{
 "title": "Pollination table: what each tree needs for a crop",
 "page": "https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/",
 "license": {
  "name": "Creative Commons Attribution 4.0",
  "short": "CC BY 4.0",
  "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
 },
 "attribution": "Blue Whale Trees, https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/",
 "updated": "2026-10-22",
 "row": "one tree or shrub the nursery grows",
 "rows_count": 364,
 "columns": [
  {
   "name": "slug",
   "means": "the plant page's address, https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/<slug>/"
  },
  {
   "name": "name",
   "means": "the common name the page uses"
  },
  {
   "name": "need",
   "means": "what a crop takes: dioecious, partner, improves, alone or unknown. Dioecious means separate male and female plants, partner a second unrelated plant, improves one bears and a second helps, alone one plant bears"
  },
  {
   "name": "group_min",
   "means": "the fewest plants to set out for a crop"
  },
  {
   "name": "group_max",
   "means": "the most the planner suggests"
  },
  {
   "name": "distance_ft",
   "means": "the distance within which a partner counts, in feet, where the page gives one"
  },
  {
   "name": "spacing_min_ft",
   "means": "the closest spacing between plants, in feet"
  },
  {
   "name": "spacing_max_ft",
   "means": "the widest spacing the page gives, in feet"
  },
  {
   "name": "first_crop",
   "means": "the years from planting to the first crop, as the page states them"
  },
  {
   "name": "flowers",
   "means": "how the flowers are borne: monoecious, male and female flowers on one plant; dioecious, on separate plants; or perfect, each flower carrying both parts"
  },
  {
   "name": "kin",
   "means": "the plant whose pollination facts stand in for this one where its own are not recorded"
  },
  {
   "name": "note",
   "means": "the planner's own note for the plant"
  }
 ],
 "rows": [
  {
   "slug": "alabama-azalea",
   "name": "Alabama Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "alabama-croton",
   "name": "Alabama Croton",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each plant carries male and female flowers, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "alabama-snow-wreath",
   "name": "Alabama Snow-wreath",
   "need": "none",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Small, dry fruits form from late spring into fall, but their seeds rarely if ever ripen, and no seedling has ever been found in the wild."
  },
  {
   "slug": "alderleaf-buckthorn",
   "name": "Alderleaf Buckthorn",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are mostly male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "allegheny-chinquapin",
   "name": "Allegheny Chinquapin",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3 (a crop in the third season)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Allegheny chinquapin does not pollinate itself, and a thicket of suckers from one root is still one plant, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "allegheny-plum",
   "name": "Allegheny Plum",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "plum",
   "note": "Plums need pollen from a second plum to set fruit, and a thicket from one root counts as one plant, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "allegheny-serviceberry",
   "name": "Allegheny Serviceberry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3 after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single plant sets fruit, and birds will take the June crop before it fully ripens unless you net it."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-basswood",
   "name": "American Basswood (Linden)",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "15 or more (trees have borne at 8)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Lindens do not set seed from their own pollen, and bees and flies carry pollen between trees, so plant two or more if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-beautyberry",
   "name": "American Beautyberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "2 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "The berries ripen in September and hold into winter unless the birds find them first. A single plant fruits on its own, and a few more of its kind nearby seem to set more fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-beech",
   "name": "American Beech",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "about 40 (large quantities by 60)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "American beech carries male and female flowers on the same tree, but a lone tree sets mostly empty nuts, so plant two trees and let the wind carry pollen between them."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-chestnut",
   "name": "American Chestnut",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": 300,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "4",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Viable nuts take at least two trees to cross-pollinate, so plant two or more from different seed, within 300 feet of each other."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-crabapple",
   "name": "American Crabapple",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "several",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "crabapple",
   "note": "Seedlings bloom and bear after several years, and fruit set improves with a second crabapple or apple nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-fly-honeysuckle",
   "name": "American Fly Honeysuckle",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-hazelnut",
   "name": "American Hazelnut",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": 50,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Hazelnuts are wind-pollinated and a single bush will not set nuts, so plant two or more seedlings within 50 feet."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-holly",
   "name": "American Holly, select line",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "3 to 9 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Holly is dioecious. Only females bear berries, and they need a male nearby, so plant several seedlings or add a known male."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-hornbeam",
   "name": "American Hornbeam (Musclewood)",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "about 15",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female catkins appear together on the same tree and the wind carries the pollen, so one tree sets seed alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-mountain-ash",
   "name": "American Mountain Ash",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "about 15 (the European species)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "American mountain ash needs pollen from a second tree to set a good crop, and bees carry it, so plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-persimmon",
   "name": "American Persimmon",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "4 to 9 (heaviest crops at 25 to 50)",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most trees are male or female, so plant several seedlings for fruit. Seedlings begin bearing after about six years."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-plum",
   "name": "American Plum",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 25,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "plum",
   "note": "Wild plum needs a second seedling nearby for good fruit set, and the crop ripens in August. Seedlings bear within three to five years."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-smoketree",
   "name": "American Smoketree",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, though some carry both kinds of flower, and the males give the better smoke. Few fruits set, each a dry, one-seeded kernel about an eighth of an inch long."
  },
  {
   "slug": "american-snowbell",
   "name": "American Snowbell",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "American snowbell carries both male and female parts in each flower, but it may set little or no seed with its own pollen. Plant two or more from different seed, since bees carry the pollen between plants."
  },
  {
   "slug": "arkansas-oak",
   "name": "Arkansas Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 25,
   "first_crop": "17 or more",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "arrowwood-viburnum",
   "name": "Arrowwood Viburnum",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Seedlings can fruit in their third year and a group crops every year after, but one plant or one cultivar alone sets little fruit, so plant three or more together."
  },
  {
   "slug": "ashe-magnolia",
   "name": "Ashe's Magnolia",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Ashe's magnolia carries both male and female parts in each flower, and bees and beetles set seed on a lone tree."
  },
  {
   "slug": "atlantic-white-cedar",
   "name": "Atlantic White Cedar",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5 (first cones, in the open)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Atlantic white cedar carries male and female cones on the same tree and the wind pollinates it, so one tree bears alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bald-cypress",
   "name": "Bald Cypress",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female cones grow on the same tree and the wind carries the pollen, so one tree bears seed alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bartram-serviceberry",
   "name": "Bartram's Serviceberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Some plants set seed only with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more from different seed for a crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "beach-plum",
   "name": "Beach Plum",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "plum",
   "note": "Beach plum needs a second, unrelated seedling nearby to set fruit. Fruit ripens in late August or September. Seedlings bear within about four years."
