Identifying saplings is a great way to learn about the forest around you. It’s important to identify young trees, called saplings, because they will one day become the forest of your area. Knowing what saplings are growing around you can help you plan for the future of your landscape. To identify a sapling, follow these…
Observe the needles. Observe the needles. The needles of spruce trees are attached to the branches in clusters of two to five, while pine tree needles grow singly. Spruce needles are soft and flexible, not stiff and sharp. They can be dark green or blue-green in color, with a white stripe on their underside. Examine…
Leaf shape Shapes that aren’t symmetrical (no halves) are called simple leaves, and ones that are symmetrical are called compound leaves. To figure out the shape of your leaf, pick the one closest to it in the photo below.  A note on compound leaves: When you’re looking at a plant with this type…
Take a good look at the leaves. Take a good look at the leaves. Walnut leaves are compound, deciduous and alternate. They have 14-24 leaflets (on average), each 12-15 cm long, oblong with toothed edges. They are green on top and the underside is a lighter green. Examine the growing pattern. Examine the growing pattern….
It is important to note that not all leaves are the same even on the same tree. Trees have different types of leaves on the same tree. Note that it’s not uncommon for different types of leaves to exist on the same tree. In general, you’ll find two or three leaf shapes on each deciduous…
The larch is a tall, coniferous tree with smooth, orange/yellow-brown bark and light green foliage that changes to golden yellow in the fall. So how can you identify a larch? By its tall stature. Larches can reach heights of 100 to 150 feet. By its bark. The bark is very smooth and orange/yellow-brown in color,…
An easy way to identify trees is by their leaves. “In the fall, I like to look for trees with leaves that are in various shades of red, orange, or yellow. If you want to identify the trees, leaf shape and size are important. The leaves may be oblong or round and slightly curved at…
Cedars are evergreen conifers. Cedars belong to a group of evergreen cone-bearing trees–the genus Cedrus, for example, is native to the Middle East. The word cedar comes from the Latin word cedrus, or “cedar,” which is from an earlier Greek word kedros. It can refer to any of a number of coniferous trees with needle-like…
Look at the bark. When you look at the bark of an apple tree, think about how rough it looks. Is the bark smooth and light gray? If so, your tree is most likely a McIntosh or Empire. Is the bark a little bit rough? If so, your tree may be a Golden Delicious or…
Opposite branching When you find a stem with two leaves (or buds) at each node, and the leaf pairs are directly across from each other, you have found opposite branching. This is a common arrangement in most trees. A good example of this is the maple tree. Look at the pictures below; notice how there…