Short flash cards

Acer platanoides Sapindaceae- Norway maple

Opposite arrangement, conical imbricate buds, milky sap, ridges and furrows, shade tolerant

Catalpa speciosa Bignoniaceae- northern catalpa, cigar tree

Whorled arrangement, huge simple leaves w/undivided blade, shade intolerant, cigar-like fruit

Acer saccharum Sapindaceae- sugar maple, hard maple

Sharp/pointy, small, imbricate buds w/ rusty brown hairs; fruit roll-up or chunky/patchy bark

Parthenocissus quinquefolia Vitaceae- Virginia creeper

Ubiquitous smooth vine with serrate to serrulate palmately compound leaves; adhesive discs at contact points

Robinia pseudoacacia Fabaceae- black locust

Clonal and colonial, ridged and (orange) furrowed bark, obligate shelf fungus, paired stipular spines, alternately odd pinnately compound leaves with pulvinus, no visible buds till spring

Juglans nigra Juglandaceae- black walnut

Fuzzy naked buds, even (many) pinnately compound leaves, old spice smell, spongy fruit, ET leaf scars, latticed ridges and furrows, allelopathic

Carya ovata Juglandaceae- shagbark hickory

Strongly rocking, open canopy, 5 leaflets with dramatically large terminal 3, loose (roselike) scales on conical buds, thick woody fruit

Carya tomentosa Juglandaceae- mockernut hickory

Low rocking, pubescence (long, woolly) on rachis + petiole + leaflets, 5-7 leaflets (large terminal 3), open canopy, thick woody fruit, tight scales on buds with one loose

Carya cordiformis Juglandaceae- bitternut hickory, yellownut hickory

Very long pointy buds, raised ridge on fruit suture (woody and thin), net-like ridges and furrows (zero rocking), busy canopy with ~9 leaflets (large terminal 3), likes moisture

Carya glabra Juglandaceae- pignut hickory

Notable rocking, busy canopy with ~7 leaflets, smooth petiole + rachis, thin woody fruit, conical tight buds

Acer rubrum Sapindaceae- red maple, soft maple

Very variable bark, red imbricate clustered conical buds, samaras gone by now, coarse serrate leaves with 3-5 V lobes

Gleditsia triacanthos Fabaceae- honey locust

Restricted to riparian areas, bi-pinnate to doubly bi-pinnate compound leaves w/crenulate teeth, giant spines along trunk in wild, smooth to fruit roll up silver-grey bark w/small lenticels

Prunus avium Rosaceae- sweet cherry, bird cherry, Mazzard cherry

Definitive short/spur chutes, abundant lenticels (long horizontally) on smooth silver/grey bark

Prunus serotina Rosaceae- black cherry

Scaly/shingly bark, slender twigs, brown and green bicolor buds, mustached leaflets, black knot fungus

Quercus coccinea Fagaceae- scarlet oak

Checkerboard and ski trails, junk on the trunk, uniform deep sinuses, “poor sites“, tight inbricate scales on capsule that covers most of the meat nut

Castanea dentata Fagaceae- American chestnut

Very serrate leaves with mild marcessence, slightly divergent pointy buds with a red-yellow-brown color, non-diagnostic bark, round capule covering entire nut with sharp spines

Rhododendron maximum Ericaceae- great laurel, rhododendron

Multistem layering small tree, thick entire lancealate evergreen leaves,

Kalmia latifolia Ericaceae- mountain laurel

Shrub, small thick elliptical evergreen leaves

Quercus rubra Fagaceae- northern red oak

Ski trails, light and shade leaves with varying sinusing, large globos acorn with thin disc capule, smooth large pointy conical buds with accessories surrounding

Quercus montana Fagaceae- chestnut oak

Chunky bark, wavelike sinusing, fuzzy buds

Quercus alba Fagaceae- white oak

White cast on bark and leaf undersides, mid deep sinuses w/o bristletips, upper trunk has accordion/baklava plates

Sassafras albidum Lauraceae- sassafras

Lime green branch tips that arc upwards, fruit loops smell, clonal and colonial, elliptical or mitten or trident leaves

Populus tremuloides Salicaceae- quaking aspen, trembling aspen

Tinkling wave of leaves, sharply conical buds with dark smooth to shiny scales, tiny teeth on leaves, smaller form, smooth chalky white bark on upper trunk

Populus grandidentata Salicaceae- bigtooth aspen

Large serrate to crenate teeth, white hairs on bud scales that are otherwise pointy and dark, larger form, smooth chalky white bark on upper trunk

Quercus velutina Fagaceae- black oak

Pentagonal thin hairy imbricate buds (true terminal and accessory), sun and shade leaves with bristletips, dark broken up bark with a mustard yellow interior, loose scales at edge of capule that covers ~1/2 of round meatnut

Prunus virginiana Rosaceae- choke cherry

Multistem (from base) shrub to small tree, dark-ish bark with subtle-ish lenticels, broad elliptical un-mustached leaves with very fine sharp serrulate teeth, black knot, green/brown bicolor imbricate buds, likes disturbance but found anywhere

Acer pensylvanicum Sapindaceae- striped maple

Valvate smooth stalked buds, bright green or purple smooth new growth, chains/strips of dried up samaras on mature specimens, striped bark, found anywhere

Nyssa sylvatica Cornaceae- blackgum

Very shade tolerant, branching at 90° concentrated at upper trunk, ridged and furrowed with older specimens having alligator skin, medium sized but always slender, notable spur chutes making for a busy canopy, waxy reflective cuticles, silver-white hairs develop on buds to hide imbricate green to brown scales, found anywhere but most competitive at extremes (wet and dry)

Ostrya virginiana Betulaceae- hop-hornbeam

Small tree with rectangularly scaly bark of various earthy colors, puffy nutlets on a small chain, no aroma, turky foot staminate catkins

Carpinus caroliniana Betulaceae- musclewood, hornbeam

Small single- or multi-stemmed tree, undulating tendonlike smooth bark, facultative wetland species, flat nutlet chain with clearly visible seeds, divergent conical bicolor buds, no staminate catkins

Cornus alternifolia Cornaceae- alternate-leaf dogwood, pagoda dogwood

Long vertical sections between layers of pseudo-whorled (alternate) branches, passes dogwood test, golden canker, sharp conical slightly imbricate bicolor buds (green to red/purple), persisting red infructescence

Cornus florida Cornaceae- flowering dogwood

Rounded scaly shingles for bark, small tree, opposite arrangement, waxy white coating on new growth, sun buds are onion shaped, shade buds are pointy small green slightly imbricate buds, has a spreading form, passes dogwood test

Amelanchier spp. Rosaceae- serviceberry

Small multi-stem tree, bark is ashy to dark gray with swirling pinstripes along trunk, busy fine canopy with epicormic sprouts along long naked stem, lateral buds are strongly appressed, terminal buds are sharp narrow imbricate and slightly hooked, leaves are generically simple and alternate