# Companion species

> Pick one native tree or shrub and see the plants that share its ground in the wild, live under its canopy, or pair with it in a yard.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/?species=devils-walking-stick

Pick one plant and see what grows with it: the natives that share its ground in the wild, and the ones that pair with it in a yard because they want the same sun, soil and climate.

## Devil's Walking Stick grows in old fields and edges, rich moist slopes, floodplain forests, stream banks and rocky ground

These natives share that ground, so they will look right together and want the same care.

- [**Common Hackberry** Celtis occidentalis shares floodplain forests, stream banks, rocky ground and old fields and edges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/)

- [**Common Prickly Ash (Toothache Tree)** Zanthoxylum americanum shares rocky ground, rich moist slopes, stream banks and old fields and edges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-prickly-ash/)

- [**Gray Dogwood** Cornus racemosa shares old fields and edges, stream banks and rocky ground](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/)

- [**Northern Catalpa** Catalpa speciosa shares floodplain forests, stream banks and old fields and edges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-catalpa/)

- [**American Hornbeam (Musclewood)** Carpinus caroliniana shares stream banks and floodplain forests](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hornbeam/)

- [**American Persimmon** Diospyros virginiana shares old fields and edges and floodplain forests](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-persimmon/)

- [**Arrowwood Viburnum** Viburnum dentatum shares stream banks and rich moist slopes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/arrowwood-viburnum/)

- [**Black Elderberry** Sambucus canadensis shares stream banks and old fields and edges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-elderberry/)

## Trees to plant it under

Devil's Walking Stick takes some shade, so it can live beneath these.

### [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/)

Celtis occidentalis

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/)

### [Northern Catalpa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-catalpa/)

Catalpa speciosa

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-catalpa/)

### [American Persimmon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-persimmon/)

Diospyros virginiana

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-persimmon/)

### [Black Gum (Tupelo)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/)

Nyssa sylvatica

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/)

### [Shellbark Hickory (Kingnut)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/shellbark-hickory/)

Carya laciniosa

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/shellbark-hickory/)

### [American Holly, select line](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-holly/)

Ilex opaca

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-holly/)

## Beside it

Plants that want the same sun and soil, for a bed, a hedge or a grove.

### [American Hornbeam (Musclewood)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hornbeam/)

Carpinus caroliniana

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hornbeam/)

### [Pawpaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pawpaw/)

Asimina triloba

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pawpaw/)

### [White Fringetree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/white-fringetree/)

Chionanthus virginicus

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/white-fringetree/)

### [American Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-plum/)

Prunus americana

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-plum/)

### [Common Hoptree (Wafer Ash)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hoptree/)

Ptelea trifoliata

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hoptree/)

### [Eastern Redbud](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-redbud/)

Cercis canadensis

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-redbud/)

## How the matches are made

Every species we grow is tagged with the natural communities it lives in: floodplain forests, swamps, stream banks, rich slopes, dry ridges, sandy barrens, rocky ground, old fields, the forest understory, the mountains and the coast. Wild neighbors are the species that share one or more of those tags, with the closest matches first. Yard pairings use the plant's own needs instead: overlapping hardiness zones and soil moisture, and for the shade pairings, a size difference of at least two classes and a smaller plant that tolerates part shade or shade.

Sharing a habitat tag does not mean two plants always grow side by side, and a tag says nothing about how far apart to plant them. Use the [planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/) for the spot itself, and the [growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/) for how much room each one will want in twenty years.