Horticulture & Wildlife
88 ACRES OF HISTORIC STATUARY, TREES, & WILDLIFE
Glenwood Cemetery is situated along Buffalo Bayou right outside of Downtown Houston. Established in 1871, Glenwood was laid out in the tradition of other “picturesque” rural cemetery parks of the 19th century. Glenwood’s expansive 88 acres are home to a beautiful assortment of trees, flowers, shrubbery, a variety of wildlife, and historic statuary.
An Impressive Collection
If you are looking for beautiful outdoor green space in the Houston, TX area, Glenwood Cemetery is an ideal place to visit and reflect. We strive to create a quiet, peaceful setting for people to visit their loved ones and remember the good times they had together. Outdoor green space creates the perfect atmosphere for quiet reflection; natural settings reduce noise and air pollution and attract local wildlife for a peaceful background ambiance. Studies show a correlation between outdoor green space and mental health benefits. When you visit us to pay your respects to your departed loved one, Glenwood Cemetery invites you to take a moment to observe our local wildlife, beautiful trees, and the vast assortment of shrubbery and flowers that we have on the property.
Glenwood boasts an impressive collection of trees, with several on the Harris County Tree Registry, and two are champions- a mockernut hickory (Carya tomentosa) in East Avenue and an eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) in Section C-3. Perhaps the most notable tree is a live oak aptly named The Cemetery Oak.
The beauty of the rolling topography, the majesty of the various tree species, and the picturesque scenes created by the compositions of planting, sculpture, and landform have remained the hallmarks of Glenwood through time and will continue to be so.
Cemetery Oak (pictured left)
Live Oak (Quercus virginia)
Evidence suggests the tree is over 100 years old, but its exact age is unknown
List of Tree Species
- Pecan
(Carya illinoiensis) - Tulip magnolia
(Magnolia soulangiana) - Camphor tree
(Cinnamomum camphora) - Japanese black pine
(Pinus thunbergii) - Slash pine
(Pinus elliottii) - Bradford pear
(Pyrus calleryana) - Southern sugar maple
(Acer barbatum) - Chalk maple
(Acer leucoderme) - Drummond red maple
(Acer rubrum var. drummondii) - Mockernut hickory
(Carya tomentosa) - Redbud
(Cercis Canadensis) - Rough leaf dogwood
(Cornus drummondii) - Flowering dogwood
(Cornus florida) - Parsley hawthorn
(Crataegus marshallii) - Common persimmon
(Diospyros virginia) - Red ash
(Fraxinus) - White ash
(Fraxinus Americana) - Green ash
(Fraxinus pennsylvanica) - Yaupon holly
(Ilex vomitoria) - Sweetgum
(Liquidambar styraciflua) - Osage orange
(Maclura pomifera) - Southern magnolia
(Magnolia grandiflora) - Star magnolia
(Magnolia stellata) - Sweetbay magnolia
(Magnolia virginiana) - Black gum, tupelo
(Nyssa sylvatica) - Shortleaf pine
(Pinus echinate) - Longleaf pine
(Pinus palustris) - Loblolly pine
(Pinus taeda) - Mexican oak
(Quercus*) - Sawtooth oak
(Quercus actissima) - White oak
(Quercus alba) - Southern red oak
(Quercus falcata) - Burr oak
(Quercus macrocarpa) - Water oak
(Quercus nigra) - Shumard oak
(Quercus shumardii) - Nuttall oak
(Quercus texana) - Live oak
(Quercus virginiana) - Bald cypress
(Taxodium distichum) - Pond cypress
(Taxodium distichum var. nutans) - Montezuma bald cypress
(Taxodium mucronatum) - Basswood
(Tilia carolinia) - Winged elm
(Ulmus alata) - American elm
(Ulmus americana) - Compiled by The Garden Club of Houston
List of Bird Species
The first set of bird species listed are those of known occurrence in Glenwood in recent years; the second set are those that have doubtless occurred there but are not on the cemetery’s official bird list.
Among the other kinds of wildlife periodically using the Glenwood grounds are rabbits, squirrels, ducks, opossums, armadillos, raccoons, turtles, and snakes in addition to the ubiquitous coyote and clouds of butterflies.
Species Recorded at Glenwood
- American White Pelican
- Neotropic Cormorant
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Anhinga
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Little Blue Heron
- Tricolored Heron
- Cattle Egret
- Green Heron
- Black-crowned Night-Heron
- Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
- White Ibis
- Wood Stork
- Black Vulture
- Turkey Vulture
- Greater White-fronted Goose
- Snow Goose
- Ross's Goose
- Wood Duck
- Osprey
- Swallow-tailed Kite
- Mississippi Kite
- Northern Harrier
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Cooper's Hawk
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Swainson's Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- American Kestrel
- Merlin
- Peregrine Falcon
- Killdeer
- Long-billed Curlew
- Common Snipe
- American Woodcock
- Ring-billed Gull
- Caspian Tern
- Forster's Tern
- Rock Pigeon
- Eurasian Collared-Dove
- White-winged Dove
- Mourning Dove
- Inca Dove
- Black-billed Cuckoo
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Groove-billed Ani
- Eastern Screech-Owl
- Great Horned Owl
- Common Nighthawk
- Chuck-will's-widow
- Chimney Swift
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Belted Kingfisher
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Eastern Wood-Pewee
- Acadian Flycatcher
- Least Flycatcher
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Eastern Kingbird
- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- White-eyed Vireo
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Purple Martin
- Tree Swallow
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Bank Swallow
- Cliff Swallow
- Carolina Chickadee
- Tufted Titmouse
- Brown Creeper
- Carolina Wren
- House Wren
- Winter Wren
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Eastern Bluebird
- Swainson's Thrush
- Hermit Thrush
- Wood Thrush
- American Robin
- Eastern Bluebird
- Swainson's Thrush
- Hermit Thrush
- Wood Thrush
- American Robin
- Gray Catbird
- Northern Mockingbird
- Brown Thrasher
- European Starling
- American Pipit
- Cedar Waxwing
- Blue-winged Warbler
- Tennessee Warbler
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- Northern Parula
- Yellow Warbler
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Magnolia Warbler
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Yellow-throated Warbler
- Pine Warbler
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Cerulean Warbler
- Black-and-white Warbler
- American Redstart
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Worm-eating Warbler
- Ovenbird
- Northern Waterthrush
- Kentucky Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Hooded Warbler
- Wilson's Warbler
- Canada Warbler
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Summer Tanager
- Scarlet Tanager
- Chipping Sparrow
- Field Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Lincoln's Sparrow
- White-throated Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Northern Cardinal
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Blue Grosbeak
- Indigo Bunting
- Painted Bunting
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Rusty Blackbird
- Common Grackle
- Great-tailed Grackle
- Bronzed Cowbird
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Orchard Oriole
- Baltimore Oriole
- House Finch
- American Goldfinch
- House Sparrow
Species Not Formally Recorded but Doubtless Present at Times
- White-faced Ibis
- Roseate Spoonbill
- Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
- Bald Eagle
- Sora
- Virginia Rail
- Laughing Gull
- Herring Gull
- Barn Owl
- Barred Owl
- Whip-poor-will
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
- Willow Flycatcher
- Alder Flycatcher
- Warbling Vireo
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Bewick's Wren
- Veery
- Gray-cheeked Thrush
- Golden-winged Warbler
- Cape May Warbler
- Prairie Warbler
- Palm Warbler
- Blackpoll Warbler
- Swainson's Warbler
- Louisiana Waterthrush
- Mourning Warbler
- Eastern Towhee
- Purple Finch
- Pine Siskin
- Compiled by P.D. Hulce
