abies	The ancient Latin name for the European fir.
acacia	From the Greek akakia, the Egyptian thorn-tree; akis, a thorn.
acer	From the Celtic ac, hard; a quality of maple wood.
aesculus	The ancient name for some European nut-bearing tree.
alba	From the Latin alba, white.
albicaulis	From the Latin alba, white, and caulis, stem (i.e., white-bark).
alnus	From the old Latin name for the alder.
alternifolia	Referring to the alternate leaves (Greek phullon, leaf) of Cornus alternifolia
altissima	From the Latin altus, high, referring to height.
amabilis	From the Latin amare to love, or lovely.
aristata	From the Latin arista, bristle or thorn.
aucuparia	From the Latin aucupari, to catch birds. In Europe, mountain ash fruits were used as bait in catching birds.
avium	From the Latin avis, bird.

banksiana	From the surname Banks.
betula	The common Latin name of the birch; from the sanskrit bhurja, to shine, referring to the bark of the birch.
bicolor	From the Latin, meaning two-colored, in reference to the leaves of swamp white oak which are green above and pale below.
borealis	From Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind.

carpinus	The Latin common name for the European hornbeam.
carya	From the Greek karua, the name applied to the walnut tree.
castanea	From the Greek kastanea, or chestnut.
castanopsis	Meaning chestnut-like.
catalpa	From the Cherokee Indian name catawba, applied to this tree.
celtis	The name which Pliny gave to the African lotus, and later applied to the hackberry genus because of the sweet fruit of the European hackberry.
cembroides	Cembra-like (resembles Pinus cembra of Europe).
chamaecyparis	From the Greek chamai, on the ground, and kyparissos, the cypress, meaning low-growing.
chrysophylla	From the Greek chrysos, golden, and phyllon, leaf.
cinerea	From the Latin cineris, dust, or ashes, in reference to the pale gray color of the bark of butternut.
cladrastus	From the Greek clados, branch, and thrastos, brittle.
coccinea	From the Greek kakkos, in an obscure reference to the red fall color of scarlet oak.
communis	From the Latin, meaning common, or as applied to Juniperus communis, in reference to its wide distribution.
concolor	A combination of the Latin con, together, and color, meaning one color.
contorta	From the Latin con and torquere, to twist.
cordiformis	From the Latin cor, cordis, heart, and forma, shaped, in reference perhaps to the shape of fruit of bitternut hickory.
cornus	The Latin name for the dogwood, from cornu, horn, in reference to the hard wood of this genus.
crataegus	From the Latin name for the hawthorn, through the Greek krataigos, thorn-tree, and kratos, strength, because of the strong hard wood.

decidua	From the Latin de, down, and cadere, to fall.
dioicus	Meaning two houses, in reference to dioecious.
distichum	From the Greek di, two, and stichos, rank, meaning two-ranked.

echinata

Meaning prickly, referring to the cone.

fagus	From the Greek fagein, to eat, in reference to the edible fruit.
florida	From the Latin flos, flower.
fraxinus	The Latin common name of the ash.

gleditsia	Named after J. G. Gleditsch, a German botanist of the time of Linnaeus.
gymnocladus	From the Greek gymnos, naked, and klados, branch.

hamamelis	From the Greek name for the medlar, or some similar tree.
heterophylla	From the Greek heteros, different, and phyllon, leaf, meaning varied leaves.
hippocastanum	The Latin common name for the horsechestnut tree, from the Greek hippos, horse, and kastanon, chestnut.

ilex	The Latin name for the holly oak.
ilicifolia	Meaning holly-like leaf.
imbricaria	Meaning covered with overlapping plates or scales.

juglans	From the two Latin words Jovis, Jupiter, and glans, nut.
juniperus	The Latin common name for the cedar, from junio, young, and parere, to produce, hence youth producing, or evergreen.

laciniosa	From the Latin lacinia, shred.
laricina	Pertaining to the larch.
larix	The Latin common name for the larch.
lenta	From the Latin lentis, soft or smooth, pliable; in reference perhaps to the supple branchlets of the black birch.
liquidamber	In reference to the resinous juice that flows from wounds to the sweetgum.
liriodendron	From the Greek lerion, lily, and dendron, tree, in reference to showy flowers.
lithocarpus	From the Greek lithos, stone, and karpos, seed.
lyrata	From the Greek lyra, lyre or lute.

