27 Trees For The Hot and Dry Arizona Climate

If you want to plant a tree on your Arizona property, there are a few key thoughts to consider. Climate zones in Arizona vary depending on elevation, aridity, and temperature. It is best to plant a tree well-suited for your geography and topography.

The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management suggests you plant a native tree versus a non-native tree in Arizona. Native trees cope with the environment better, thus extending their lifespan and saving you a headache as you try to compensate by controlling the conditions in which the tree would grow.

You can plant non-native trees in Arizona, but be sure to be well-educated on the specifics of the species you decide to plant. These specifics include growth patterns, signs that the tree is healthy, like typical bark color, and typical tree flowering and fruit production tendencies. Check out our list below of 27 trees that thrive in the Arizona climate.

Alligator Juniper

Juniperus deppeana trees are 20-60 feet high and 20-50 feet wide. They have an alligator-like blocking pattern on the tree trunk, which is a dark grey, nearly black color.

Male trees produce small yellow flowers in clusters at the ends of twigs. Female trees produce small, round, pale green flowers. The fruits produced by alligator junipers are round, berry-like cones with a reddish-brown waxy coating.

Arizona Ash

Arizona ash trees (Fraxinus velutina) grow up to 50 feet tall and 20-50 feet wide. They are a single-stem tree that grows out into many large branches.

Its bark is a light grey colored with fissures. Arizona ash trees produce flowers that grow in clusters in late spring. Its fruit is a yellow or mostly green-winged seed.

Arizona Cypress

These trees grow up to 75 feet and have a width of up to 45 feet. The bark of an Arizona cypress (Hesperocyparis arizonica) is smooth when the tree is young but becomes rougher with age. It produces yellow flowers, but they are small and insignificant to the tree’s overall look.

The leaves are tight and needle-like with a gray-green to silver-blue color. They are often waxy and do not produce a pleasant smell.

Black Locust

Robinia pseudoacacia grows to be about 65 feet in height, with a width equal to its height. Its bark is gray or light brown, and it resembles a woven rope. It is thick, fibrous, and heavily ridged.

This Arizona tree has showy flowers that are about one inch in diameter. The flowers are white and fragrant. They hang in large clusters that are about 5 inches long! You can expect to see the flowers in mid to late spring.

Blue Palo Verde

The blue palo verde (Parkinsonia florida) is a tree with a width equal to or greater than its height. It can grow up to 50 feet tall.

The blue palo verde produces flowers that are bright yellow with five lobes. These flowers grow in loose clusters. You can tell it apart from other Arizona trees by its green bark.

Cat Claw Acacia

This tree is relatively small compared to others on this list. It grows to be between 10-15 feet tall with a width of 12-20 feet. Sometimes, Senegalia greggii can grow into a weeping shape. The bark on this tree varies. It can be smooth, furrowed, or scaly. The color varies from light green to dark gray.

The flowers it produces vary in color as well. The tree’s flowers can be white, yellow, cream-colored, and in some instances purple or red. The flower is a very small five-petaled flower that grows in dense clusters.

Chokecherry

The chokecherry tree (Prunus virginiana) is another smaller tree, as it grows to be up to 30 feet high and has a width equal to its height. Generally, it grows in a shrubby formation.

The hallmark of this Arizona tree is that it produces dark red or purple fruit. The flowers produced by the chokecherry are often white to pink. They can also be red. The flowers have five petals and five sepals.

Desert Ironwood

Olneya tesota grows to be 15-50 feet high and 15-30 feet wide. Their trunks are strong and erect, with a low spreading canopy. The bark is light gray and scaly with striations. In its youth, this tree has thorny branches.

The floral arrangements of this tree appear in springtime. They are lavender-pink pea-shaped flowers that form in clusters.

Desert Willow

Chilopsis linearis has sparse branches and is not a densely formed tree. It is generally taller than it is wide, with a width of about 25 feet and a height of up to 30 feet. The bark is gray-brown with lighter-colored splits in it.

The flowers are the hallmark visual of this Arizona tree. They are attractive and bell-shaped. Its white to lavender color scheme makes for a pleasant sight out in the desert.

Emory Oak

This oak tree variation (Quercus emoryi) is quite large compared to other trees on our list. It grows to be up to 65 feet high and has a width equal to its height. This Arizona tree typically has a short trunk with a shrubby crown formation.

It produces acorns, and its bark is dark gray. The bark becomes quite thick with age and begins to split into irregular furrows and scaly ridges.

Flowering Crabapple

This tree is true to its name! You can expect to see gorgeous flowers in the spring from the flowering crabapple. The flower is a flat-topped cluster with five petals. The tree’s flower coloring can be pink, white, or red. The fruit produced by this tree can be red or yellow, but are mostly green.

Its bark is gray, brown, or reddish-brown. The texture begins smoothly in its youth but transitions into having a more knotty bark as it ages.

Foothills Palo Verde

This Arizona tree (Parkinsonia microphylla) is usually small and relatively shrub-like. It grows up to 16-50 feet high and 12-20 feet wide.

The foothills palo verde tree has bright yellow flowers with five lobes, and they grow in clusters. An interesting point about this tree is that its bark is thin, green, and photosynthetic!

Fremont Cottonwood

The fremont cottonwood tree (Populus fremontii) grows to be 20-90 feet high and 30-50 feet wide. These trees can become massive! They produce long, drooping, catkin blooms from March to April.

The bark on these trees is smooth when they’re young but becomes deeply fissured with white-colored crack as it gets older.

