Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Basic Steps
• Part 2 of 3: Expand Your Knowledge and Use References
• Part 3 of 3: Selected Examples
• What do you need

With so many varieties of trees in existence, distinguishing them from each other can be a daunting task. You must pay attention to certain characteristics, such as the shape of the leaves and the type of bark. Continuous knowledge and practice is also important if you want to learn how to recognize trees more effectively.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Basic Steps

1. 1 Check out local trees. Before you start identifying a specific tree, you need to know which trees are most common in your geographic area. This knowledge will limit your choices and make it easier to find the right answer.
   • More than 700 tree species are found in the United States alone. You will greatly increase your chances of getting the right answer if you focus your efforts on native trees instead of memorizing over 700 species.
   • When choosing educational resources, stick to those that are limited to your geographic region or region. If you cannot find such specific resources, stick to at least directories that are limited to your part of the country.
2. 2 Look at the leaves. Examine the needles or leaves of the tree you are trying to identify.Look at the leaf shape, color, size and veining pattern. This information should further limit the choices.
   • Thin needles, straight-pointed leaves, which are usually grouped.
   • The scales are wider than the needles, but have a pointed tip, and are also collected in groups. The scales overlap.
   • Wide, flat leaves are broad in shape and are located in the same plane.
   • Simple leaves can be wide or narrow, but they tend to be flat with even, smooth edges. In contrast, jagged leaves are similar to simple leaves, except that they have pointed projections along the edges.
   • Lobular leaves - broad leaves with large lobes, the edge of the leaf is serrated.
   • Finger-like leaves have many long, narrow leaves emanating from a single cuttings, while feathery leaves have many thin leaves attached to their own cuttings.
3. 3 Examine the bark. Examine the bark and touch it to determine its structure. Compare this data with the information you have already collected.
   • Grooved bark is usually one of the most common types of bark. Deep grooves run up and down the bark of the tree in irregular directions.
   • The scaly crust also has deep fissures, but these appear to form small patches of bark that overlap.
   • The smooth bark has few irregularities. The grooves and depressions on the smooth bark are rather shallow.
4. 4 Pay attention to the branches. In particular, look at the drawing of the branches and how the branches are positioned at the end of each branch.
   • The sharply rising branches are quite far apart, but rise at an acute angle. In contrast, the ascending branches are at the same distance from each other, but rise at a less acute angle.
   • Spreading branches are located far from each other. They rise slightly and are almost horizontal.
   • The so-called "curly" branches first grow up and then bend down.
   • The pressed branches rise sharply upward, and the branches themselves are densely located to each other.
5. 5 Note the presence of any fruit or flowers. Look at the type of fruit that grows on the tree. If the fruit is not yet ripe, you can look at the flowers. It is also worth paying attention to the location of the buds on the tree.
   • The conical or cylindrical fruit is composed of woody, scale-like lobes collected in a conical or cylindrical fruit.
   • Fleshy or soft fruits typically include berries or edible fruits such as apples and pears. The pulp is juicy and when pressed, a small depression remains (pliable when pressed).
   • A hard or woody fruit has a tough outer shell. This category includes acorns and nuts.
   • The pod fruit contains several seeds or a hard mass within a protective capsule or shell.
   • The pterygoid fruit consists of a hard seed in the center of the fruit with a paper-like wing emerging from that seed.
6. 6 Examine the overall shape and height. The size of the tree is the final piece of information needed to determine it, along with the overall shape of the crown.
   • Tapered or spire trees are narrow and usually have sharp tops. Their profile is similar to a triangle.
   • Spreading trees are broad in shape, and branches tend to extend far from the trunk of the tree.
   • Vertical trees look like spreading trees, but the branches don't spread that far, giving the tree a narrower look.
   • Weeping trees have branches and leaves that hang down.

