🌳Tree of the Month for November 2025

Howdy, Park goers, 

For our November Tree of the Month, we are highlighting the wonderful Sourwood. Botanically named Oxydendrum arboreum, the sourwood is a deciduous, small to medium-sized tree in the heath family (Ericaceae) that is native to the eastern and southern United States.

Sourwood typically grows 20 to 30 feet tall and 10 to 15 feet wide at maturity. It prefers acidic, peaty, moist, and well-drained soils in full sun to partial shade. Its foliage is alternate, simple, finely toothed, and glossy green, ranging in size from 3 to 6 inches long and 1 to 3 inches wide. The foliage is reminiscent of a peach or laurel leaf and has a distinctly sour taste, which inspired the common name sourwood.

Sourwood is known for its consistently exceptional fall color, typically turning brilliant red, though shades of yellow and purple may also appear. This species flowers in summer, producing showy, waxy, lily-of-the-valley-like, white bell-shaped blossoms that bloom from June to July. The flowers are slightly fragrant and about ¼ inch in length. After flowering, the panicles persist and resemble long fingers hanging from the tree.

The wood of sourwood is heavy, dense, and close-grained, but it is rarely used in commercial carpentry or woodworking. However, the flowers and structure of the tree play an important role in the ecology of its native range. The showy flowers attract bees, butterflies, and other insects, and bees use the tree’s nectar to produce a rich and highly sought-after honey.

As an understory tree, sourwood provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. Natural hollows in the tree’s structure offer refuge for climbing reptiles and amphibians, bats, birds, and other small creatures. Historically, humans have used sourwood leaves to brew tea traditionally believed to help with asthma, diarrhea, and indigestion.

There are currently 15 sourwood specimens found throughout the park’s arboretum, ranging from seedlings planted last fall to well-established, mature trees. These beautiful specimens are beginning to display their fabulous fall color, and the flower panicles are still hanging on like those long fingers described above. Be sure to check out their stunning fall display before dormancy arrives!