Gambel Oak

The gambel oak tree (Quercus gambelii) is a small-to-medium-sized tree. It can grow up to 60 feet tall and up to 20 feet wide. Young gambel oak trees have bark that is thin and light-colored. As they age, the bark becomes darker and rougher.

Male trees produce catkins about one inch in length. Female trees that produce catkins are very small and form clusters. This Arizona tree also produces acorns that are about one inch long and can grow in singles or pairs.

Goodding’s Willow

Godding’s Willow (Salix gooddingii) is a tree that is best suited for the northern region of Arizona. They grow to be between 20 and 60 feet high. These trees grow very quickly. Female catkins are about 1-3 inches long. The bark is rough, deeply furrowed, and thick. 

Narrowleaf Cottonwood

The narrowleaf cottonwood (Populus angustifolia) is aptly named due to its leaf structure being willow-like. They have simple leaves that are quite narrow. The bark on this tree is smooth and light gray colored when young but transforms into dark bark that has furrows and ridges. They can be up to 65 feet tall and 20-30 feet wide.

Netleaf Hackberry

Netleaf hackberries (Celtis laevigata var. reticulata) are short trees with interesting bark. They grow to be 40 feet tall and 30 feet wide. The bark is gray and smooth but turns corklike with age. They can also have ring-shaped bumps.

The flowers produced by this Arizona tree are very small. They appear in early spring at the base of young leaves.

One-Seed Juniper

This tree gets its name from the fruit it produces. One-seed juniper trees (Juniperus monosperma) produce round berry-like cones that are a bluish-brown color. They have a waxy texture as well. Each fruit contains one seed per fruit.

Other hallmarks of this tree include brown to gray bark with irregular furrows. It is often scaly with exfoliating ridges. This tree is short and resembles shrubs. It can get up to 25-35 feet in height and has a width that is equal to or less than its height.

Pinyon Pine

This pine tree (Pinus edulis) looks more like a bush with its short and wide dimensions. Pinyon pine trees grow up to 45 feet tall and 20-30 feet wide. They have evergreen needles typical of pine trees and are usually 1-3 inches long.

Male and female trees produce differing flower colors and sizes. Males produce red and cylindrical clusters near the end of branches. Females produce purplish flowers at the branch tips. These are the pine trees that produce pine nuts. Grow one of these in your yard and reap the benefits in the fall.

Ponderosa Pine

Ponderosa pine trees (Pinus ponderosa) are much taller and thinner pine trees when compared to other varieties like the pinyon pine. They grow up to 50-100 feet tall and are 25-30 feet wide. They also have evergreen needles, but these needles are 5-10 inches long. When the needles are crushed, they yield a strong turpentine odor that can sometimes be citrus-like.

The bark is dark, nearly black on younger trees, and develops into cinnamon-colored plates as it ages. This is another monoecious tree. The males produce flowers that are yellow-red and form in cylindrical clusters near the branches. Females produce reddish flowers at branch tips.

Quaking Aspen

Populus tremuloides are small and stand very tall. They grow to be 30-70 feet in height and 20-40 feet wide. They often grow in a thicket in the wild.

The bark is smooth and can be a creamy yellowish-white to very light green color when they’re young. As they age, the bark turns darker and develops furrows. The fruit of the quaking aspen is 2-4 inch catkins.

Rocky Mountain Juniper

The rocky mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) is a beautiful Arizona tree that resembles a willow in its shape. The fruit is round, bluish, berry-like cones. They reach up to 40 feet tall.

Rocky mountain juniper leaves are small and light with a light-green color. These qualities make for the willow-like structure. The bark is thin and scaly with long narrow ridges. It begins in a reddish-brown hue but turns dark and gray with age.

Screwbean Mesquite

The screwbean mesquite (Prosopis pubescens) is a shrub-like desert-dwelling tree. It grows to be 10-30 feet tall and 10-30 feet wide. It has an open and spread-out canopy. The leaves are hairy with as many as 18 leaflets.

The bark is gray and rough with deep fissures. Its fruit is spirally coiled seed pods. They do produce colorful flowers that are small and radial with a greenish-white color.

Shrub Live Oak

Oak trees are known for being sturdy and strong. The shrub live oak (Quercus turbinella) is no exception. These Arizona trees can grow up to 16 feet tall and have a width equal to their height. This tree is shrub-like in its canopy as it spreads wide.

The bark is gray to brown and can be fissured or scaly. These trees produce acorns. Their flowers are often inconspicuous.

Velvet Mesquite

This mesquite tree (Prosopis velutina) is different from the other mesquite tree on our list because this one grows taller and has longer leaves. It can grow up to 20-50 feet tall and generally has a width greater than its height.

The flower is a brilliant yellow in dense cylindrical clusters. Young bark is often reddish-brown and smooth, while older bark is dark, dusty gray-colored, and has a more shredded texture.

White Fir

The white fir tree (Abies concolor) can grow up to 30-50 feet tall. It gets about 15-20 feet wide. These trees have a thick bark with resin pockets. Older trees develop deep, irregular furrows.

These trees produce oblong cones that stand upright. They are 3-5 inches long and can be yellow-green to purple. The flowers produced are yellow to red-toned and catkin-like.

White Thorn Acacia

Acacia trees (Vachellia constricta) are thin and can grow 20 feet tall and 12-20 feet wide. One unique feature of these trees is that their bark has thorns. They produce fruit in legume-like seed pods and flowers that are often yellow, small and arranged in dense clusters. The coloring of these flowers varies.