Types of Bonsai Trees: A Visual Guide

Walk any bonsai nursery bench in America and the types of bonsai trees sort into four groups: broadleaf evergreen, conifer, deciduous, and flowering. This guide profiles 17 species across those groups and shows you how to identify the one you own.

What Counts as a Type of Bonsai?

A "type" of bonsai is just a species. Bonsai itself is a technique - pot confinement, root pruning, training - applied to an ordinary woody plant, so almost any species with a woody stem can become one. A handful dominate the hobby because they share small leaves, fine branching, and quick trunk taper. Species is the first fact to establish, because it decides where the tree can live.

Bonsai Types at a Glance

All 17 kinds of bonsai plants in this guide, at a glance:

Full profiles with USDA zones, sizes, and watering cues follow. The fastest way to choose well is to see the species side by side in person:

Indoor vs Outdoor Bonsai: The First Split

Placement is the first split in any bonsai taxonomy, and not a matter of preference: tropical species cannot take frost; temperate species cannot skip winter dormancy. Where each species sits:

• Ficus: indoors year-round, at a bright window.
• Jade: indoors, in the sunniest spot you have.
• Chinese elm: either; happiest outdoors until hard frost.
• Fukien tea: indoors, warm and away from drafts.
• Juniper: outdoors, always; it cannot survive indoors.
• Japanese black pine: outdoors year-round.
• Bald cypress: outdoors, in full sun.
• Larch: outdoors; the most cold-hardy tree on this list.
• Japanese maple: outdoors, with afternoon shade in hot summers.
• Trident maple: outdoors year-round.
• Ginkgo: outdoors year-round.
• Zelkova: outdoors year-round.
• Azalea: outdoors, sheltered from hard freezes.
• Bougainvillea: outdoors in zones 9 to 11; winters indoors elsewhere.
• Wisteria: outdoors year-round.
• Cherry blossom: outdoors year-round.
• Crabapple: outdoors year-round.

If your only growing space is indoors, choose from the tropical group at the top of that list; a temperate tree indoors declines slowly, then all at once.

Broadleaf Evergreen Bonsai (Mostly Indoor-Friendly)

Broadleaf evergreens hold their leaves year-round, and the tropical members of the group are the bonsai tree species that tolerate life indoors. Every beginner-friendly indoor bonsai sold in the US comes from this group.

Ficus (Ficus retusa, Ficus benjamina)

• Indoor or outdoor: Indoor
• USDA zones: 10 to 11 outdoors; any zone indoors
• Difficulty: Easy
• Mature size: 6 to 24 inches
• Watering cue: Soak when the top inch of soil dries

The most forgiving indoor species in the trade. Its milky sap is listed by the ASPCA as toxic to cats and dogs, so place it out of a chewer's reach. The full routine, including what a "ginseng ficus" really is, lives in our ficus bonsai care guide.

Jade (Crassula ovata)

• Indoor or outdoor: Indoor
• USDA zones: 10 to 11 outdoors; any zone indoors
• Difficulty: Easy
• Mature size: 6 to 18 inches
• Watering cue: Only when the pot is fully dry, typically 2 to 3 weeks apart

Technically a succulent shrub rather than a true tree, jade stores water in its thick, rubbery leaves and survives missed waterings better than anything else here. According to the ASPCA, jade is toxic to both cats and dogs, so give it a shelf pets cannot reach.

Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia)

• Indoor or outdoor: Either; best outdoors
• USDA zones: 5 to 9
• Difficulty: Easy
• Mature size: 8 to 30 inches
• Watering cue: Water when the top half inch dries

The great all-rounder: semi-evergreen, holding leaves in mild climates and dropping them in cold ones, and willing to live at a bright window or on a bench. Small leaves and fine twigging keep it in shape with little effort. It is widely suggested as the gentler pick for pet households, though no per-plant ASPCA listing confirms it, so keep it out of reach anyway.

Fukien Tea (Carmona retusa)

• Indoor or outdoor: Indoor
• USDA zones: 10 to 11 outdoors
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Mature size: 6 to 16 inches
• Watering cue: Top half inch dry; never let the pot dry fully

A subtropical shrub with glossy, penny-sized dark leaves and tiny white flowers that can appear in any month. It is fussier than ficus about drafts, dry air, and uneven watering, which makes it a better second indoor tree than a first.

