Lafayette, Indiana approved and prohibited street tree lists, PDFs created June 29, 2017
The City of Lafayette, Indiana, posts a Tree Species Recommendation list tied to planting strip width and power lines, and a separate Prohibited/Undesirable Trees list with reasons. This page copies both and what the city pages say about permits.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It is also not planting advice and it does not say which tree suits a site. The Urban Forestry pages of the Engineering and Public Works department post two PDFs: Tree Species Recommendation, an approved list for the public right-of-way, and Prohibited/Undesirable Trees for Right of Way and Parking Lots. Neither PDF prints a date. The PDF metadata shows both were created on June 29, 2017.
What the approved list says it is
The PDF calls the list a guide to the best-suited trees for the public right-of-way, meaning the planting strip between sidewalk and street. It says it should be used with the width of the right-of-way available and names soil quality, soil pH, drainage, sunlight, utilities, rooting area and traffic lanes against parked cars as limiting factors to note. It says small, columnar and medium trees may suit parking lot design, that all selections must be approved by the City Forester, and that planting in the public right-of-way needs a permit. The approved list page repeats that all tree selections must be approved by the City Forester.
The PDF also carries a special note that puts maples under a planting moratorium with no end date given, citing the threat of the Asian longhorned beetle reaching Lafayette. Its group headings tie each list to a planting strip width and to whether power lines are overhead, much as Portland does. Each row has three ratings, shown in the second column in this order: aerosol salt tolerance, soil salt tolerance and drought tolerance. The values are copied as printed, with None, Low, Moderate, Medium, High, Poor and Unknown all appearing.
Small trees, for 4 foot planting strips under power lines (10 rows)
| Species and common name as printed | Aerosol salt, soil salt, drought |
|---|---|
| Acer ginnala; Amur Maple | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Acer grandidentatum; Rocky Mtn. Glow Maple | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Acer tataricum; Tatarian Maple | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Amelanchier spp.; Serviceberry (Single trunk) | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Crataegus crus-galli var. inermis; Thornless Hawthorn | Low; Poor; High |
| Crataegus phaenopyrum; Washington Hawthorn | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Malus ‘Adirondack’; Adirondack Crabapple | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Prunus sargentii ‘JFS-KW58’; Pink Flair Cherry | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Syringa pekinensis; Chinese Tree Lilac | High; Moderate; Moderate |
| Syringa reticulata; Japanese Tree Lilac | High; Moderate; High |
Small trees with broad spreading crowns, for 5 foot and greater planting strips under power lines (13 rows)
| Species and common name as printed | Aerosol salt, soil salt, drought |
|---|---|
| Acer griseum; Paperbark Maple | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Acer truncatum; Shangtung Maple | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Amelanchier species; Serviceberry | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Carpinus caroliniana; American Hornbeam | None; Poor; Moderate |
| Cornus kousa; Kousa Dogwood | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Maackia amurensis; Amur Maackia | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Malus ‘Royal Raindrops’; Royal Raindrops Crabapple | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Ostrya virginiana; American Hophornbeam | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Prunus sargentii; Sargent’s Cherry | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Prunus x yedoensis; Yoshino Cherry | Low; Low; Moderate |
| Prunus x incamp; Okame Cherry | Moderate; Poor; Moderate |
| Styrax japonica | High; Moderate; High |
| Zelkova serrata ‘Wireless’ | Moderate; Unknown; High |
Columnar trees, for 4 to 5 foot planting strips with no power lines (10 rows)
| Species and common name as printed | Aerosol salt, soil salt, drought |
|---|---|
| Carpinus betulus; ‘Frans Fontaine’ Hornbeam | None; Moderate; Moderate |
| Carpinus caroliniana; ‘Palisade’ Hornbeam | None; Poor; Moderate |
| Celtis occidentalis; ‘Prairie Sentinel’ Hackberry | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Gingko biloba; ‘Princeton Sentry’ Ginkgo | Moderate; Poor; High |