  },
  {
   "slug": "beaked-hazelnut",
   "name": "Beaked Hazelnut",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Beaked hazelnut is wind-pollinated and will not set nuts from its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bear-huckleberry",
   "name": "Bear Huckleberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "2 from sprouts",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its relatives box huckleberry and black huckleberry set little or no fruit with their own pollen, so plant two or more bear huckleberries from different parents for berries."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bear-oak",
   "name": "Bear Oak (Scrub Oak)",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "3 from sprouts (in New Jersey; acorns take two seasons to ripen)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "Bear oak is wind pollinated and will not set acorns from its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bigleaf-magnolia",
   "name": "Bigleaf Magnolia",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "12 or more (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bigleaf magnolia carries both male and female parts in each flower, and bees and beetles moving between its flowers can set seed on a lone tree."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bigleaf-snowbell",
   "name": "Bigleaf Snowbell",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bigleaf snowbell carries both male and female parts in each flower, but it may set no seed with its own pollen. Plant two or more from different seed, since bees carry the pollen between plants."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bigleaf-witch-hazel",
   "name": "Bigleaf Witch Hazel",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "at least 6",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bitternut-hickory",
   "name": "Bitternut Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 30 (in quantity; about 25 by the Missouri Botanical Garden)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree, and the male catkins usually open before the female flowers, so a second bitternut nearby improves the set."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-cherry",
   "name": "Black Cherry",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "5 to 10",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Black cherry sets no seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for a crop of cherries."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-chokeberry",
   "name": "Black Chokeberry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single chokeberry sets fruit without a partner. Seedlings begin bearing in their second or third year, with berries ripening in late August."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-elderberry",
   "name": "Black Elderberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "2 (first flowers, on canes in their second year)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Elderberry is partly self-fertile, but two seedlings set more fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-gum",
   "name": "Black Gum (Tupelo)",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "2 from sprouts",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most trees are male or female, so only some seedlings will fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-hickory",
   "name": "Black Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree. Hickories are mostly cross-pollinated, and a tree's own pollen sets fewer and poorer nuts, so plant two or set it near other hickories."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-huckleberry",
   "name": "Black Huckleberry",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "a few after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Black huckleberry appears to need pollen from another plant to set fruit, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-locust",
   "name": "Black Locust",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "about 6",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bees carry the pollen, and a lone black locust can set seed with its own, but more of those seeds abort. A second tree nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-maple",
   "name": "Black Maple",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "about 30",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree, and wind and bees carry the pollen. A tree sheds its pollen either before or after its own female flowers are ready, so a second black maple nearby improves the seed crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-oak",
   "name": "Black Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "about 20 (best at 40 to 75; good crops every 2 to 3 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "black-walnut",
   "name": "Black Walnut",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 60,
   "first_crop": "about 10 (a few nuts at 4 to 6; large crops from 20 to 30)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A lone black walnut can set nuts from its own pollen, but its catkins usually shed when its own flowers are not ready. A second walnut nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "blackhaw",
   "name": "Blackhaw Viburnum",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "8 to 10",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Fruit set is heavier with a second, unrelated plant nearby, so put in two if you want the sweet blue-black fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "blackjack-oak",
   "name": "Blackjack Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4 from sprouts (on burned ground; it bears younger than many oaks)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bladdernut",
   "name": "Bladdernut",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": null,
   "spacing_max_ft": null,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bladdernut will not set seed with its own pollen, and a suckering patch is still one plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "blue-ash",
   "name": "Blue Ash",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "about 25",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Unlike most ashes, blue ash usually carries male and female parts in each flower, and few trees are only male or female. The wind carries the pollen."
  },
  {
   "slug": "blue-ridge-st-johns-wort",
   "name": "Blue Ridge St. John's-wort",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "blueberry-hawthorn",
   "name": "Blueberry Hawthorn",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Some blueberry hawthorns carry two sets of chromosomes and need another tree's pollen, while others carry three and can set seed alone. Plant two or more for a reliable crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bluejack-oak",
   "name": "Bluejack Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 25,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4 from sprouts",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bluff-oak",
   "name": "Bluff Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "under 30",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "Oaks are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bog-spicebush",
   "name": "Bog Spicebush",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 5,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "4 to 5",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on separate plants and only females carry berries, so plant three to five seedlings to get both."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bottlebrush-buckeye",
   "name": "Bottlebrush Buckeye",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "about 3 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bottlebrush buckeye sets seed with its own pollen, so one plant can bear alone; bees and butterflies carry pollen from its many male flowers to the few with both parts."
  },
  {
   "slug": "box-huckleberry",
   "name": "Box Huckleberry",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": "a few after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Box huckleberry cannot set seed with its own pollen, and most wild patches are one plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for berries."
  },
  {
   "slug": "boynton-oak",
   "name": "Boynton Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bracted-arrowwood",
   "name": "Bracted Arrowwood",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its close relative, our arrowwood viburnum, needs pollen from another plant to set fruit, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "rose-locust",
   "name": "Bristly Locust (Rose Locust)",
   "need": "none",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "about 2",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "It seldom sets seed, spreading instead by root suckers, which holds a bank and overruns a border."
  },
  {
   "slug": "broom-crowberry",
   "name": "Broom Crowberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "buckthorn-bully",
   "name": "Buckthorn Bully",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and most buckthorns can pollinate themselves, so a single tree can set fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "buckwheat-tree",
   "name": "Buckwheat Tree",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "bur-oak",
   "name": "Bur Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 60,
   "spacing_max_ft": 60,
   "first_crop": "about 35 (good crops every 2 to 3 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "butternut",
   "name": "Butternut",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 20 (best from 30 to 60)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree but seldom open together, and a lone tree with no other butternut nearby may set few nuts. Plant two or more for a crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "buttonbush",
   "name": "Buttonbush",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts. Buttonbush sets little seed with its own pollen and far more with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "canada-buffaloberry",
   "name": "Canada Buffaloberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "4 to 6",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "canada-plum",
   "name": "Canada Plum",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "4 to 6",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "plum",
   "note": "Plums need pollen from a second plum to set fruit, and a thicket from one root counts as one tree, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "canada-yew",
   "name": "Canada Yew",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "30 to 35",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Canada yew usually carries male and female cones on the same plant and the wind pollinates it, so one plant can bear alone, though plants set more seed with neighbors close by."
  },
  {
   "slug": "carolina-bog-laurel",
   "name": "Carolina Bog Laurel",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Carolina bog laurel sets fruit with its own pollen as well as a neighbor's, so one plant bears seed alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "carolina-buckthorn",
   "name": "Carolina Buckthorn",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": null,
   "spacing_max_ft": null,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "One plant will fruit on its own. Birds strip the berries as they blacken, and the fruit is not for eating."
  },
  {
   "slug": "carolina-hemlock",
   "name": "Carolina Hemlock",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "about 20 (good crops at 25 to 30)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Carolina hemlock carries male and female cones on the same tree and sets seed with its own wind-borne pollen, so one tree bears alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "carolina-laurelcherry",
   "name": "Carolina Laurelcherry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "2",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single tree sets fruit without a partner."
  },
  {
   "slug": "carolina-silverbell",
   "name": "Carolina Silverbell",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 35,
   "first_crop": "a few (first flowers; heavy flower crops from 20 to 25)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "carolina-st-johns-wort",
   "name": "Carolina St. John's-wort",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "catawba-rhododendron",
   "name": "Catawba Rhododendron",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees, butterflies and hummingbirds come to the flowers."
