticultural Society and many state extension services have plant finders.