# 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=sassafras

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.

## Sassafras grows in old fields and edges, dry uplands and sandy barrens

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

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

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

- [**Allegheny Chinquapin** Castanea pumila shares dry uplands and sandy barrens](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-chinquapin/)

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

- [**American Hazelnut** Corylus americana shares old fields and edges and dry uplands](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hazelnut/)

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

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

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

## Under its canopy

Shrubs and small trees that take the shade a sassafras casts and like the same soil.

[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/)

[EdibleDrought tolerant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-chinquapin/)

### [Allegheny Chinquapin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-chinquapin/)

Castanea pumila

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

[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/)

[EdibleFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hazelnut/)

### [American Hazelnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hazelnut/)

Corylus americana

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

[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/)

[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/)

## Beside it

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

[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/)

[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/)

[Showy flowersHoney tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sourwood/)

### [Sourwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sourwood/)

Oxydendrum arboreum

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

[Fall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-birch/)

### [Sweet Birch (Black Birch)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-birch/)

Betula lenta

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

[Evergreen](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-holly/)

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

Ilex opaca

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

[Showy flowersFall color](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-silverbell/)

### [Carolina Silverbell](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-silverbell/)

Halesia tetraptera

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

## 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.