macrocarpa	From the Greek makros, large, and karpos, seed, in reference to the large acorn of bur oak.
malus	From the Latin name for the apple, from the Greek melon, through the Doric malon.
mariana	From the Latin for the state of Maryland.

negundo	The Latinized form of the Malayan name for Vitex negundo; presumably applied to the boxelder because of the similarity of the leaves of the two species.
nigra	The Latin for dark or black.
nyssa	From the Greek nysa, water nymph.

occidentalis	The Latin for west, from occidere, to set as the sun; the name given by Linnaeus to several species of the western world.
octandra	The latin for eight stamened.
opaca	The Latin for dark, dull, or shady
ostrya	From the Greek ostrua, the common name of some tree with hard wood.
ovata	From the Latin ovum, egg, hence egg-shaped.
oxydendron	From the Greek oxys, sour, and dendron, tree.

plaustris	The Latin meaning "of the swamp,"from palus, swamp.
papyrifera	From the Egyptian name for the reed from which paper was made, through the Greek papuros, or papyros, and the Latin ferre, to bear.
phellos	The Greek word for cork.
picea	The Latin common name for the pine, spruce, or fir, from the Greek pissa, pitch, or peuke, the name for the fir.
pinus	The Latin name for the pine, from the Sanskrit pitu, through the Greek pitus.
platanus	The Latin common name for the sycamore, or plantetree, from the Greek platanos, broad.
plicata	From the Latin plicare, to fold, referring perhaps to overlapping foliage.
pomifera	The Latin for apple-bearing.
ponderosa	From the Latin pondus, weight.
populas	The Latin common name for this group of trees.
prinus	From the Greek for evergreen.
procera	The Latin for tall, or high.
prunus	From the Greek prunos, plum or cherry.
pseudoacacia	From the Greek pseudo, false, and acacia.
pseudotsuga	Meaning false hemlock.
pungens	From the Latin pungere, to stick or prick, hence either prickly or pungent; in reference to the needles of blue spruce which are sharp-pointed and have a pungent taste.

quercus

The Latin common name of the oak.

rhamnus	From the Greek rhamnos, the common name of the buckthorn.
rhododendron	From the Greek rodon, rose, and dendron, tree.
rhus	From rhous, the Greek common name of the sumac through the Greek reo, to flow.
robinia	Named after Jean and Vespasien Robin, herbalists for King Henry IV of France.
rubens	From the Latin rubere, to be red.

saccharinum	Considered by some to be a misspelling of saccharum.
saccharum	The Latin word for sweet or sugar, through the Sanskrit sarkara, and the Greek sakcharon.
salix	The ancient Latin common name of the willow.
sempervirons	From the Latin semper, always, and vivere, living.
serotina	From the Latin serus, late, in reference to the tardily opening cones of pond pine, the autumn flowering of the red elm, and the late appearance of flowers and fruit in black cherry.
sitchensis	The Latin form of Sitka, and island in Alaska.
sorbus	The Latin common name for this genus.
speciosa	From the Latin species, form, or appearance, and osus, full of, in reference to the showy flowers of the catalpa.
spicatum	From the Latin spica, a spike or ear of grain, in reference to the pointed inflorescence of mountain maple.
stellata	The Latin for covered with stars.
strobus	From the Greek strobos, or strobilos, cone.
styraciflua	The Latin for styrax-flowering.
sylvestris	(Also sylvatica) from the Latin silva, forest, hence "of the forest."

teada	The Latin word meaning a torch of pine wood.
taxus	From the Greek taxos, common name of the yew.
thuja	From the Greek thuia, the common name of some aromatic African tree; from thuo, perfume.
tilia	The Latin common name of the linden (basswood).
toxicodendron	From the Greek toxikon, poison, and dendron, tree.
tricanthos	From the Greek treis, three, and akantha, a spine, in reference to the three-branched thorns of honeylocust.
trichocarpa	From the Greek thrix, a hair, and karpos, fruit (hairy fruit).
tsuga	The Latinized form of the Japanese common name of a hemlock.
tulipifera	Meaning tulip-bearing.
typhina	Meaning "cat-tail-like," in reference perhaps to the hairy branchlets of staghorn sumac.

ulmus

The ancient Latin name of the elm.

velutina	From the Latin velutum, velvety, and velus, a fleece.
vernix	The Latin for varnish.

zanthoxylum

From the Greek zanthos, yellow, and xulon, wood.