# 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=northern-bayberry

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.

## Northern Bayberry grows in the coast, sandy barrens, old fields and edges and swamps and wet flats

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

- [**American Beautyberry** Callicarpa americana shares old fields and edges, sandy barrens and the coast](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-beautyberry/)

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

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

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

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

- [**New Jersey Tea** Ceanothus americanus shares sandy barrens and old fields and edges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/new-jersey-tea/)

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

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

## Trees to plant it under

Northern Bayberry takes some shade, so it can live beneath these.

[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/)

[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/)

[Showy flowersDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-catalpa/)

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

Catalpa speciosa

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

[Tolerates wet soilFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bald-cypress/)

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

Taxodium distichum

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

[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/)

## Beside it

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

[Drought tolerantEdible](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-beautyberry/)

### [American Beautyberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-beautyberry/)

Callicarpa americana

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

[Showy flowersEdible](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-chokeberry/)

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

Aronia melanocarpa

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

[Showy flowersDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/new-jersey-tea/)

### [New Jersey Tea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/new-jersey-tea/)

Ceanothus americanus

Price on request [See availability](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/new-jersey-tea/)

[Showy flowersTolerates wet soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-doghobble/)

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

Eubotrys racemosa

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

[Showy flowersHoney tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-pepperbush/)

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

Clethra alnifolia

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

[Showy flowersFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/arrowwood-viburnum/)

### [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.