Can you identify a tree based on how it looks?

[Jotel me this]

I am always impressed when a person can instantly looks at a tree from dozens of feet away and say, "Well you got there a Honey Locust" or, "I see you have Shagbark Hickory and White Oak on your property."
What are the most important factors you look at when being able to identify a tree so quickly? I assume leaves are the major takeaway but there are people out there who can identify trees in the middle of winter with no leaves.

 

[begreen]

Bark, leaves, growth habit, shape, smell, color, and location all factor in. For example: Some trees will only grow in certain areas. A locust has a specific shape and rough bark and is often thorny.

 

[MongoMongoson]

When I was in the 6th grade, we had a big project where we had to collect leaves and seeds from as many trees as we could and build a scrapbook. I learned a lot from that, and part of what I learned was an interest in trees. So, yes I can ID them. It is a lot harder to do in log form than with a standing tree.

We also had hunter safety as part of our 6th grade curriculum and we handled firearms in school. I bet they don't do that anymore.

 

[spuldup]

I'm still not great at it but learned by bark. Bark is on the tree all year. Leaves only stay a few months up here.

 

[Simonkenton]

I can ID a black walnut, or a locust, or a red oak from 50 feet away. Bark, tree size and leaves are what I look for. I can spot a Southern Yellow Pine 100 feet away.

 

[begreen]

Yes, locust is in the legume family. Its leaves and seed pods are distinctive. Like big bean pods. Its wood also has a yellowish tinge.

 

[Garbanzo62]

You can Id a sycamore easily from a distance

 

[peakbagger]

I know the trees in the woods I travel in. Not that many varieties up north. The local boy scouts all knew the "toilet paper tree" (striped maple). The leaves make a good substitute in an emergency.

 

[whatyousmokin]

Some trees are easy to id by bark alone: Sycamore, london plane tree, black cherry, river birch, white birch, shagbark hickory, American beech, thorny honey locust. Some trees are easy to id by shape alone like pin oak. Some trees you can id by bark and shape with a few more clues like fruit or flowers that fall from the trees such as the monkey brains of osage orange, prickly balls of sweet gum, seed pods of kentucky coffee tree. Sometimes in the spring it can be easy to id trees by their shape and flowers: callery pear, red bud. When I have trouble distinguishing between an American elm and white ash I rely on the branching structure (MAD Horse: Maple,Ash Dogwood and Horse chestnut have opposing branches) and leaves if they are present.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Bark changes throughout the life of a tree. Buds never do.


If you watch the wood I’d posts, half the time we don’t agree, lol.

 

[spuldup]

Some trees are easy to id by bark alone: Sycamore, london plane tree, black cherry, river birch, white birch, shagbark hickory, American beech, thorny honey locust. Some trees are easy to id by shape alone like pin oak. Some trees you can id by bark and shape with a few more clues like fruit or flowers that fall from the trees such as the monkey brains of osage orange, prickly balls of sweet gum, seed pods of kentucky coffee tree. Sometimes in the spring it can be easy to id trees by their shape and flowers: callery pear, red bud. When I have trouble distinguishing between an American elm and white ash I rely on the branching structure (MAD Horse: Maple,Ash Dogwood and Horse chestnut have opposing branches) and leaves if they are present.

Good answer; basically all characteristics are candidates for identification!

 

[SpaceBus]

Without even knowing the names of the species, you can learn to identify the characteristics of trees. Sometimes it can be very difficult to narrow down individual species in a group. I can tell the difference between an oak and a maple tree based on the bark, leaves, flowers, and seeds, but I can't really tell most individual maple species apart. However, I can tell the difference between white and red oaks based on the leaves, but that's an easy one to tell the difference, and perhaps a good place to start. White oaks have rounded lobes and red oaks have pointed lobes. Their acorns are both different, but harder to tell apart from looks alone. Conifers are actually pretty easy once you know what to look for, but those are trees that have large groups that have individual species that are difficult to distinguish. Like, spruces are clearly different than fir trees, but individual spruce species are all so similar to be difficult to differentiate.

 

[Qvist]

I use the bark, and the growth habit / branching primarily. I learned the trees through the leaves originally as a child and then saw them again and again throughout every season in many different places. Eventually you see the patterns. Some are similar but in time you can tell the differences. I originally learned from the national Audubon society field guide to North American trees eastern region. It includes winter tree silhouettes and bark. I think I learned the oaks and maples first.

 

[ericm979]

Once you know what you're looking at you can ID most trees from a distance. When its a species that's new to you, you need to get closer. Scientists and students use a dichotomous key guide written by botanists. The guide gives you a set of questions with two answers. I.e. "are sepals intumescent y/n"? The answers take you to two different questions, until you get to a species. The ones I used require quite a bit of botanical knowledge but are a pretty definitive way to ID a species. For flowering plants many of the key questions are about the flowers as that's what botanists use to differentiate species. Now days most people use an app on their phone, like plantnet.

I took a dendrology class in college where you had to learn to id 350 tree and shrub species in 9 weeks. One of the quizzes included a leafless twig of poison oak. Which sounds mean but was actually a favor for the people who ended up working in the field. One of my jobs with the Forest Service involved driving on logging roads and looking for "good" trees of certain species. It does not take long to learn to ID trees from a distance. Color, branching/growth habit and foliage are major tells, like folks above answered.

