Resting Place: Spirit Trees

Japanese Maples

With pointed crimson leaves and twisting trunks and branches, these 50 prized ornamentals are resistant to diseases and invasive species. "They've grown in areas where these pathogens live, so they already have the immunities," says Gressley.

Purple Leaf Beech tree

The smooth, silver bark of these European giants hides beneath the oblong merlot leaves. "You don't see that different color and weeping form in American beech trees," says Gressley. "These have been extensively hybridized to bring out those traits."