TWO BASIC METHODS
OF TREE IDENTIFICATION
• TECHNICAL / SCIENTIFIC
• PRACTICAL / COMMON SENSE
Trees are categorized by their scientific
genus and species
SCIENTIFIC “KEYS”
Genus (plural genera)
Species
Sub-species
Maple
Sugar maple
Columnar red maple
CONIFER NEEDLES
Clusters Singles
DECIDUOUS EXAMPLES
Red oak
Elm
Honey locust
Red maple
Black locustWhite birch
Beech
WHAT IS THE COMMON
NAME FOR AN
Acer negundo L. ?
PICTORIAL KEYS
DEFINE GENUS
Pictorial Keys
Growth Characteristics
Thorns Leaves Flowers Fruit Twigs & Bark Bark
FOR THE “M” IN MAD -
MAPLES
• Sugar maple
• Red maple
• Box alder
• Mt. maple
(Moosewood)
SIMPLE LEAVESSimple leaves have one main leaf blade on a stem
EXAMPLES OF SIMPLE LEAVES
Sycamore
Sweet gumTulip tree
Maple
LEAF ARRANGEMENT
COMPARISON
DESCRIBING THE LEAF
• Overall shape
• Apex
• Margin
• Base
WHY FLOWERS
ARE IMPORTANT
Although the blooming period of trees is short, all mature trees blossom, whereas not all trees bear fruit
TREE IDENTIFICATION
IN WINTER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsr4Vr15jxE
MATCH THE NAMES
TO THE DIAGRAM
1. ___
2. ___
3. ___4. ___
5. ___
6. ___
7. ___
8. ___
9. ___
10.___
1. Bud scale
scars
2. pith
3. Leaf pith
4. Terminal
bud
5. Bundle
trace
6. Tentacles
7. Lateral
bud
8. Node
9. Internode
10.Bud
scales
SWEETGUM
• Bark is grayish, not very dark, not very light
• Ridges between fissures are flat, narrow and irregularly formed
• Fissures are neither very shallow nor very deep
MATCH THE TERMS
• Leaf
• Twig
• Branch
• Trunk
• Fruit
• Deciduous
• Evergreen
a lateral outgrowth from the stem
whose primary function is the
manufacturing of food
a thicker, older woody stem to which
twigs are attached
the seed-bearing portion of a plant
trees on which leaves remain attached
for more than one year
trees on which all leaves fall at the end
of every season of growth
the main vertical stem of a tree
a young woody stem to which leaves
and buds are attached
HOW
A
TREE
GROWS
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