 

[Vg3200p]

Dendrology is something you can study your whole life and still not be right 100% of the time. I'm decent at recognizing alot around here. I need to work on telling oak species apart. And I need alot of work in the conifers. I still get log form wrong sometimes to. I think alot of barks look similar

 

[Eman85]

Just my observation but I've learned from people that know. Trees aren't easy to learn from books just like trying to identify these wood ID posts. Many species are regional and finding the "old timer" that can show you what to look for and how to ID trees in your area is priceless info. I have a good friend who learned from his grandfather.

 

[gzecc]

If you're interested and spend time looking at bark, leaves, shape you can anyone can do it. It takes time.
I have experience in the NY try-state area. If I go down to see my sons in Tenn. or N. Carolina, its like being on another planet. Many different trees.

 

[CatfishHunter]

The best teacher is nature. I take lots of hikes in the woods around my cabin. I can easily pick out red pines, white pines, birch, poplar, cedar, oak, maple, and spruce trees. I have a few tree species books. If I run into something that I don't know, I grab a book and figure it out. Then the more that I see that tree, the more I come to know what it looks like.

If I were to walk in the woods wherever you live, I am likely to be clueless until I learn the land.

 

[Jotel me this]

I know the trees in the woods I travel in. Not that many varieties up north. The local boy scouts all knew the "toilet paper tree" (striped maple). The leaves make a good substitute in an emergency.

Thats cool! I have to find some now. Thanks

 

[Jotel me this]

Once you know what you're looking at you can ID most trees from a distance. When its a species that's new to you, you need to get closer. Scientists and students use a dichotomous key guide written by botanists. The guide gives you a set of questions with two answers. I.e. "are sepals intumescent y/n"? The answers take you to two different questions, until you get to a species. The ones I used require quite a bit of botanical knowledge but are a pretty definitive way to ID a species. For flowering plants many of the key questions are about the flowers as that's what botanists use to differentiate species. Now days most people use an app on their phone, like plantnet.

I took a dendrology class in college where you had to learn to id 350 tree and shrub species in 9 weeks. One of the quizzes included a leafless twig of poison oak. Which sounds mean but was actually a favor for the people who ended up working in the field. One of my jobs with the Forest Service involved driving on logging roads and looking for "good" trees of certain species. It does not take long to learn to ID trees from a distance. Color, branching/growth habit and foliage are major tells, like folks above answered.

Thanks for the response. A leafless twig of poison oak!? I wouldnt even know what to look for. Thats tricky.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Thats cool! I have to find some now. Thanks

Understory tree, maybe 6” wide at the base for the huge ones. Striped green and brown bark. Stupid big obviously maple leaves. When it’s happy it’ll grow like a weed. Next mountain over you won’t see it. But Hop hornbeam will be the understory of choice there.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Thanks for the response. A leafless twig of poison oak!? I wouldnt even know what to look for. Thats tricky.

Look at the bud and branching structure.

 

[Stove Cricket]

If you see this bark and wood it might be osage orange. A few pieces of this left in my backup stash - since I already burned through the one cord of seasoned wood I had for this year. The orange mark is from my new Stihl/Ochsenkopf maul - they are pretty nice

 

[Simonkenton]

By God that is orange colored, all right. That tree doesn't grow around here.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

I am always impressed when a person can instantly looks at a tree from dozens of feet away and say, "Well you got there a Honey Locust" or, "I see you have Shagbark Hickory and White Oak on your property."
What are the most important factors you look at when being able to identify a tree so quickly? I assume leaves are the major takeaway but there are people out there who can identify trees in the middle of winter with no leaves.

Yes, you can. Experience helps a lot. For instance, I did forest mapping one summer, so I spent a lot of hours walking through different stands, glancing at trunks, and saying, "This is dominant sugar maple with a lot of basswood and poplar...."

Just by bark (which allows year-round ID), it is usually as easy to tell a white oak from a red oak as it is to tell your friends Bob and Bill apart (both blond hair and 5'11").
The advantage of bark is that often the twigs and leaves are too high in the air to be of use.

The favorite game in my family is Dead Tree ID as we look at fallen trees on a walk, ones that have no more leaves. We're pretty good, because even when the bark is gone, a tree species has a form, if you just use your intuition and don't try to think too hard.

In forest ecology lab in college they emphasized twigs. Each twig and its bud are distinctive by species. But to make full use of twigs in a mature forest you have to be a really good climber.

You can narrow things down with the branching pattern.
Opposite branching: Maple, ash, or dogwood. That's it, for eastern U.S. possible firewood in the woods. Dogwoods are short, and have their own form, so opposite branching in taller trees is a maple or ash, and the barks are very different.

Alternate branching: In this group would be the others -- oak, hickory, locust, tulip, cherry.

Leaves on the tree or ground can be used to verify. But leaves are reliable to get you in a group -- like the white oak group, the red oak group, or the maple group. Just by leaves it's a little bit of an overreach to say, "That's a Norway maple; that's a sugar maple; though they do tend to be a little different in the amount of indentation.

If you move a long ways, it all changes, like if you move from Vermont to Georgia. But the basics are similar.