• Common sea buckthorn was fed to horses in ancient Greece to improve the health and gloss of their coats. The botanical name for common sea buckthorn is Hippophae, which is Latin for ‘shiny horse’.
  • The bark of paper birch trees is flammable even when wet.
 

Trees and Shrubs

Trees & shrubs are known as woody perennials. These plants live two or more years, have woody rather than soft fleshy growth, and have buds that remain viable on the branches, even following exposure to winter temperatures. The Calgary Zoo boasts over 60 genera of trees and shrubs with numerous associated species and cultivars. By providing good soil conditions and creating sheltered microclimates we are able to grow some woody perennials that typically are not hardy to our region.

More On Our Collection

Some of the trees and shrubs in our collection are:
Balsam fir, amur maple, Manitoba maple, silver maple, Ohio buckeye, river alder, Saskatoon, Japanese barberry, river birch, paper birch, cutleaf weeping birch,  Young’s weeping birch, silver-edge dogwood, Siberian coral dogwood, Russian olive, tatarian honeysuckle, European elder, and American highbush cranberry.

Our Heritage Trees

Four clusters of trees at the Calgary Zoo have been identified as Heritage Trees by the Heritage Tree Foundation.  Included in this list are the Manchurian walnut and a venerable Colorado spruce cluster located in the Dorothy Harvie Gardens.  A little leaf linden in Prehistoric Park, the sugar maple trees in the Canadian Wilds and the silver poplars at the lion enclosure also made the cut.