Illinois Fall Colors

              Autumn is a beautiful time of year in Illinois. The red, purple, orange, yellow, brown, and
bronze shades of the leaves reflect the great diversity of tree species in our state. Our fall color season lasts several weeks, normally starting in northern Illinois counties by the third or fourth week in September. Leaves’ colors begin to change during the second week in October in central Illinois and by the last two weeks of October in the southern part of the state. The peak of fall color in Illinois normally occurs by mid-October in northern and central Illinois and by late October or early November in the southern third of the state.
This poster was made possible by:
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Division of Education
Division of Forest Resources
Illinois State Museum
Design: IDNR, Illinois State Museum
Species List
Acer rubrum red maple
Acer saccharum sugar maple
Aesculus glabra Ohio buckeye
Betula nigra red birch
Carpinus caroliniana American hornbeam
Carya tomentosa mockernut hickory
Cercis canadensis redbud
Cornus florida flowering dogwood
Corylus americana hazelnut
Diospyros virginiana common persimmon
Fraxinus americana white ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica green ash
Lindera benzoin spicebush
Liquidambar styraciflua sweet gum
Liriodendron tulipifera tulip tree
Maclura pomifera Osage orange
Nyssa sylvatica black gum
Parthenocissus quinquefolia Virginia creeper
Quercus ellipsoidalis Hill’s oak
Quercus muhlenbergii chinkapin oak
Rhus glabra smooth sumac
Sassafras albidum sassafras
Toxicodendron radicans poison ivy
Ulmus rubra slippery elm
Viburnum prunifolium black haw
Illinois
Fall Colors
Toxicodendron radicans poison ivy
Aesculus glabra Ohio buckeye
Liriodendron tulipifera tulip tree
Acer rubrum red maple
Acer saccharum sugar maple
Sassafras albidum sassafras
Fraxinus pennsylvanica green ash
Rhus glabra smooth sumac
Parthenocissus quinquefolia Virginia creeper
Diospyros virginiana common persimmon
Quercus muhlenbergii chinkapin oak
Maclura pomifera Osage orange
Corylus americana hazelnut
Nyssa sylvatica black gum
Lindera benzoin spicebush
Viburnum prunifolium black haw
Fraxinus americana white ash
Cornus florida flowering dogwood
Ulmus rubra slippery elm
Carpinus caroliniana American hornbeam
Betula nigra red birch
Quercus ellipsoidalis Hill’s oak
Cercis canadensis redbud
Carya tomentosa mockernut hickory
Liquidambar styraciflua sweet gum
Leaves with red labels are shown at approxi­mately half actual size.
Leaves with gold labels are shown at approxi­mately actual size.
Photographs © Guy Sternberg.