Tree Identification Basics

Broad Classification Scheme

Annual, Biennial, or Perennial?

Marigold – Tagetes erecta

Marigold is an annual plant.

Biennial

A species that completes it’s life cycle in 2 growing seasons.

White Oak – Quercus alba

An oak tree is a perennial plant.

Herbaceous or Woody?

Daylily - Hemerocallis

A daylily is an example of a herbaceous, perennial plant.

Burning Bush – Euonymus alatus

Burning Bush is an example of a woody, perennial plant.

Deciduous, coniferous evergreen or broad-leaf evergreen?

Sugar Maple – Acer saccharum

Sugar Maple is a deciduous, woody perennial plant.

Norway Spruce – Picea abies

Norway Spruce is a coniferous evergreen, perennial plant.

Holly - Ilex

Holly is a broad-leaf evergreen, perennial plant.

Ilex meserveae 'Blue Angel'

Deciduous Conifers? – Yep!

Bald cypress

Eastern larch

Leaf Morphology

Leaf Shapes

Leaf Margins

Leaf Types

Basic Leaf Types

Simple Compound

Pinnately compound Bipinnately compound Palmately compound

Scale-like Needle-like

Simple Leaf

Pinnately Compound Leaf

Bipinnately Compound Leaf

Palmately Compound

Scale-like Leaves

Needle-like Leaves

Leaf Arrangement

Alternate

Opposite

Whorled

Oleander

Time to test your skills…

Leaf type? Leaf shape? Leaf margin? Leaf

arrangement?

Leaf type? Leaf shape? Leaf margin? Leaf

arrangement?

Leaf type?Leaf shape?Leaf margin?Leaf

arrangement?

Leaf type? Leaf shape? Leaf margin? Leaf

arrangement?

Leaf type? Leaf shape? Leaf margin? Leaf

arrangement?

Buds

3 Basic Bud Types

Vegetative Flower Mixed

Flowering Dogwood – Cornus florida

Flower bud

Vegetative bud

Pagoda Dogwood – Cornus alternifolia

Mixed bud

Buds with scales vs. naked buds

Paper birch Wayfarringtree viburnum

WARNING!

I would advise against doing a Google image search using the key words “naked buds”.

Stem Morphology

TerminalBud

Terminal Bud

Bitternut hickory

Common lilac

LateralBuds

Lateral Buds

Basswood

LeafScars

Leaf Scars

Black walnut

Northern catalpa Green ash

Vascular BundleScars

Vascular Bundle ScarsOhio buckeye

TerminalBud ScaleScars

Terminal Bud Scale Scars

Lenticels

Lenticels

Paperbark cherry

White poplar

Lenticels

Tree-of -heaven

Pith

Pith

Butternut Black walnut

Pith

Kentucky Coffeetree

Time to test your skills… Take a look at the twig image and answer the

following: What’s the leaf arrangement? Does your twig have a terminal bud? Lateral

buds? Can you find any leaf scars? Vascular bundle

scars? Can you find any lenticels? Can you find the most recent set of terminal bud

scale scars? Do you even care anymore? Do you have a headache?

White ash

White ash

END

Plant Nomenclature

Common & Botanical Names

Plants have 2 different names: Common Name Botanical or Scientific Name

Sugar Maple Acer saccharum

Acer saccharum

Acer = genus saccharum = specific epithet genus + specific epithet = the “binomial” that identifies

a species

Linneaus

Gymnocladus dioicus

What’s the name of the genus? What’s the name of the specific

epithet? What’s the name of the species?

Acer saccharum ‘Autumn Splendor’ ‘Autumn Splendor’ is a cultivar name cultivars, generally speaking, do not come true-to-

type from seed.

A species may have several cultivars or none at all:

Acer saccharum ‘Arrowhead’ Acer saccharum ‘Cary’ Acer saccharum ‘Millane’s Dwarf’ Acer saccharum ‘Seneca Chief’, etc…

Gleditsia triacanthos inermis Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis

inermis is a variety name. Varieties come true-to-type from seed.

Acer saccharum Legacy® Legacy® is a registered trademark (PP

4,979). Legacy® is registered with the Office of Trademarks and Patents in Washington, DC.

Acer saccharum Oregon TrailTM

Oregon TrailTM is a trademarked plant. The TM protects the commercial application of that name to said plant.

End