| Liquidambar styraciflua; ‘Slender Silhouette’ Sweetgum | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Prunus sargentii ‘Columnaris’; Columnar Sargent Cherry | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Prunus sargentii ‘JFS-KW58’; Pink Flair Cherry | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Quercus robur x bicolor ‘Regal Prince’; Columnar English Oak | High; High; Moderate |
| Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’; Columnar English Oak | High; High; Moderate |
| Zelkova serrata ‘Musashino’; Musashino Zelkova | Moderate; Unknown; Unknown |
Medium trees, for 5 foot wide planting strips with no power lines (8 rows)
| Species and common name as printed | Aerosol salt, soil salt, drought |
|---|---|
| Acer campestre ‘Queen Elizabeth’; Hedge Maple | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Acer miyabei ‘Morton’; State Street Maple | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Betula nigra; River Birch (standard form) | Low; Moderate; Moderate |
| Koelreuteria paniculata; Golden Raintree | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Nyssa sylvatica; Black Tupelo or Blackgum | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Prunus virginiana; ‘Canada Red Chokecherry’ | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Robinia x ambigua ‘Purple Robe’ | High; High; Medium |
| Ulmus species; Elm hybrids (DED resistant) | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
Large trees, for 6 foot and wider planting strips with no power lines (34 rows)
| Species and common name as printed | Aerosol salt, soil salt, drought |
|---|---|
| Acer x freemannii; Freeman maple cultivars | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Acer saccharum; Sugar Maple | Low; Low; Moderate |
| Aesculus hippocastanum; Horse Chestnut | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Aesculus glabra; Ohio Buckeye | Low; Moderate; Moderate |
| Betula nigra; River Birch (clump form) | Low; Moderate; Moderate |
| Carya cordiformis; Bitternut Hickory | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Carya glabra; Pignut Hickory | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Carya laciniosa; Shellbark Hickory | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Carya ovata; Shagbark Hickory | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Carya tomentosa; Mockernut Hickory | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Celtis occidentalis; Hackberry | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Cladrastis kentukea; Yellowwood | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Corylus colurna; Turkish Filbert | Low; Low; High |
| Gingko biloba; Gingko (male only cultivars) | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Gymnocladus dioicus; Kentucky Coffeetree ‘Espresso’ (male only) | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Rotundiloba’ (fruitless cultivar) | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Hapdell’; Happidaze Sweetgum (fruitless cultivar) | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Liriodendron tulipifera; Tulip Poplar | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Quercus alba; White Oak | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Quercus bicolor; Swamp White Oak | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Quercus coccinea; Scarlet Oak | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Quercus ellipsoidalis; Northern Pin Oak | High; High; High |
| Quercus imbricaria; Shingle Oak | High; High; High |
| Quercus macrocarpa; Bur Oak | High; High; High |
| Quercus muehlenbergii; Chinkapin Oak | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Quercus montana; Chestnut Oak | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Quercus rubra; Red Oak | High; High; High |
| Quercus shumardii; Shumard Oak | Moderate; High; High |
| Platanus occidentalis; Sycamore | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Platanus x acerifolia ‘Morton Thornhill’; Exclamation London Planetree | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Styphnolobium japonicum; Japanese Pagoda Tree | Moderate; Moderate; High |
| Tilia tomentosa; Silver Linden | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Ulmus species; Elms hybrids (DED resistant) (Princeton; Patriot; Morton Accolade; Allee; Prospector; etc.) | Moderate; Moderate; Moderate |
| Zelkova serrata ‘Green Vase’ or ‘Village Green’; Japanese | Moderate; Unknown; High |
Landscape trees
A final group is headed Landscape Trees. The PDF says these trees suit parks and other large areas but not the public right-of-way as they do not cope with city conditions such as salt and pollution, or are held back by size, habit, messy acorns or fruit, or disease. It carries no ratings.
