Trees of Provincetown
Although I live in San Francisco, I'm an annual visitor to Provincetown. For such a windy place built mostly on sand, you wouldn't expect to find great trees, but this town has some beautiful, stately, landmark trees. Here are some locations where you can see some of Provincetown's best trees (for my main San Francisco tree page, click here):
| Tree Species | Location |
| Acer palmatum (Japanese maple) | 167 Commercial |
| Acer platanioides (Norway maple) | across street from 8 Mechanic. This tree, a native of northern Europe, is the most common tree in Provincetown. |
| Acer rubrum (Red maple) | 156 Commercial near Atlantic |
| Acer saccharinum (Silver maple) | corner of Cemetery Rd. and Conwell (this tree is one of Provincetown's best); 66 Commercial |
| Acer saccharum (sugar maple) | 11 Pleasant (not 100% sure this is a sugar maple, but it looks like one) |
| Aesculus hippocastanum (Horsechestnut) | 240 Commercial. This is one of Provincetown's signature trees. |
| Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-heaven) | 168 Commercial. This tree comes up like a weed all over own - one of the fastest growing trees that you'll see on the streets of Provincetown. |
| Albizia julibrissin (mimosa tree) | Across from 26 Tremont, at "the Willows"; cross street from 560 Commercial, behind fence |
| Betula nigra (River Birch) | 14 Center, near Bradford |
| Catalpa bignonioides (common catalpa) | 558 Commercial; 2 Commercial; 26 Tremont; corner Alden St. and Cemetery Road |
| Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca' (Atlas cedar) | 74 Commercial; 9 Court (to left of building as you face it) |
| Crataegus laevigata (English hawthorne) | Across from 3 Cook |
| Crataegus monogyna (one-seed hawthorn) | 6 Winslow. This is the only example of this tree I know of in Provincetown. |
| Fagus grandifolia (American beech) | 37 Pearl; on path at 130A Commercial. The American beech tree is the native beech that is in the beech forest on Provincetown's bike path. |
| Fagus sylvetica (European beech) | 3 Mozart (back yard, to the left) |
| Fraxinus pennsylvanica (green ash) | 465 Commercial (this may be a white ash - fraxinus americana) |
| Juglans regia; var. Carpathian (Carpathian walnut) | 532 Commercial; 605 Commercial |
| Lagerstroemia (crapemyrtle) | 8 Mechanic (may be across the street) |
| Liquidambar styraciflua (American sweetgum) | corner of Brown and Rte 6; across from 186 Commercial, in front of Bubala's. Rare to find Liquidambars this far north - it's near the northern end of its range. |
| Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree) | 3 Tremont - this is one of Provincetown's best trees. This tree is very close to the northern end of its range - you don't see many further north than Provincetown. |
| Picea (Spruce) (what type? I'm from California, where I don't see a lot of spruces!) | across from 17 Tremont, in the back yard of the Oxford Guest House |
| Picea pungens (blue spruce) | 232 Bradford |
| Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore) | across from 25 Shankpainter (in front of church, next to Blue Spruce) |
| Populus alba (white poplar) | 3 Brown |
| Populus deltoides (eastern cottonwood) | 15 Bradford |
| Populus (poplar) (not sure which kind...) | 616 Commercial |
| Populus nigra 'Italica' | across from 128 Commercial; 200 Bradford (to the left of the building as you face it) |
| Prunus serrulata (cherry) | 28 Pleasant; 10A Bradford |
| Pyrus calleryana (Callery pear); I think this is the 'Bradford' pear variety | 36 Commercial |
| Pyrus calleryana (Callery pear - different type) | 15 Mechanic, near Apt. 1 |
| Pyrus communis (common pear) | Yard to the right of 3 Franklin |
| Quercus alba (white oak) | 5 Tremont near Commercial |
| Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust) | 3 Prince; 84 Commercial; 15 Mechanic, near Apt. 4. A very common tree in Provincetown |
|
Salix nigra (black willow) |
11 Commercial (type of willow?) |
| Sophora japonica (Japanese pagoda tree) | 119 Commercial Street (near bench, where Commercial Street turns); corner of Bradford and West Vine (in center median) |
| Tilia cordata (Little-leaf linden) | on Ryder Street, in the lawn on the side of Town Hall (a spectacular tree - one of Provincetown's best); 568 Commercial |
| Zelkova serrata (Japanese zelkova) | 9 Winthrop; 546 Commercial |
| Ulmus americana (American Elm) | 418 Commercial near Lovetts; 476 Commercial; 46 Commercial |
| Ulmus procera (English Elm) | 96 Commercial Street (this is a bit of a guess. This tree is definitely not an American elm, but it might be a Dutch elm. |
| Zelkova serrata (Japanese zelkova) | 9 Winthrop; 546 Commercial |
And here are some trees that I just can't identify. Maybe someone can help - if so, send me an email at sulliva1@ix.netcom.com:
| Tree Species | Location |
|
??? |
32 Commercial |
|
??? |
Across from 24 Pleasant (basswood?) |