  },
  {
   "slug": "catberry",
   "name": "Catberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "a few",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, and only females bear the berries, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "cedar-elm",
   "name": "Cedar Elm",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 20",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each cedar elm flower carries both male and female parts, but elms seldom set seed with their own pollen. The wind carries pollen between trees, so plant two or more if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "chalk-maple",
   "name": "Chalk Maple",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "11",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Chalk maple is a close relative of sugar maple, whose own pollen sets few good seeds, so a second tree nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "chapman-oak",
   "name": "Chapman Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "1 from sprouts (acorns in the first year after a fire)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "chapman-st-johns-wort",
   "name": "Chapman's St. John's-wort",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "cherrybark-oak",
   "name": "Cherrybark Oak, Wye Island line",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "about 25",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "Like other oaks, cherrybark oak is wind pollinated and needs pollen from another tree to set acorns, so plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "chestnut-oak",
   "name": "Chestnut Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "about 20 (stump sprouts have borne at 3)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "chickasaw-plum",
   "name": "Chickasaw Plum",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 25,
   "first_crop": "2",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "plum",
   "note": "Plums need pollen from a second plum to set fruit, and a thicket from one root counts as one tree, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "chinese-chestnut",
   "name": "Chinese Chestnut",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": 200,
   "spacing_min_ft": 35,
   "spacing_max_ft": 35,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A chestnut will not pollinate itself, and a lone tree drops empty burs. Nearly every chestnut rejects its own pollen, so plant a second seedling within 200 feet."
  },
  {
   "slug": "chinquapin-oak",
   "name": "Chinquapin Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "under 30",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "chokecherry",
   "name": "Chokecherry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4 (first good crop)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single tree sets fruit without a partner."
  },
  {
   "slug": "cinnamon-clethra",
   "name": "Cinnamon Clethra",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees are its likely pollinators, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "clammy-locust",
   "name": "Clammy Locust",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees carry the pollen. Its close relative black locust sets about half as much seed with its own pollen as with another tree's, so a second clammy locust nearby should improve the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "climbing-fetterbush",
   "name": "Climbing Fetterbush",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its relative Japanese pieris sets seed with its own pollen, so one plant should bear seed alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "climbing-prairie-rose",
   "name": "Climbing Prairie Rose",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 12,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each plant is male or female, and only females bear hips, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "clusterspike-indigobush",
   "name": "Clusterspike Indigobush",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "1 from sprouts",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A lone plant sets some seed with its own pollen and more with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "coastal-azalea",
   "name": "Coastal Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "about 3 (first flowers, in one trial)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "cockspur-hawthorn",
   "name": "Cockspur Hawthorn",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 35,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most cockspur hawthorns set seed with their own pollen, so one tree usually bears alone. Midges drawn by the fishy scent carry the pollen."
  },
  {
   "slug": "common-hackberry",
   "name": "Common Hackberry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 60,
   "first_crop": "about 15",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "One tree carries both male and female flowers, so it fruits alone and bears most years."
  },
  {
   "slug": "common-hoptree",
   "name": "Common Hoptree (Wafer Ash)",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 5,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, and males outnumber females, so plant three to five seedlings if you want the wafers, which follow the flowers the same summer and hang until spring. Flies, wasps and small bees pollinate it, not wind."
  },
  {
   "slug": "common-prickly-ash",
   "name": "Common Prickly Ash (Toothache Tree)",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 5,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Only female plants carry the red capsules, so plant three to five seedlings to be sure of a male among the females; bees work the flowers."
  },
  {
   "slug": "conjurers-nut",
   "name": "Conjurer's-nut",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "corkwood",
   "name": "Corkwood",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "creeping-blueberry",
   "name": "Creeping Blueberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A mat from one plant is a single clone, and blueberries set more fruit with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "creeping-juniper",
   "name": "Creeping Juniper",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "about 10 to 20",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and only females bear the berrylike cones, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "cucumber-magnolia",
   "name": "Cucumber Magnolia",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 35,
   "spacing_max_ft": 35,
   "first_crop": "about 30 (a seedling may bloom at 12 or more)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A lone cucumber magnolia sets less seed than trees that can cross with a neighbor, so plant two or more seedlings if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "cumberland-azalea",
   "name": "Cumberland Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "cumberland-rosemary",
   "name": "Cumberland Rosemary",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bumblebees, honey bees and other large bees carry the pollen. Its own pollen sets far fewer good seeds than pollen from another plant."
  },
  {
   "slug": "dahoon",
   "name": "Dahoon",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the red berries, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "dangleberry",
   "name": "Dangleberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "2 from sprouts (after a fire; most fruit in the third year)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its flowers cannot pollinate themselves and depend on bumblebees and small bees. Its relatives set more fruit with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "deerberry",
   "name": "Deerberry",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5 after planting (first flowers, in full sun)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Deerberry appears to need pollen from another plant to set a full crop, so plant two or more within a few yards and let the bees work. The berries ripen from August into September and hang until the birds and deer take them."
  },
  {
   "slug": "delta-post-oak",
   "name": "Delta Post Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 25",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The female flowers of delta post oak open about a week after its male catkins shed pollen, and only pollen from another tree sets acorns. Plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "devils-walking-stick",
   "name": "Devil's Walking Stick",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Growth is fast, and a stem flowers first at three to four years old. The flowers are mostly perfect, so a single plant sets fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "devilwood",
   "name": "Devilwood",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the dark blue fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "downy-arrowwood",
   "name": "Downy Arrowwood",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and insects carry the pollen."
  },
  {
   "slug": "downy-hawthorn",
   "name": "Downy Hawthorn",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Downy hawthorn needs pollen from another tree to set fruit, so plant two or more from different seed. Midges drawn by the scent carry the pollen."
  },
  {
   "slug": "downy-serviceberry",
   "name": "Downy Serviceberry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3 after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bees carry the pollen, and a single downy serviceberry sets fruit without a second tree."
  },
  {
   "slug": "durand-oak",
   "name": "Durand Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "about 35",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "dwarf-chinquapin-oak",
   "name": "Dwarf Chinquapin Oak",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 12,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "A lone shrub sets a light crop, so plant two or three seedlings together."
  },
  {
   "slug": "dwarf-hackberry",
   "name": "Dwarf Hackberry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree and can pollinate each other, so a single tree sets fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "dwarf-live-oak",
   "name": "Dwarf Live Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "dwarf-pawpaw",
   "name": "Dwarf Pawpaw",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "One plant will not set fruit alone, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "dwarf-tupelo",
   "name": "Dwarf Tupelo",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Tupelo flowers are male, female or both, and sources disagree on whether one plant bears both kinds. Plant several seedlings if you want fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "dwarf-witch-alder",
   "name": "Dwarf Witch Alder",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its flowers carry both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "eastern-leatherwood",
   "name": "Eastern Leatherwood",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single leatherwood sets fruit without a partner, even in a cold spring when few insects fly."
  },
  {
   "slug": "eastern-red-cedar",
   "name": "Eastern Red Cedar",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 24,
   "first_crop": "about 10",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the berrylike cones, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "eastern-redbud",
   "name": "Eastern Redbud",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "under 7 (first flowers; no pods in the first year of bloom)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Redbud needs pollen from a different tree to set pods, and bees carry it, so plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "eastern-wahoo",
   "name": "Eastern Wahoo",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 12,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "elliott-blueberry",
   "name": "Elliott's Blueberry",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5 after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Elliott's blueberry sets little or no fruit with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents and let the bees carry pollen between them."
  },
  {
   "slug": "farkleberry",
   "name": "Farkleberry",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Farkleberry sets almost no seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "fevertree",
   "name": "Fevertree",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Fevertree will not set seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more from different seed. Bumblebees and hummingbirds carry the pollen from tree to tree."
