# 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=new-jersey-tea

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.

## New Jersey Tea grows in dry uplands, sandy barrens, rocky ground and old fields and edges

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

- [**Black Huckleberry** Gaylussacia baccata shares dry uplands, sandy barrens and rocky ground](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-huckleberry/)

- [**Bristly Locust (Rose Locust)** Robinia hispida shares dry uplands, sandy barrens and old fields and edges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rose-locust/)

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

- [**Deerberry** Vaccinium stamineum shares dry uplands, sandy barrens and rocky ground](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/deerberry/)

- [**Dwarf Chinquapin Oak** Quercus prinoides shares dry uplands, sandy barrens and rocky ground](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-chinquapin-oak/)

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

- [**Sassafras** Sassafras albidum shares old fields and edges, dry uplands and sandy barrens](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sassafras/)

- [**Staghorn Sumac** Rhus typhina shares old fields and edges, dry uplands and rocky ground](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/staghorn-sumac/)

## Trees to plant it under

New Jersey Tea takes some shade, so it can live beneath these.

[Drought tolerantEdible](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/)

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

Celtis occidentalis

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

[Fall colorDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sassafras/)

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

Sassafras albidum

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

[EdibleHoney tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-persimmon/)

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

Diospyros virginiana

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

[Fall colorHoney tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/)

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

Nyssa sylvatica

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

[Drought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hop-hornbeam/)

### [Hop Hornbeam](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hop-hornbeam/)

Ostrya virginiana

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

[Honey treeShowy flowers](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-locust/)

### [Black Locust](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-locust/)

Robinia pseudoacacia

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

## Beside it

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

[EdibleFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-huckleberry/)

### [Black Huckleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-huckleberry/)

Gaylussacia baccata

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

[Showy flowersDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/deerberry/)

### [Deerberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/deerberry/)

Vaccinium stamineum

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

[RareDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-chinquapin-oak/)

### [Dwarf Chinquapin Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-chinquapin-oak/)

Quercus prinoides

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-chinquapin-oak/)

[Drought tolerantTolerates wet soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/)

### [Gray Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/)

Cornus racemosa

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

[Showy flowersDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rose-locust/)

### [Bristly Locust (Rose Locust)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rose-locust/)

Robinia hispida

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

[Fall colorDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/staghorn-sumac/)

### [Staghorn Sumac](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/staghorn-sumac/)

Rhus typhina

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

## 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.