| Landscape trees, species and common name as printed |
|---|
| Acer nigrum, Black Maple |
| Acer palmatum, Japanese Maple |
| Cercis canadensis, Redbud |
| Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood |
| Fagus grandifolia, American Beech |
| Fagus sylvatica, European Beech |
| Magnolia ‘Elizabeth’, Elizabeth Magnolia (with reservations. Can be difficult to establish.) |
| Magnolia virginiana, Sweetbay Magnolia (plant in protected area. Marginally hardy for Indiana) |
| Magnolia stellata, Star Magnolia |
| Oxydendrum arboreum, Sorrel tree or Sourwood |
| Parrotia persica, Persian Parrotia |
| Taxodium distichum, Bald Cypress |
The prohibited list
The second PDF is titled Prohibited/Undesirable Trees for Right of Way and Parking Lots and has 24 rows. The city page describes it as trees that are poor choices for the city. The issues are copied as printed.
| Common name and scientific name | Issues printed |
|---|---|
| Amur corktree, Phellodendron amurense | invasive seed, weak wood |
| Arborvitae, Thuja spp. | Visibility obstruction |
| White Birch, Betula papyrifera | Boring insects, sensitive to humidity |
| Boxelder, Acer negundo | invasive, poor habit/form |
| Buckthorn and Glossy Buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica, Frangula alnus | invasive, weak wood |
| Northern Catalpa, Catalpa speciosa | messy fruit, weak wood |
| Choke Cherry, Prunus virginiana | epicormic growth (suckers) messy fruit, weak wood |
| Honeylocust, Gleditsia triacanthos | Multiple insect problems |
| Siberian elm, Ulmus pumila | disease problems, messy crown, weak wood |
| Slippery red elm, Ulmus rubra | disease problems |
| American Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua | messy fruit, fruitless variety OK |
| Black Locust, Robinia pseudoacacia | visibility obstruction |
| Norway Maple, Acer platanoides | invasive, shallow rooted |
| Red Maple, Acer rubrum | potential monoculture, soil ph sensitive |
| Silver Maple, Acer saccharinum | invasive, shallow rooted, weak wood |
| Mulberry, Morus alba | messy fruit, invasive |
| Russian Olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia | disease prone, invasive |
| Osage Orange, Maclura pomifera | large, messy fruit |
| Ornamental Pear, Pyrus spp. | weak wooded, invasive |
| Pin Oak, Quercus palustris | Soil ph sensitive |
| Persimmon, Diospyrus viginiana | invasive seed, weak wood |
| Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus altissima | Invasive, weak wood |
| Walnut, Juglans spp. | messy fruit, allelopathy |
| Willow, Salix spp. | weak wood, messy |
What the planting page says
The Tree Planting, Pruning and Removal page says the city has programs in which specific neighbourhoods receive new trees together with a new sidewalk for a small fee charged to the adjacent property owner, and that a small fund may be available for planting fees depending on each year’s budget. It says a property owner who plants in the right-of-way outside those programs needs a permit from the city engineer’s office, and that the city forester must approve each tree selection. It says that under city ordinance the owner of the adjoining property is responsible for maintaining healthy live trees, that a permit is required for pruning in the right-of-way, and that topping is not allowed in Lafayette. It also says the city removes dead, dying or diseased trees in the grass strip at no cost to the owner, at the City Forester’s discretion.
Limits
- Neither PDF prints a date, so a later change in practice would not show here.
- The two lists were read from the PDF text and checked against it. Species such as honeylocust, red maple and pin oak appear on the prohibited list, and some other cities list them as approved, so the lists are not interchangeable.
- The planting page also gives planting instructions, which this page does not repeat.
This list sits beside the others on the city lists comparison page.
Sources
- City of Lafayette, Indiana, Urban Forestry, Tree Species Recommendation (PDF, created June 29, 2017), read October 9, 2026
- City of Lafayette, Indiana, Prohibited/Undesirable Trees for Right of Way and Parking Lots (PDF, created June 29, 2017), read October 9, 2026
- City of Lafayette, Indiana, Approved Tree List page, read October 9, 2026
- City of Lafayette, Indiana, Prohibited Tree List page, read October 9, 2026
- City of Lafayette, Indiana, Tree Planting, Pruning and Removal page, read October 9, 2026