  },
  {
   "slug": "flag-pawpaw",
   "name": "Flag Pawpaw",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Other pawpaws studied cannot pollinate their own flowers, so plant two or more from different seed for fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "flame-azalea",
   "name": "Flame Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "flatwoods-plum",
   "name": "Flatwoods Plum",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "plum",
   "note": "Plums need pollen from a second plum to set fruit, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "florida-anise",
   "name": "Florida Anise",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, but a plant sets little or no seed with its own pollen. A thicket grown from one root counts as one plant."
  },
  {
   "slug": "florida-bully",
   "name": "Florida Bully",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and most buckthorns can pollinate themselves, so a single plant can set fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "florida-flame-azalea",
   "name": "Florida Flame Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "florida-leucothoe",
   "name": "Florida Leucothoe",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Florida leucothoe carries both male and female parts in each flower, and bees and butterflies visit the fragrant bells. In a close relative, some plants set seed with their own pollen and others do not, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "florida-maple",
   "name": "Florida Maple",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most trees carry only male or only female flowers, so plant several if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "florida-swamp-privet",
   "name": "Florida Swamp Privet",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "florida-torreya",
   "name": "Florida Torreya",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "about 20",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear seed, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "florida-willow",
   "name": "Florida Willow",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and bees carry pollen from the male catkins to the female ones, so plant three or more for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "florida-yew",
   "name": "Florida Yew",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 12,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "flowering-dogwood",
   "name": "Flowering Dogwood",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "6",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Flowering dogwood rejects its own pollen and a lone tree's fruits often hold empty stones, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "four-petal-pawpaw",
   "name": "Four-petal Pawpaw",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower is female before it turns male, so a lone plant sets little fruit, and fruit needs plants from different seed growing near each other."
  },
  {
   "slug": "fragrant-sumac",
   "name": "Fragrant Sumac",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "franklin-tree",
   "name": "Franklin Tree",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 12,
   "first_crop": "4 (first flowers; ripe seed a year later)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single Franklin tree sets seed, since it is self-fertile."
  },
  {
   "slug": "fraser-fir",
   "name": "Fraser Fir",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "about 15",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen. A lone tree may bear a good crop of cones that holds little sound seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "fraser-magnolia",
   "name": "Fraser Magnolia",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 25,
   "first_crop": "12 or more",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts. Even so, Fraser magnolia is among the magnolias that cannot set seed from their own pollen, so a lone tree may bear none."
  },
  {
   "slug": "georgia-bully",
   "name": "Georgia Bully",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and most buckthorns can pollinate themselves, so a single plant can set fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "georgia-indigobush",
   "name": "Georgia Indigobush",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "1 from sprouts (after a fire)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "georgia-oak",
   "name": "Georgia Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "9",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "georgia-plume",
   "name": "Georgia Plume",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a lone Georgia plume sets seed, since wild clones set almost none while lone garden trees have, so plant two from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "godfrey-swamp-privet",
   "name": "Godfrey's Swamp Privet",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "golden-heather",
   "name": "Golden Heather",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees visit the flowers."
  },
  {
   "slug": "golden-st-johns-wort",
   "name": "Golden St. John's-wort",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "granite-gooseberry",
   "name": "Granite Gooseberry",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "gray-birch",
   "name": "Gray Birch",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "8",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female catkins grow on the same tree, and the wind carries the pollen. Gray birch sets almost no good seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "gray-dogwood",
   "name": "Gray Dogwood",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "4 to 5",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Fruit begins at 4 or 5 years and comes every year after; each flower carries both male and female parts, so a planting of a few seedlings will fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "green-hawthorn",
   "name": "Green Hawthorn",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 35,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its flowers carry both male and female parts, and their unpleasant scent draws the midges that pollinate them."
  },
  {
   "slug": "gum-bumelia",
   "name": "Gum Bumelia",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "hairy-blueberry",
   "name": "Hairy Blueberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A colony from one plant is a single clone, and blueberries set more fruit with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "hairy-laurel",
   "name": "Hairy Laurel",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its relative mountain laurel sets more seed with pollen from another plant, so plant two hairy laurels from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "harbison-hawthorn",
   "name": "Harbison's Hawthorn",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Harbison's hawthorn has four sets of chromosomes, and hawthorns like it usually set seed with their own pollen, so one tree can bear alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "hercules-club",
   "name": "Hercules' Club",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the seed pods, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "hillside-blueberry",
   "name": "Hillside Blueberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A colony from one plant is a single clone, and blueberries set more fruit with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "hobblebush",
   "name": "Hobblebush",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Hobblebush sets few fruits with its own pollen and far more with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "honeycup",
   "name": "Honeycup",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and a lone plant sets some seed with its own pollen. Bumble bees are its main pollinators and raise the seed set."
  },
  {
   "slug": "hop-hornbeam",
   "name": "Hop Hornbeam",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 24,
   "first_crop": "about 25",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female catkins open together on the same tree in spring and the wind carries the pollen, so one tree sets seed alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "hortulan-plum",
   "name": "Hortulan Plum",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "plum",
   "note": "Plums need pollen from a second plum to set fruit, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "indigobush",
   "name": "Indigobush (False Indigo)",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "1 after planting (transplants in seed production plots)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts and bees pollinate it, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "inkberry",
   "name": "Inkberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "a few",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Inkberry plants are male or female, and only females bear the black berries, so plant a group of three or more so that a male lands among the females."
  },
  {
   "slug": "kentucky-coffeetree",
   "name": "Kentucky Coffeetree",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "20 to 30",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Kentucky coffeetree is dioecious, and a seedling will not show which it is until it flowers, years from now. Females drop thick pods whose raw seed is poisonous, so pick them up where children or stock reach."
  },
  {
   "slug": "lanceleaf-buckthorn",
   "name": "Lanceleaf Buckthorn",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its small flowers are mostly male or female, and sources disagree on whether one plant bears both kinds, so plant several seedlings if you want fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "laurel-oak",
   "name": "Laurel Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "15 to 20 (large crops regularly; Silvics, laurel oak in the broad sense)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "leadplant",
   "name": "Leadplant",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": "about 4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Leadplant sets seed only with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents."
  },
  {
   "slug": "little-walnut",
   "name": "Little Walnut",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "15 to 20",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree but ripen at different times, which favors cross-pollination, so a second little walnut nearby helps."
  },
  {
   "slug": "littlehip-hawthorn",
   "name": "Littlehip Hawthorn",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Littlehip hawthorn carries two sets of chromosomes, and such hawthorns reject their own pollen, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "littleleaf-buckbrush",
   "name": "Littleleaf Buckbrush",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": "5 to 10",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "live-oak",
   "name": "Live Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 60,
   "spacing_max_ft": 60,
   "first_crop": "about 35",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "lloyd-st-johns-wort",
   "name": "Lloyd's St. John's-wort",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "loblolly-bay",
   "name": "Loblolly Bay",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "long-stalked-holly",
   "name": "Long-stalked Holly",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "a few",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "longleaf-pine",
   "name": "Longleaf Pine",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "20 to 30 after the grass stage (as few as 9 to 10 on fertile old fields)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen, but a lone tree tends to set less seed than trees in a group."
  },
  {
   "slug": "maleberry",
   "name": "Maleberry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Maleberry carries both male and female parts in each flower and accepts its own pollen, so bees set seed on a lone plant."
