# 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=maleberry

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.

## Maleberry grows in swamps and wet flats, stream banks, sandy barrens, dry uplands, the Appalachians and the coast

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

- [**Black Chokeberry** Aronia melanocarpa shares swamps and wet flats, dry uplands and sandy barrens](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-chokeberry/)

- [**Northern Bayberry** Morella pensylvanica shares the coast, sandy barrens and swamps and wet flats](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-bayberry/)

- [**Pinxterbloom Azalea** Rhododendron periclymenoides shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats and the Appalachians](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pinxterbloom-azalea/)

- [**Swamp Doghobble** Eubotrys racemosa shares swamps and wet flats, stream banks and the coast](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-doghobble/)

- [**Sweet Pepperbush (Summersweet)** Clethra alnifolia shares swamps and wet flats, stream banks and the coast](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-pepperbush/)

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

- [**Bald Cypress** Taxodium distichum shares swamps and wet flats and stream banks](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bald-cypress/)

- [**Black Gum (Tupelo)** Nyssa sylvatica shares swamps and wet flats and dry uplands](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/)

## Trees to plant it under

Maleberry takes some shade, so it can live beneath these.

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

Nyssa sylvatica

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

### [Bald Cypress](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bald-cypress/)

Taxodium distichum

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

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

Celtis occidentalis

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

### [Mockernut Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mockernut-hickory/)

Carya tomentosa

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

### [Pignut Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pignut-hickory/)

Carya glabra

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

### [Sassafras](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sassafras/)

Sassafras albidum

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

## Beside it

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

### [Black Chokeberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-chokeberry/)

Aronia melanocarpa

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

### [Northern Bayberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-bayberry/)

Morella pensylvanica

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

### [Pinxterbloom Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pinxterbloom-azalea/)

Rhododendron periclymenoides

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

### [Swamp Doghobble](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-doghobble/)

Eubotrys racemosa

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

### [Sweet Pepperbush (Summersweet)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-pepperbush/)

Clethra alnifolia

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

### [Arrowwood Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/arrowwood-viburnum/)

Viburnum dentatum

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

## 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.