Conifer and Pine Bonsai (Outdoor)

Conifers are the postcard image of bonsai: needles, deadwood, and windswept silhouettes. All four here live outdoors in full sun and demand the fast-draining mix covered in our bonsai soil guide - standing water is the one mistake the whole group punishes.

Juniper (Juniperus procumbens)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor only
• USDA zones: 4 to 9
• Difficulty: Easy
• Mature size: 6 to 24 inches
• Watering cue: Water when the top inch is mostly dry

The most common first bonsai in America and a favorite beginner conifer: cheap, nearly indestructible outdoors, and happy to bend under wire. It declines quietly indoors, so give it a sunny bench, and keep it from pets - chewed foliage can cause stomach upset. Placement, watering, and styling are covered in our juniper bonsai care guide.

Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 5 to 8
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Mature size: 12 to 40 inches
• Watering cue: Top inch dry; drier is safer than wetter

The king of classical bonsai: paired dark needles, craggy bark, and the silhouette on the cover of every bonsai book. It rewards multi-year technique and punishes shortcuts, so most growers come to it as a second or third tree.

Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 4 to 9
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Mature size: 12 to 40 inches
• Watering cue: Never dry; the pot can stand in an inch of water all summer

A US native from the southern swamps and one of the few conifers that drops its needles each fall. It grows fast, loves heat and standing moisture, and takes naturally to the flat-topped, buttress-trunked forms it wears in the wild.

Larch (Larix)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 2 to 6
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Mature size: 10 to 30 inches
• Watering cue: Top half inch; never bone-dry

The other deciduous conifer: soft spring-green needle tufts, golden fall color, and knobby winter buds on bare branches. It is the most cold-hardy species on this list, and it dislikes hot, dry summers as much as it loves northern winters.

Deciduous Bonsai

Deciduous species of bonsai trees trade year-round foliage for seasons: spring leaf-out, strong fall color, and a bare winter silhouette that is its own display.

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 5 to 8
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Mature size: 10 to 36 inches
• Watering cue: Check daily in summer; keep evenly moist

The deciduous benchmark: hand-shaped leaves, refined branching, and red-to-orange fall color no other species matches. Leaves scorch in hot afternoon sun, so it wants bright mornings and summer shade. A dedicated Japanese maple guide is coming to this library.

Trident Maple (Acer buergerianum)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 5 to 8
• Difficulty: Easy
• Mature size: 10 to 36 inches
• Watering cue: Daily checks in summer heat; top half inch

The Japanese maple's tougher cousin: smaller three-lobed leaves, faster growth, and far better tolerance of heat and beginner mistakes. Its thick, eager roots make it the classic species for root-over-rock plantings.

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 3 to 8
• Difficulty: Easy
• Mature size: 12 to 30 inches
• Watering cue: Water when the top inch dries

A living fossil, essentially unchanged for roughly 200 million years, with fan-shaped leaves that turn butter yellow and drop all at once in fall. It grows in an upright flame shape rather than fine twiggy pads, so it is kept for character rather than classical form.

Zelkova (Zelkova serrata)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 5 to 8
• Difficulty: Easy
• Mature size: 10 to 30 inches
• Watering cue: Top half inch dry

Japanese zelkova is the broom-style tree: a straight trunk that fans into a dome of fine, even twigs, with the bare winter silhouette as the main event. Small serrated leaves, orange-red fall color, and vigorous, forgiving growth make it the quiet favorite of growers who love ramification.

Flowering and Fruiting Bonsai

Blooms and fruit do not miniaturize the way leaves do, so the flowering group's display reads oversized on a small tree.

Azalea (Rhododendron indicum, Satsuki)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 7 to 9
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Mature size: 8 to 24 inches
• Watering cue: Top half inch; never fully dry

Satsuki azaleas bloom in a May-to-June flush that can hide the foliage entirely, and a single tree can carry striped, solid, and multicolored flowers at once. Bred in hundreds of named cultivars, they insist on acidic soil, and some US nurseries grow nothing else.

Bougainvillea

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor in frost-free climates
• USDA zones: 9 to 11
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Mature size: 10 to 30 inches
• Watering cue: Top 1 to 2 inches dry; it blooms best kept dry

The color is not technically flowers at all: the magenta, purple, and orange come from papery bracts around tiny white true blooms. A vigorous subtropical that thickens into a gnarled trunk quickly, it needs 5 or more hours of direct sun and must come inside when nights approach frost.