  },
  {
   "slug": "maple-leaf-oak",
   "name": "Maple-leaf Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "9 (a tree in France from 2011 seed first bore in 2020)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mapleleaf-viburnum",
   "name": "Mapleleaf Viburnum",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A good crop of fruit needs a second plant that is not a clone of the first, so plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "may-white-azalea",
   "name": "May White Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mayhaw",
   "name": "Mayhaw",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its flowers carry both male and female parts, and bees work them in late winter."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mexican-plum",
   "name": "Mexican Plum",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "4 to 6",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "plum",
   "note": "Plums need pollen from a second plum to set fruit, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "miccosukee-gooseberry",
   "name": "Miccosukee Gooseberry",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "michaux-sumac",
   "name": "Michaux's Sumac",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "minnie-bush",
   "name": "Minnie-bush",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mockernut-hickory",
   "name": "Mockernut Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 60,
   "first_crop": "about 25",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "The first nuts come at about 25 years and then a good crop every two or three years; a tree still bears at 200. Male and female flowers share a tree but often open at different times, so plant two or set it near other hickories."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-bush-honeysuckle",
   "name": "Mountain Bush-honeysuckle",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-camellia",
   "name": "Mountain Camellia (Mountain Stewartia)",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": null,
   "spacing_max_ft": null,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Mountain camellia carries both male and female parts in each flower, and bees carry the pollen. Most stewartias set seed with their own pollen, and even a lone tree can bear viable seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-doghobble",
   "name": "Mountain Doghobble",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Mountain doghobble carries both male and female parts in each flower, and bees and butterflies visit it. A plant sets seed with its own pollen, so one shrub bears alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-fetterbush",
   "name": "Mountain Fetterbush",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Mountain fetterbush carries both male and female parts in each flower, and small bees pollinate it. Its close relative Japanese pieris sets seed with its own pollen, so one plant should bear alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-indigobush",
   "name": "Mountain Indigobush",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "1 from sprouts",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-laurel",
   "name": "Mountain Laurel",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Mountain laurel sets some seed with its own pollen, but less than when bees bring pollen from another plant, so plant two or more if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-maple",
   "name": "Mountain Maple",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "11",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bees carry mountain maple pollen from tree to tree, and a lone tree still sets seed, since its seeds can form without fertilization."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-sweetbells",
   "name": "Mountain Sweetbells",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees and butterflies visit the flowers."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-winterberry",
   "name": "Mountain Winterberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 12,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "mountain-witch-alder",
   "name": "Mountain Witch Alder",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its flowers carry both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "myrtle-dahoon",
   "name": "Myrtle Dahoon",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the berries, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "myrtle-oak",
   "name": "Myrtle Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "about 9",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "nannyberry",
   "name": "Nannyberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "For fruit, plant more than one seedling, since viburnums set far better with a second, unrelated plant nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "nantucket-serviceberry",
   "name": "Nantucket Serviceberry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single plant sets fruit, since the species can set seed without pollination."
  },
  {
   "slug": "netted-pawpaw",
   "name": "Netted Pawpaw",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower is female before it turns male and cannot pollinate itself, so plant two or more from different seed for fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "new-jersey-tea",
   "name": "New Jersey Tea",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "5 to 10",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "ninebark",
   "name": "Ninebark",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "about 3 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Ninebark appears to need pollen from another plant to set seed, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "northern-bayberry",
   "name": "Northern Bayberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 5,
   "group_max": 7,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Only females carry fruit, and the pollen travels on the wind, so a male must grow nearby. One plant in five should be male, and a group of five to seven seedlings will almost always include one."
  },
  {
   "slug": "northern-catalpa",
   "name": "Northern Catalpa",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "about 20",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Northern catalpa sets pods only with pollen from another tree, so plant two or more seedlings for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pecan",
   "name": "Northern Pecan",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": 250,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 10 (10 to 20 in natural stands)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Pecans set nuts best with a second, unrelated tree nearby, because the male and female flowers on one tree open at different times. Seedling trees bear in roughly ten years."
  },
  {
   "slug": "northern-pin-oak",
   "name": "Northern Pin Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 20 (good crops not every year; 2 to 4 years between large crops)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "northern-red-oak",
   "name": "Northern Red Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "20 to 25 (heavy from 40 to 50; good crops every 2 to 5 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "northern-white-cedar",
   "name": "Northern White Cedar",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "about 6 (large crops after 20 to 30)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen. It sets seed readily with its own pollen, so one tree bears alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "nutmeg-hickory",
   "name": "Nutmeg Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 30 (good crops every 2 to 3 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Nutmeg hickory carries male and female flowers on the same tree. Like other hickories, it sheds its pollen on the wind, often before or after its own female flowers are ready, so a second hickory nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "nuttall-oak",
   "name": "Nuttall Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 5 (good crops from about 20, every 3 to 4 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "oconee-azalea",
   "name": "Oconee Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "odorless-bayberry",
   "name": "Odorless Bayberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "ogeechee-tupelo",
   "name": "Ogeechee Tupelo",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 25,
   "first_crop": "about 5 (seedlings on a Florida lake shore bore a good crop at 3)",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "oglethorpe-oak",
   "name": "Oglethorpe Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 35",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "Oaks are wind pollinated and need pollen from another tree to set acorns, and an isolated Oglethorpe oak sets fewer. Plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "ohio-buckeye",
   "name": "Ohio Buckeye",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "8",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower cluster carries male flowers and flowers with both male and female parts. Its close relatives set seed as well with their own pollen as with another tree's, so one tree should bear alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "ouachita-indigobush",
   "name": "Ouachita Indigobush",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "1 from sprouts",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "overcup-oak",
   "name": "Overcup Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 25",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "Like other oaks, overcup oak is wind pollinated and needs pollen from another tree to set acorns, so plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "ozark-chinquapin",
   "name": "Ozark Chinquapin",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Chinquapins do not set nuts from their own pollen, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "ozark-witch-hazel",
   "name": "Ozark Witch Hazel",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "about 4 after planting (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pagoda-dogwood",
   "name": "Pagoda Dogwood",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "2 to 6",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "painted-buckeye",
   "name": "Painted Buckeye",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "8",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bees pollinate painted buckeye flowers. In related horse chestnuts most seed comes from crosses between trees, though a tree's own pollen sets some, so a second tree nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "parsley-hawthorn",
   "name": "Parsley Hawthorn",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 24,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Parsley hawthorn needs pollen from another tree to set fruit, so plant two or more from different seed. Native bees work the flowers."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pawpaw",
   "name": "Pawpaw",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Pawpaw will not pollinate itself, so plant at least two seedlings from different parents. Flies and beetles carry the pollen, and a paintbrush moved between trees sets more fruit. Seedlings bear in five to eight years."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pear-hawthorn",
   "name": "Pear Hawthorn",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "4 (Iowa State's figure for its common hawthorns as a group)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most pear hawthorns reproduce sexually, and such hawthorns reject their own pollen, so plant two or more from different seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "piedmont-azalea",
   "name": "Piedmont Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "piedmont-rhododendron",
   "name": "Piedmont Rhododendron",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Piedmont rhododendron carries both male and female parts in each flower, but each flower sheds its pollen days before it is ready to receive pollen, so bees must carry it. Plant two or more seedlings from different parents for a fuller set of seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pignut-hickory",
   "name": "Pignut Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 30 (in quantity)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Seedling trees bear in quantity at about 30 years, a good crop every year or two. Male catkins and female flowers share a tree, the catkins usually shedding first, so a second hickory nearby improves the set."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pin-cherry",
   "name": "Pin Cherry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "2",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single tree sets fruit without a partner. Trees can bear from their second year."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pin-oak",
   "name": "Pin Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "15 to 20 (open-grown trees first)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pinkshell-azalea",
   "name": "Pinkshell Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pinxterbloom-azalea",
   "name": "Pinxterbloom Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "piratebush",
   "name": "Piratebush",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "plateau-live-oak",
   "name": "Plateau Live Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "20 to 30",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "plumleaf-azalea",
   "name": "Plumleaf Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pond-cypress",
   "name": "Pond Cypress",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pond-pine",
   "name": "Pond Pine",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "4 to 10 (cone production usually from about 10)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen, but a lone tree tends to set less seed than trees in a group."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pondberry",
   "name": "Pondberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 5,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "2 to 4 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on separate plants and only females carry berries, so plant three to five seedlings to get both."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pondspice",
   "name": "Pondspice",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 5,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on separate plants and only females carry fruit, so plant three to five seedlings to get both."
