The Greenbelt Native Plant Center (GNPC), a facility of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, is a 13–acre greenhouse, nursery, and seed bank complex located on Staten Island, NY.

Upland Forest

The upland forest is characterized by a tree canopy cover of at least 60%. The majority of these forests in the New York City area are rooted in moist, well–drained soils. Natural forest communities most commonly include Oak?Hickory, Oak–Tuliptree, Coastal Oak–Heath, Beech–Maple, and Maritime–mixed Oak. Plant species most suited for dry upland sites are listed as well.

Download the Upland Forest Species List (PDF, 60 KB)

Moist to Dry

Trees

  • Acer rubrum– Red maple
  • Acer saccharum– Sugar maple
  • Betula lenta– Black birch
  • Betula papyrifera– White or Paper birch
  • Carpinus caroliniana– American hornbeam
  • Carya glabra– Pignut hickory
  • Carya cordiformis– Bitternut
  • Carya ovata– Shagbark hickory
  • Carya tomentosa– Mockernut hickory
  • Cornus florida– Flowering dogwood
  • Celtis occidentalis– Hackberry
  • Fagus grandifolia– American beech
  • Fraxinus americana– White ash
  • Fraxinus pennyslyanica– Green ash
  • Juglans nigra– Black walnut
  • Liriodendron tulipifera– Tulip tree
  • Liquidamber styraciflua– Sweet gum
  • Nyssa sylvatica– Black gum
  • Ostrya virginiana– Hop hornbeam
  • Prunus serotina– Black cherry
  • Pinus strobus– White pine
  • Platanus occidentalis– American sycamore
  • Populus grandidentata– Big tooth aster
  • Populus tremuloides– Quaking aspen
  • Quercus alba– White oak
  • Quercus palustris– Pin oak
  • Quercus prinus– Chestnut oak
  • Quercus rubra– Red oak
  • Quercus velutina– Black oak
  • Tilia americana– American basswood
  • Ulmus americana– American elm

Shrubs/Vines

  • Amelanchier canadensis– Canadian serviceberry
  • Corylus americana– Hazel nut
  • Euonymus americanus– Strawberry bush
  • Hamamelis virginiana– Witch hazel
  • Rubus occidentalis– Black raspberry
  • Rubus odoratus– Flowering raspberry
  • Staphylea trifolia– American bladdernut
  • Viburnum acerifolium– Maple–leaf viburnum
  • Smilax glauca– Cat greenbrier

Herbs

  • Actea alba– Doll's eyes
  • Agrimonia gryposepala– Common agrimony
  • Allium tricoccum– Wild leek
  • Aquilegia canadensis– Wild columbine
  • Aralia nudicaulis– Wild sarsaparilla
  • Asarum canadense– Canadian wildginger
  • Cimicifuga racemosa– Black bugbane
  • Collinsonia canadensis– Northern horse–balm
  • Eurybia divaricata– White wood aster
  • Eupatorium purpureum– Sweet Joe–pye–weed
  • Eupatorium rugosum– White snakeroot
  • Geranium maculatum– Wild geranium
  • Geum canadense– White avens
  • Helianthus decapetalus– Thin–leaved sunflower
  • Helianthus divaricatus– Woodland sunflower
  • Heuchera americana– Alumroot
  • Lysimachia quadrifolia– Whorled yellow loosestrife
  • Maianthemum canadense– Canada mayflower
  • Osmorhiza longistyis– Long–styled sweet cicely
  • Polygonatum pubescens– Hairy Solomon's seal
  • Polygonatum biflorum– Small Solomon's seal
  • Polygonum virginianum– Mountain mint
  • Silene stellata– Widowsfrill
  • Smilacina racemosa– False Solomon's seal
  • Solidago caesia– Blue–stemmed goldenrod
  • Solidago speciosa– Showy goldenrod
  • Symphyotrichum cordifolium– Blue wood aster
  • Uvularia sessilifolia– Merrybells
  • Viola cucullata– Blue marsh violet
  • Viola pubescens– Yellow forest violet
  • Viola sororia– Common blue violet

Ferns

  • Athyrium filix–femina– Lady fern
  • Dennstaedtia punctilobula– Hay–scented fern
  • Dryopteris intermedia– Gray wood fern
  • Osmunda claytoniana– Interrupted fern
  • Polystichum acrostichoides– Christmas fern
  • Thelypteris novaboracensis– New York fern

Graminoids

  • Brachyelytrum erectum–Bearded shorthusk
  • Carex appalachica– Appalachian sedge
  • Carex rosea– Rosy sedge
  • Carex swanii– Swan's sedge
  • Danthonia compressa– Flattened oatgrass
  • Danthonia spicata– Wild oatgrass
  • Elymus hystrix– Bottle bush grass
  • Juncus tenuis– Path rush
  • Leersia virginica– White grass
  • Luzula multiflora– Wood rush

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Dry

Trees

  • Amelanchier arborea– Service berry
  • Betula lenta– Black birch
  • Betula populifolia– Gray birch
  • Fraxinus americana– White ash
  • Ilex opaca– American holly
  • Pinus rigida– Pinch pine
  • Quercus alba– White oak
  • Quercus coccinea– Scarlet oak
  • Quercus marilandica– Blackjack oak
  • Quercus rubra– Red oak
  • Quercus stellata– Post oak
  • Quercus velutina– Black oak

Shrubs

  • Comptonia peregrina– Sweetfern
  • Gaylussacia baccata– Black huckleberry
  • Gaylussacia frondosa– Dangleberry
  • Kalmia angustifolia– Sheep laurel
  • Kalmia latifolia– Mountain laurel
  • Lyonia mariana– Piedmont staggerbush
  • Rhododendron perclymenoides– Pinkster bloom
  • Rhus copallinum– Winged sumac
  • Rhus glabra– Smooth sumac
  • Rhus typhina– Staghorn sumac
  • Rubus allegheniensis– Allegheny blackberry
  • Rubus flagellaris– Northern dewberry
  • Vaccinium angustifolium– Low bush blueberry
  • Vaccinium corymbosum– High bush blueberry
  • Vaccinium fuscatum– Black highbush blueberry
  • Vaccinium pallidum– Blue Ridge blueberry

Herbs

  • Apocynum androsaemifolium– Spreading dogbane
  • Desmodium glutinosum– Cluster tick–trefoil
  • Eupatorium album– White thoroughwort
  • Eupatorium purpureum– Sweet Joe–pye–weed
  • Eupatorium rugosum– White snakeroot
  • Eurybia divaricata– White wood aster
  • Hieracium kalmii– Canada hawkweed
  • Lysimachia quadrifolia– Whorled yellow loosestrife
  • Pycnanthemum incanum– Mountain mint
  • Solidago bicolor– White goldenrod
  • Solidago caesia– Blue–stemmed goldenrod
  • Symphyotrichum patens– Late purple aster

Graminoids

  • Carex gravida– Heavy sedge
  • Carex pensylvanica– Pennsylvania sedge
  • Carex swanii– Swan's sedge
  • Danthonia compressa– Flattened oatgrass
  • Danthonia spicata– Wild oatgrass
  • Deschampsia flexuosa– Common hair grass
  • Juncus tenuis– Slender yard rush
  • Luzula multiflora– Wood rush

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