Wisteria

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 4 to 9
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Mature size: 12 to 36 inches
• Watering cue: Soak daily in summer; a water tray from June to August works

Grown for one moment: foot-long chains of purple or white flowers in late spring. The catch: seed-grown plants can take 10 or more years to bloom (buy at flowering age), plus a summer thirst few species match.

Cherry Blossom (Prunus)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 5 to 8
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Mature size: 12 to 36 inches
• Watering cue: Top half inch dry

Flowering cherries compress the hanami spectacle into a tabletop tree: clouds of pink or white bloom for a week or two each spring, then a quiet green season. Several Prunus species are sold for bonsai in the US, and all want full sun and a cold winter to set flower buds.

Crabapple (Malus)

• Indoor or outdoor: Outdoor
• USDA zones: 4 to 8
• Difficulty: Easy
• Mature size: 12 to 30 inches
• Watering cue: Top half inch; extra thirsty while carrying fruit

The two-season performer: white-to-pink spring blossom, then cherry-sized apples that hang on into winter. Crabapples are cold-hardy, vigorous, and unfussy, the easiest entry into fruiting bonsai for most of the country.

Bonsai Styles Are Not Bonsai Types

Shopping for bonsai, you will meet a second vocabulary: formal upright, cascade, windswept, literati, broom, forest. These are styles - trained shapes - not types. A style describes what a grower did to a tree; a type names the species it was done to. Formal upright is a straight, evenly tapered trunk; cascade spills below the pot rim like a cliff tree; windswept sweeps every branch to one side as if into a permanent gale. Any species on this page can be grown in several styles: junipers cascade beautifully, zelkova practically defines broom, and black pine anchors formal upright. When a listing says "cascade juniper," the style is cascade and the type is juniper - two different facts about one tree.

How to Identify Your Bonsai

Most unlabeled bonsai sold in the US are one of the species above, so identification is a short process of elimination. Work through four checks against the stat blocks:

1. Needles or leaves? Needles or scale-like foliage mean a conifer: soft sprays or sharp needles point to juniper, long paired needles to black pine, and feathery needles that drop in fall to bald cypress or larch.
2. Leaf shape and size. Hand-shaped five-lobed leaves are Japanese maple; smaller three-lobed leaves, trident maple; fans, ginkgo. Penny-sized serrated ovals point to Chinese elm or zelkova, glossy leaves with milky sap when cut mean ficus, and plump rubbery paddles mean jade.
3. Flowers or fruit? A spring flower blanket points to azalea, cherry, or crabapple (look for tiny apples); purple chains mean wisteria; papery magenta bracts, bougainvillea; tiny white stars on a small glossy-leafed indoor tree, Fukien tea.
4. Bark and trunk. Craggy, plated bark suggests black pine; mottled cream-and-tan flaking, Chinese elm; a swollen, pot-bellied base usually means a grafted "ginseng" ficus.

Still stuck? The members of a bonsai club near you identify mystery trees at every meeting, and a workshop puts yours in an instructor's hands:

Types of Bonsai FAQs

How many types of bonsai trees are there?

There is no fixed number: hundreds of woody species can be trained as bonsai. In practice, US beginners meet the same 15 to 20 species, split into conifer, broadleaf evergreen, deciduous, and flowering groups.

What type of bonsai tree do I have?

Start with needles versus leaves, then leaf shape and size, then flowers, fruit, and bark. The stat blocks in this guide narrow it down fast, and staff at a local bonsai shop or club members can usually confirm a species on sight.

Can any type of tree be a bonsai?

Almost any woody-stemmed species can be trained in a pot, but small leaves, fine branching, and quick trunk taper make some species far better candidates than others. That is why the same 15 to 20 species dominate nearly every collection.

What type of bonsai is best for beginners?

Ficus indoors and juniper outdoors are the classic first trees. Both forgive watering mistakes, are sold nearly everywhere in the US, and cost little enough that an early loss is a lesson rather than a heartbreak.

Is a bonsai a type of tree?

No. Bonsai is a cultivation technique, not a species: an ordinary tree or shrub kept miniature through pot confinement, root pruning, and training. A juniper bonsai is the same species as a landscape juniper, just grown differently.

What is the difference between bonsai types and bonsai styles?

Types are the species, such as juniper, ficus, and maple. Styles are the trained shapes, such as formal upright, cascade, and windswept. Any species can be grown in several different styles.

Whichever type you land on, the habits that keep it alive are the same five, and they live in our complete bonsai tree care guide.