  },
  {
   "slug": "possumhaw",
   "name": "Possumhaw",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "2 to 4 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "possumhaw-viburnum",
   "name": "Possumhaw Viburnum",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "More than one shrub gives the best crop of berries, so plant two or more together."
  },
  {
   "slug": "post-oak",
   "name": "Post Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 35,
   "spacing_max_ft": 35,
   "first_crop": "about 25 (good crops every 2 to 3 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "prairie-crabapple",
   "name": "Prairie Crabapple",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "several",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "crabapple",
   "note": "Its flowers are self-fertile, so a lone tree can set fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "prairie-redroot",
   "name": "Prairie Redroot",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": "5 to 10",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pygmy-fringetree",
   "name": "Pygmy Fringetree",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, and in the wild only about one plant in seven is female, so plant several seedlings if you want fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "pyramid-magnolia",
   "name": "Pyramid Magnolia",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts. Even so, pyramid magnolia is among the magnolias that cannot set seed from their own pollen, so a lone tree may bear none."
  },
  {
   "slug": "rabbiteye-blueberry",
   "name": "Rabbiteye Blueberry",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4 after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Rabbiteyes set little fruit with their own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for a crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "red-buckeye",
   "name": "Red Buckeye",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower cluster carries male flowers and a few with both male and female parts, and hummingbirds and bees carry the pollen. A lone tree sets seed with its own pollen. In hand pollinations, though, another tree's pollen set about three times as much fruit, so a second tree nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "red-chokeberry",
   "name": "Red Chokeberry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "2",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "One red chokeberry bears alone, because most of its seed forms without fertilization and grows into a near copy of the mother shrub."
  },
  {
   "slug": "red-elderberry",
   "name": "Red Elderberry",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "2 from sprouts (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Red elderberry sets little or no fruit with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents. Bees and flies carry the pollen between shrubs."
  },
  {
   "slug": "red-hickory",
   "name": "Red Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 30 (in quantity)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree, and the catkins usually open before the female flowers, so a second hickory nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "red-hills-azalea",
   "name": "Red Hills Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "red-mulberry",
   "name": "Red Mulberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 35,
   "spacing_max_ft": 35,
   "first_crop": "about 10 (planted trees in an open field have fruited at 4)",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most red mulberries are male or female, so plant three or more seedlings for a fair chance of fruit. Fruit usually starts at about ten years, though planted trees in an open field have fruited at four."
  },
  {
   "slug": "red-osier-dogwood",
   "name": "Red Osier Dogwood",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Red osier dogwood sets no fruit with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for a crop of berries."
  },
  {
   "slug": "red-spruce",
   "name": "Red Spruce",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 12,
   "first_crop": "15 to 20 (once the crown reaches full light; good crops after about 30)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones, and the wind carries the pollen. Much of the seed a lone tree sets with its own pollen is empty, so trees in a group bear better."
  },
  {
   "slug": "redbay",
   "name": "Redbay",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 25,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Redbay carries both male and female parts in each flower, but a tree usually needs pollen from another redbay to set seed, and bees carry most of it."
  },
  {
   "slug": "rhodora",
   "name": "Rhodora",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "river-birch",
   "name": "River Birch",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "10 to 15 (first flowers, as other birches)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female catkins grow on the same tree, and the wind carries the pollen. River birch sets almost no good seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "rock-elm",
   "name": "Rock Elm",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "about 20",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and rock elm is self-fertile, so a lone tree can set seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "rosebay-rhododendron",
   "name": "Rosebay Rhododendron",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Rosebay rhododendron carries both male and female parts in each flower, and bees carry the pollen. A lone shrub can set seed with its own pollen, but a second shrub from a different parent sets more."
  },
  {
   "slug": "roughleaf-dogwood",
   "name": "Roughleaf Dogwood",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "2 to 6",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "roundleaf-dogwood",
   "name": "Roundleaf Dogwood",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "2 to 6",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "roundleaf-serviceberry",
   "name": "Roundleaf Serviceberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "2 to 4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Some plants set seed with their own pollen and others only with pollen from another plant, so plant two or more from different seed for a crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "runner-oak",
   "name": "Runner Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "about 3 after planting",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "rusty-blackhaw",
   "name": "Rusty Blackhaw",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "5",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A good crop of fruit needs a second tree nearby, so plant two or more."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sand-cherry",
   "name": "Sand Cherry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sand cherry sets fruit with its own pollen, so one plant bears alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sand-hickory",
   "name": "Sand Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 30",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree. Hickories are mostly cross-pollinated, and a tree's own pollen sets fewer and poorer nuts, so plant two or set it near other hickories."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sand-myrtle",
   "name": "Sand Myrtle",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its close relative Carolina bog laurel sets fruit with its own pollen, so one plant should bear seed alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sand-pine",
   "name": "Sand Pine",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "5",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen, but a lone tree tends to set less seed than trees in a group."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sand-post-oak",
   "name": "Sand Post Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": null,
   "spacing_max_ft": null,
   "first_crop": "20 to 30",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "Like other oaks, sand post oak is wind pollinated and needs pollen from another tree to set acorns, so plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sandhill-oak",
   "name": "Sandhill Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "3 from sprouts",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sarvis-holly",
   "name": "Sarvis Holly",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sassafras",
   "name": "Sassafras",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 5,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "4 to 10 (first flowers, usually nearer 10)",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Only females fruit, and a seedling shows which it is only when it flowers, at four years in the open at the earliest and usually nearer ten, so plant three to five."
  },
  {
   "slug": "scentless-mock-orange",
   "name": "Scentless Mock Orange",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees visit the flowers, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "schwerin-indigobush",
   "name": "Schwerin's Indigobush",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "1 after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "scrub-hickory",
   "name": "Scrub Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree. Hickories can set nuts with their own pollen, but a tree's catkins and flowers often open at different times, so a second hickory nearby helps."
  },
  {
   "slug": "scrub-plum",
   "name": "Scrub Plum",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": "plum",
   "note": "Scrub plum sets little good seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more from different seed for fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "seaside-alder",
   "name": "Seaside Alder",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "about 2 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Seaside alder carries male and female flowers on the same shrub and the wind pollinates it, so one shrub sets seed alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "september-elm",
   "name": "September Elm",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 20",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "September elm carries both male and female parts in each flower, but elms seldom set seed with their own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "shadblow-serviceberry",
   "name": "Shadblow Serviceberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "2 to 3 after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A lone tree can set fruit with its own pollen, but a second tree from different seed raises the crop, so plant two or more."
