Identify Trees

We probably all know the names of some common trees and can identify them on sight, but many of us still come upon trees, and we're not sure what they are.

It can be fun to play detective, use the clues and figure out the name of the tree in question. You'll use these parts of the tree for your clues:

- leaves

- branches

- bark

- flowers

- fruit

- nuts

- form

The online article Knowing Your Wood: How to Identify Trees outlines characteristics that we should observe that can help us identify trees and gives us more resources to figure out what our mystery tree.

What Tree Is It?

The What Tree Is It? website is a great site to help you identify your mystery tree, since it has a database of over 170 trees.

The website gives a description and many pictures of trees, including: bark, flower, fruit, nut and leaves. You can search by common or scientific name, or answer questions about your tree, and by the process of elimination, you find the name of your tree!

Another great tool for tree identification is the Forest Biology and Dendrology Educational Sites maintained by Virginia Tech. You can use the leaf key or the twig id features; however, I recommend the "Interview Me" feature instead, since it asks you all kinds of questions, and allows you to "not know" all the answers.

Ontario Trees & Shrubs is a growing, comprehensive guide with photographs to aid in identifying trees & shrubs in Ontario (and nearby areas.) I found the pictures and information for over 300 trees and shrubs very helpful. With the help of this site, I was finally able to identify a mystery tree in my area - Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). It is a beautiful tree that looks like a sumac, but much larger. Thank you Walter Muma for all your hard work creating this site.

Leaves

If you'd like more information about leaves in particular, understanding the definitions of the different parts of the leaf and how they sit on the branch, this Leaf Identification Key website might help you out. It's a 28 page guide, with easy to understand drawings.

Winter Twigs

This website Identification of Trees By Their Winter Twigs can give you some class ideas for the older students, perhaps high school, or interested younger students. It helps with plant classification and structure for trees. It's a little more advanced since it can be a little trickier to play detective with just bark and twigs.

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