Tree Identification Quiz (SFR349)

eastern white pine

5 needles per fascicle, 3-5" long

jack pine

Leaves: 2 per fascicle (3 at tip), 3/4-1.5'' long
-Cones: 1.5-2'' long, incurved, persistent, serotinous
-Bark: thin, scaly, irregular ridges when mature

balsam fir

flat, mostly 2-ranked, parallel-sided, 1" long, green above, white lined below, tiny notch at tip except at top of tree

red pine

2 per fascicle, 4-6" long, break when doubled over

pitch pine

3 per fascicle, 3-5" long

black spruce

4-angled, spirally arranged, 1/4-1/2" long, persistent 7-10 years, borne on peglike projections - twigs pubescent

inner bark shows red flecks, bark breaks into very thin, corn flake sized flakes

red spruce

1/2-5/8" long, 4-sided, spirally arranged, persistent - twigs pubescent

sessile on a peg

white spruce

1/2-3/4'' long, 4-sided, spirally arranged, persistent
-Cones: 2'' long
-Bark: thin, gray half-dollar sized plates

eastern hemlock

flat, tapering, 1/3-2/3" long, 2-ranked, borne on short petiole, lustrous green above, 2 white stomate lines below

northern white cedar

scalelike, twigs flat & 2-4 mm. wide

tamarack / eastern larch

1" long, triangular x.s., clusters of 8+ on persistent spurs - leaves deciduous after turn bright gold in fall

quaking aspen

flattened petiole

bigtooth aspen

strongly toothed leaf margin

yellow birch

golden bark, often peeling, wintergreen odor to twigs

more pointed than white birch

paper/white birch

white, peeling bark

gray birch

tight, sooty - white bark, fine, dark twigs

“elephant” leaves

ironwood / eastern hophornbeam

a relatively small, slow-growing tree with very hard wood; grey bark with long, narrow fissures (forming strip-like scales); fruits are bladder-like, enclosing

fuzzy leaves, teeth are “big-small-big-small”

American beech

tight, light gray bark, sharp buds, toothed leaves

white oak

branchy, rough, ridgy, light gray bark, strongly and rounded lobes

northern red oak

leaf lobes mucronate, bark fissures red

black cherry

buds pointed, bark red-black when young, black and rough when mature, pungent and very bitter, flowers borne in 4-5" raceme, leaf with rufous hairs at base midrib on underside

larger leaves, bigger teeth on margins

red hairs underneath leaf

pin cherry

small tree, tight, red-black bark, bitter but less pungent with orange lenticels, flowers and fruit occur in clusters on long pin-like stalks, leaves glabrous below, buds blunt

leaves thinner than black cherry, less serrated

chokecherry

small tree; leaves with a coarsely (sharp) serrated margin are dark green above and lighter underneath and are wider toward the tip than the base of the leaf; fragrant, cup-shaped, 5-lobed, white flowers (each to 1/2” across) in elongated clusters to 3-6” long bloom in mid-spring. Flowers give way to clusters of globular, pea-sized berries HANG that ripen to dark purple/black in August

shadbush

large teeth, more rounded at the bottom of the leaf

shrub to small tree; finely-toothed, obovate leaves, short-stalked white flowers in drooping clusters which appear before the leaves emerge in early spring. Flowers give way to small, round green berries which turn red and finally mature to a dark purplish-black in early summer. Bark is gray and smooth but streaked with longitudinal fissures; often with a reddish cast.

alternate

sugar maple

5 letters in sugar = 5 sharp lobes

u-shaped notches

bark gray & warty with cocoa-brown fissures, buds small, pointed and light brown, leaves without fine teeth

red maple

leaves with finely dentate margins & v-shaped notches, bark tight and dark gray when young, lighter but breaking into rough, scaly ridges when mature (esp. in swamps), buds globose, twigs and buds red

not as deeply lobed

silver maple

leaves with 5 deeply palmate sinuses, lobe margins coarsely serrate; light green above, pale, silvery white below. Bark is light gray and smooth when young, when older breaks up into long thin strips, loose at ends; similar to red maple but coarser. Samara is largest of any native maple, divergent wings

white ash

pinnately compound leaf, hairy below, 5-9(7) leaflets, bark light brown with longitudinal ridges, terminal bud brown, blunt, hairless, inner bark of shoots bright, brick red

VERY LONG/NOTICABLE PETIOLE

green ash

7-9 leaflets, hairy below, buds hairy, otherwise similar to F. americana, inner bark of shoots cinnamon-colored

little petiole

brown ash

7-11 leaflets, a few hairs a junction of leaflets and rachis, bark corky & light brown, inner bark of shoots off-white, buds with sharp points

11 leaflets = ALWAYS brown ash

pretty much no petiole, less fissured

basswood

heart-shaped leaf with VERY asymmetrical base, distinct berries

non-native bush honeysuckle

opposite, leaves are smooth, matte, long and have a “scratchy” feeling, come to a rounded point

Most are woody shrubs, often multi-stemmed, but some can become the size of small trees (10’ tall). Large twigs are hollow, a key characteristic that differentiates non-native honeysuckles from native honeysuckles. Leaves are simple and opposite. Flowers are showy, fragrant, and range in color from creamy white to yellow to pink

common buckthorn

almost opposite, bark has white spots, berries are very close to the stem, rounded leaf margin with teeth, single small thorn at end of twigs, fleshy dark purple to black berrylike fruits.