  },
  {
   "slug": "shagbark-hickory",
   "name": "Shagbark Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "more than 10 (in quantity at about 40)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Seedling trees bear after more than a decade, and a second tree nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "shellbark-hickory",
   "name": "Shellbark Hickory (Kingnut)",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 60,
   "first_crop": "about 40",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Growth is slow; seedling trees bear at about 40 years and then a good crop about every second year, two or three bushels from a thriving tree. Male and female flowers share a tree, opening after the leaves in April and May; a second shellbark nearby gives a bigger crop of better nuts."
  },
  {
   "slug": "shingle-oak",
   "name": "Shingle Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 25 (good crops every 2 to 4 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "shining-indigobush",
   "name": "Shining Indigobush",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "1 after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "shumard-oak",
   "name": "Shumard Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "about 25 (best at about 50; good crops every 2 to 3 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "silky-camellia",
   "name": "Silky Camellia",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bees and butterflies visit silky camellia flowers for pollen. A related stewartia sets seed with its own pollen, so one plant can bear alone, but a second plant nearby gives a better crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "silky-dogwood",
   "name": "Silky Dogwood",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "4 to 5",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "silverleaf-hydrangea",
   "name": "Silverleaf Hydrangea",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "1",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Silverleaf hydrangea's close relative, smooth hydrangea, sets no viable seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "slimleaf-pawpaw",
   "name": "Slimleaf Pawpaw",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Other pawpaws studied cannot pollinate their own flowers, so plant two or more from different seed for fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "smooth-alder",
   "name": "Smooth Alder (Swamp Alder)",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "about 2",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Smooth alder carries male and female flowers on the same shrub, but alders set little seed with their own pollen. Plant two or more from different parents so the wind can carry pollen between them."
  },
  {
   "slug": "smooth-winterberry",
   "name": "Smooth Winterberry",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "a few",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most plants are male or female, and only females bear the berries, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "smooth-bark-st-johns-wort",
   "name": "Smooth-bark St. John's-wort",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "3 to 5",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "softleaf-arrowwood",
   "name": "Softleaf Arrowwood",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and insects carry the pollen."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sourwood",
   "name": "Sourwood",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 12,
   "first_crop": "4 to 5 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts and insects pollinate it, so there are no male and female trees to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "southern-bush-honeysuckle",
   "name": "Southern Bush-honeysuckle",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "southern-catalpa",
   "name": "Southern Catalpa",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "about 20",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees work the flowers."
  },
  {
   "slug": "southern-crabapple",
   "name": "Southern Crabapple",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 24,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": "crabapple",
   "note": "Its flowers are self-fertile, so a single tree can set fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "southern-magnolia",
   "name": "Southern Magnolia",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "about 10 (best crops from about 25)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and beetles and bees carry the pollen. Isolated trees are known to bear cones with seed, so a lone tree can set seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "southern-pawpaw",
   "name": "Southern Pawpaw",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Other pawpaws studied cannot pollinate their own flowers, so plant two or more from different seed for fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "southern-red-oak",
   "name": "Southern Red Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 60,
   "spacing_max_ft": 60,
   "first_crop": "about 25 (heaviest at 50 to 75; good crops every 1 to 2 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "southern-shagbark-hickory",
   "name": "Southern Shagbark Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 10 (most from 40 to 200)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree, and the wind carries the pollen. Shagbarks set nuts with their own pollen, but a tree's catkins and flowers often open at different times, so a second hickory nearby helps."
  },
  {
   "slug": "spicebush",
   "name": "Spicebush",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 5,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "4 to 5",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on separate plants and only females carry berries, so plant three to five seedlings to get both."
  },
  {
   "slug": "spruce-pine",
   "name": "Spruce Pine",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "about 10 (most cones at 20 to 40)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones, but a lone, poorly pollinated tree sets little viable seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "squashberry",
   "name": "Squashberry",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "about 5",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and insects carry the pollen."
  },
  {
   "slug": "staggerbush",
   "name": "Staggerbush",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its relative maleberry sets seed with its own pollen, so one plant should bear seed alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "staghorn-sumac",
   "name": "Staghorn Sumac",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 12,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sumac is male or female and only females carry the red fruit cones, so plant several seedlings if you want fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "strawberry-bush",
   "name": "Strawberry Bush",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and a lone shrub sets seed with its own pollen. Ants carry most of its pollen."
  },
  {
   "slug": "streambank-mock-orange",
   "name": "Streambank Mock Orange",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "striped-maple",
   "name": "Striped Maple",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "11 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most striped maples carry only male or only female flowers in a given year, and a tree can switch, so plant several if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sugarberry",
   "name": "Sugarberry",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 15",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sugarberry carries male and female flowers on the same tree, with a few that carry both parts, and the wind pollinates it, so one tree bears alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "swamp-azalea",
   "name": "Swamp Azalea",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "about 3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Swamp azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so one plant bears alone, though bumblebees must carry the sticky pollen between flowers."
  },
  {
   "slug": "swamp-chestnut-oak",
   "name": "Swamp Chestnut Oak, select line",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "20 to 25 (10 to 15 on an exceptional site)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "Like other oaks, swamp chestnut oak is wind pollinated and needs pollen from another tree to set acorns, so plant two or more seedlings."
  },
  {
   "slug": "swamp-cottonwood",
   "name": "Swamp Cottonwood",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 10",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the cottony seed, from about 10 years old."
  },
  {
   "slug": "swamp-doghobble",
   "name": "Swamp Doghobble",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "swamp-privet",
   "name": "Swamp Privet",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "swamp-tupelo",
   "name": "Swamp Tupelo",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "2 from sprouts (from a cut stump)",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the dark blue fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "swamp-white-oak",
   "name": "Swamp White Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "about 20 (good crops every 3 to 5 years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sweet-azalea",
   "name": "Sweet Azalea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sweet-birch",
   "name": "Sweet Birch (Black Birch)",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 35,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "10 to 15 (first flowers, the catkins)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female catkins share a tree and the wind carries the pollen, but the one sweet birch tested with its own pollen set no seed, so plant two or more for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sweet-pepperbush",
   "name": "Sweet Pepperbush (Summersweet)",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A lone sweet pepperbush sets some seed with its own pollen, but cross-pollinated flowers set more, so plant two or more seedlings if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sweetbay-magnolia",
   "name": "Sweetbay Magnolia",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 24,
   "first_crop": "6 to 10",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single sweetbay sets seed on its own, since pollen from one of its flowers can fertilize another flower on the same tree."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sweetleaf",
   "name": "Sweetleaf",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "sweetshrub",
   "name": "Sweetshrub",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and beetles drawn by the fruity scent carry the pollen. Not every plant sets seed readily, and some flower heavily without fruiting."
  },
  {
   "slug": "table-mountain-pine",
   "name": "Table Mountain Pine",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "5 to 7",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen, but a lone tree tends to set less seed than trees in a group."
  },
  {
   "slug": "tamarack",
   "name": "Tamarack",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "12 to 15 (large crops from about 40)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each tree carries both male and female cones, and the wind carries the pollen. Its own pollen yields mostly empty seed, so a lone tree bears far less sound seed than trees in a group."