Part 2 of 3: Expand Your Knowledge and Use References

1. 1 Seek qualified help. You can learn a lot about identifying trees on your own, but if you are really serious about and want to learn more about trees and how to identify them, asking for the help of a local specialist will help you get the knowledge you need faster and more comprehensively.
   • Look for local courses and workshops. You can improve your knowledge of trees in your geographic area if you take lessons from a specialist. Look for courses and seminars provided by universities and colleges, as well as environmental, tourism, agricultural organizations, state or national parks.
   • Spend time learning directly from an expert. While formal courses will likely teach you everything there is to know and offer you some practice on the job, you can learn just as much and even more if you make an appointment with a specialist at a park or arboretum.
2. 2 Replenish your knowledge regularly. Whether you have a professional background or have acquired the knowledge on your own, one of the key components in improving your ability to identify trees is a thorough knowledge of the variety of trees in your area, especially those that are most common. The only way to gain such knowledge is through constant study of local trees.
   • Your class should include a lot of field practice. You can study books and other resources, but field practice is likely to help you gain the skills to identify trees at a faster pace.
   • Initially, you will need to bring resources such as books, diagrams and cell phone attachments with you to the field in order to be able to locate trees on site. As you gain more and more experience, you may reach a point where you can identify most native trees without such resources.
3. 3 Get the book. Invest in an illustrated tree encyclopedia. Good books are written in an easy-to-understand language, and the trees in them should be classified according to their distinctive features, not by name.
   • Take a close look at the pictures in the book. They should be sufficiently detailed and at the same time easy to understand.
   • Avoid books overloaded with specific descriptions initially. If you want to learn more about the technical side of things, once you gain experience and polish your skills, you can come back to these books later.
4. 4 Print the diagram. It is generally a good idea to print a diagram of the main trees in your area. The schematic is more compact than a heavy and thick book, so you can keep it with you at all times for unplanned tree identification when you find an interesting copy.
   • You can draw your own diagram from other resources, or find it in a book, manual, or the Internet.
   • Butler University has a small spreadsheet that you can use as your primary source. Use it to define trees or as an example from which you can create your own table. Take a look at it here: http://www.butler.edu/herbarium/treeid/idchart.html
5. 5 Search for a smartphone app. There are now smartphone apps to help you identify trees. Research which app suits your needs, or test multiple apps before choosing one.
   • Several tree identification apps worth checking out include:
     • “What Tree Is That?” Asks questions to narrow your search for the tree you are describing.
     • Leafsnap, which requires you to photograph a leaf or bark of a tree in order to be able to identify it using a built-in database.
   • Each application works differently, so you need to read the instructions or practice with each one to determine how to use it.
6. 6 Go to the Internet. If you don't have a smartphone or can't find a suitable app, you might be in luck and you can find the answer on the Internet.Search the internet for the keyword "tree identification" and look through the results until you find a site that can help you identify a specimen according to its distinctive features.
   • Sites that allow you to sort results by specific criteria are generally more useful than sites that contain basic tags or alphabetical lists.
   • You can also access the What Tree Is That? App online if you don't want to use the mobile app. It can be found here: http://www2.arborday.org/trees/whattree/index.cfm?TrackingID=908
   • The University of Wisconsin also has helpful tree identification tools that you can access online: http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/leaf/Pages/TreeKey/treeToIdentify.aspx?feature=Main
   • Kew Gardens has another online application that you can use to determine the species of trees: http://apps.kew.org/trees/?page_id=17

Part 3 of 3: Selected Examples

1. 1 Identify a pine tree. There are several types of pine trees, but as they belong to the same family, they tend to share similar characteristics.
   • Incense pine (Latin Pinus taeda) is a tall tree, usually reaching a height of 30-35 m. The needles are usually collected in bunches of three to five pieces, cones are cone-shaped. The bark is scaly, and the branches are mostly clustered at the top of the tree.
   • Twisted pine (Latin Pinus contorta) is a tree with a narrow, slender crown, reaching a height of 40-50 m. In the upper part of the crown, as a rule, flat, Needles are collected in two in a bunch, cones are cone-shaped.
2. 2 Identify the spruce. Like pine, spruce comes in several varieties, although most share similar traits.
   • Douglas spruce (Latin Pseudotsuga menziesii) is one of the tallest trees in the world, reaching a height of 60-75 m. The bark of young trees is thin and smooth, but thick and lumpy on older trees. The cones are oblong, narrow, with red-brown scales, and the needle-like leaves are arranged in a spiral along the shoots. At the top of the tree, the crown has a cylindrical shape.
   • Balsam fir (Latin Abies balsamea) reaches a height of 14-20 m. A tree with a regular conical crown, pointed at the top. The bark is smooth, gray on young trees, but rough and scaly on old ones, the leaves are needle-like. The buds turn brown when ripe and disintegrate, releasing winged seeds.
3. 3 Find out what an oak tree looks like. The genus of oak trees includes white oak and red oak, but there are other varieties as well.
   • White oak has simple, lobed leaves without sharp protrusions. The fruit of the oak is an acorn, the bark is scaly, usually light gray in color.
   • Red oaks also have acorn fruit and pointed leaves. The bark is scaly, from reddish-gray to reddish-brown color. The branches are thin, bright green at a young age, then the color changes to dark red and, ultimately, dark brown.
4. 4 Check out the maple tree. Maples are all fairly similar, but there are several varieties within a given species.
   • The leaves of the sugar maple are five-lobed, obtuse. In the spring and summer, the leaves are green, but in the fall they turn bright yellow, orange or bright red, and the color is usually uneven in the fall. The bark has deep cracks. Maple fruit is a lionfish.
   • The leaves of the silver maple are five-lobed, deeply dissected, pointed. In summer, the leaves are bright green, in autumn they are pale yellow. The bark of young trees is smooth, silvery, darkens with age and becomes covered with long flaky scales.
   • The leaves of the red maple are shallowly dissected into three to five lobes. Leaves are green in summer, in autumn they take on all sorts of shades of red. The bark of young trees is smooth, pale gray, darkens and cracks with age. The fruit is a lionfish.

What do you need

• Reference materials (books, diagrams, applications)