  },
  {
   "slug": "texas-red-oak",
   "name": "Texas Red Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "17 or more",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "three-flower-hawthorn",
   "name": "Three-flower Hawthorn",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most three-flower hawthorns carry three or four sets of chromosomes, and hawthorns like them usually set seed with their own pollen, so one plant can bear alone."
  },
  {
   "slug": "titi",
   "name": "Titi",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Titi carries both male and female parts in each flower and bees carry the pollen. Sources disagree on whether a lone shrub sets fertile seed, so plant two from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "tough-bully",
   "name": "Tough Bully",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and most buckthorns can pollinate themselves, so a single tree can set fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "toughleaf-dogwood",
   "name": "Toughleaf Dogwood",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "turkey-oak",
   "name": "Turkey Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "4 from sprouts (after a fire)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "two-wing-silverbell",
   "name": "Two-wing Silverbell",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "umbrella-magnolia",
   "name": "Umbrella Magnolia",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 20,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "3 to 4",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "A single umbrella magnolia sets seed on its own, since beetles carry pollen from one of its flowers to another flower on the same tree."
  },
  {
   "slug": "upland-swamp-privet",
   "name": "Upland Swamp Privet",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "virginia-spiraea",
   "name": "Virginia Spiraea",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Virginia spiraea largely rejects its own pollen, and a patch is usually one clone, so good seed needs plants from different sources growing near each other."
  },
  {
   "slug": "virginia-sweetspire",
   "name": "Virginia Sweetspire",
   "need": "single",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 4,
   "spacing_max_ft": 4,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so a single plant sets seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "walter-viburnum",
   "name": "Walter's Viburnum",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 6,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "washington-hawthorn",
   "name": "Washington Hawthorn",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "The flowers can smell unpleasant, and the scent draws the midges that pollinate them."
  },
  {
   "slug": "water-elm",
   "name": "Water Elm",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 25,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female flowers grow on the same tree, with a few that carry both parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "water-hickory",
   "name": "Water Hickory",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "about 20 (heavy crops most years)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "hickory",
   "note": "Water hickory carries male and female flowers on the same tree. Like other hickories, it sheds its pollen on the wind, often before or after its own female flowers are ready, so a second hickory nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "water-locust",
   "name": "Water Locust",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "about 10",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees bear mostly male or mostly female flowers, with a few flowers carrying both parts, so plant several if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "water-tupelo",
   "name": "Water Tupelo",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": "about 30 (stump sprouts have borne at 2)",
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the dark purple fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "weeping-hawthorn",
   "name": "Weeping Hawthorn",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 15,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its flowers carry both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair."
  },
  {
   "slug": "western-mayhaw",
   "name": "Western Mayhaw",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 15,
   "spacing_max_ft": 20,
   "first_crop": "5 to 8",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and native bees visit the early bloom."
  },
  {
   "slug": "white-fringetree",
   "name": "White Fringetree",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 12,
   "spacing_max_ft": 24,
   "first_crop": "several (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Most trees are male or female and only females bear fruit, so plant several seedlings; a tree shows which it is at first bloom, which can take several years."
  },
  {
   "slug": "white-oak",
   "name": "White Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": 650,
   "spacing_min_ft": 50,
   "spacing_max_ft": 50,
   "first_crop": "about 20 (open-grown trees; forest trees from about 50)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "white oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "white-wicky",
   "name": "White Wicky",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its relative mountain laurel sets more seed with pollen from another plant, so plant two white wicky from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "wild-black-currant",
   "name": "Wild Black Currant",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 6,
   "first_crop": "3",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees carry the pollen. Like its close relative the European black currant, a lone shrub sets fruit, but a second plant nearby gives a bigger crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "wild-hydrangea",
   "name": "Wild Hydrangea",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "1 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Sources disagree on whether wild hydrangea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "willow-oak",
   "name": "Willow Oak",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 25,
   "spacing_max_ft": 25,
   "first_crop": "15 to 20 (good crops nearly every year)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": "red oak",
   "note": "The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby."
  },
  {
   "slug": "winged-elm",
   "name": "Winged Elm",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 30,
   "spacing_max_ft": 30,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each winged elm flower carries both male and female parts, but elms seldom set seed with their own pollen. The wind carries pollen between trees, so plant two or more if you want seed."
  },
  {
   "slug": "winterberry",
   "name": "Winterberry Holly",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": 50,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "a few (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Winterberry is male or female and seedlings do not show which until first bloom, a few years in, so plant a group so that a male lands among the females. Small greenish-white flowers open in the leaf axils in June and July, and one male within 50 feet pollinates a group of females."
  },
  {
   "slug": "witch-hazel",
   "name": "Witch Hazel",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 10,
   "spacing_max_ft": 10,
   "first_crop": "at least 6 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Witch hazel sets little or no seed with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents. Even in wild stands, fewer than one flower in a hundred sets fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "woolly-beach-heather",
   "name": "Woolly Beach Heather",
   "need": "unknown",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 2,
   "spacing_max_ft": 2,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees visit the flowers for nectar."
  },
  {
   "slug": "woolly-huckleberry",
   "name": "Woolly Huckleberry",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 3,
   "spacing_max_ft": 3,
   "first_crop": "a few after planting",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Its relatives box huckleberry and black huckleberry set little or no fruit with their own pollen, so plant two or more woolly huckleberries from different parents for berries."
  },
  {
   "slug": "woolly-pawpaw",
   "name": "Woolly Pawpaw",
   "need": "partner",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Other pawpaws studied cannot pollinate their own flowers, so plant two or more from different seed for fruit."
  },
  {
   "slug": "yaupon",
   "name": "Yaupon",
   "need": "dioecious",
   "group_min": 3,
   "group_max": 3,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 8,
   "spacing_max_ft": 8,
   "first_crop": "4 to 7",
   "flowers": "dioecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Trees are male or female, and only females bear the red fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female."
  },
  {
   "slug": "yellow-anise",
   "name": "Yellow Anise",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 5,
   "spacing_max_ft": 5,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Each flower carries both male and female parts, and a lone plant sets some seed with its own pollen, though seed from a cross is larger."
  },
  {
   "slug": "yellow-birch",
   "name": "Yellow Birch",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 60,
   "spacing_max_ft": 60,
   "first_crop": "7 to 40 (open-grown to forest)",
   "flowers": "monoecious",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Male and female catkins grow on the same tree and the wind carries the pollen. A lone tree sets some seed with its own pollen, but a second yellow birch nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "yellow-buckeye",
   "name": "Yellow Buckeye",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": null,
   "group_max": null,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": null,
   "flowers": "polygamous",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Bees and hummingbirds visit yellow buckeye flowers for nectar. In related horse chestnuts most seed comes from crosses between trees, though a tree's own pollen sets some, so a second tree nearby improves the crop."
  },
  {
   "slug": "yellowwood",
   "name": "Yellowwood",
   "need": "improves",
   "group_min": 2,
   "group_max": 2,
   "distance_ft": null,
   "spacing_min_ft": 40,
   "spacing_max_ft": 40,
   "first_crop": "8 to 10 (first flowers)",
   "flowers": "perfect",
   "kin": null,
   "note": "Yellowwood carries both male and female parts in each flower, and bees carry the pollen. Small, isolated stands often set few viable seeds, so plant two or more trees from different parents for seed."
  }
 ]
}