What Kind of Tree Do I Have?

[MountainDon]

Not exactly a building topic, but many of us live in or have recreational property in wooded areas.

While many folk have little problem identifying an oak or an aspen, I've found many people really get stymied when it comes to evergreens, or conifers.

There are not many deciduous trees in my part of NM or most of the western states where I travel and recreate. So I'm starting this topic with the conifers I've learned about.

Pines
Needles are 1-10 in. long and are in bundles of 2, 3, or 5 needles. Cones are 1-20 in. long with thick scales. Bark is gray to reddish brown and either furrowed or scaly.

Douglas-fir
Needles are about 1 in. long with a blunt tip and spirally arranged around the twig. They are green above with two white bands beneath. Cones are 3-4 in. long with pitch and have forked bracts that are longer than the scales. The cones hang down from the twig. The bark has resin blisters when young, but is deeply furrowed and reddish-brown when old. Older inner bark is a mottled brown and yellow color similar to bacon.

True firs
Needles are 1-2 in. long and either spirally arranged or flat on the twig. Cones are 2-9 in. long and are perched upright on the twig. Bark when young has resin blisters. Older bark is gray to brown, and when cut, the older inner bark is purple in color.

Spruces
Needles are 1 in. long and sharp to touch. Cones are 1-4 in. long, hang down, and have thin scales with jagged edges. Bark is thin, gray-brown, and scaly.

Hemlocks
Needles are less than 1 in. long and in groups that appear to be either star-like or tend to stick out of the sides of the twig. Terminal branch tips have a natural bend. Cones hang down, are 1-3 in. long, and are cylindrical or egg-shaped. Bark is gray to brown with either narrow or flattened ridges.

Larches
Needles are 1-2 in. long on woody pegs in clusters of 20-40. They fall off in the winter. Cones are 1-2 in. long with papery bracts that are longer than the scales. Bark is reddish-orange and flakes off in irregularly shaped pieces.

Cedars
Needles are scale-like and flat on the twig. Cones are ½ to 1 in. long and are either round or long and thin. Bark is stringy or flaky and gray to brown.


Here's a website all about the native conifers of North America, so it won't help ID that japanese pine in the back yard.
http://www.nearctica.com/trees/conifer/index.htm


Perhaps if there is interest in a board that is oriented towards trees and native plants we might consider adding something like that.

[OlJarhead]

Great idea

I've narrowed down ours to Ponderosa (the orange trunks were what gave that away) and Fir but I am unsure which Fir just yet.

[MountainDon]

Another good resource

http://wp.nres.uiuc.edu/

Ya' get to learn some latin names as well   

[OlJarhead]

I actually took pictures of my pines and firs and brought back some samples as well as cones for identification:)

What got me started was the need to know which would be good firewood and which would not as well as which would make good lumber/poles etc.

[John_M]

When it comes to pines...I was taught white pine has needles in bundles of five...one for each letter.....W-H-I-T-E

[JavaMan]

Great thread idea.  I knew I should have listened to my dad more!

[MountainDon]

When it comes to pines...I was taught white pine has needles in bundles of five...one for each letter.....W-H-I-T-E

That right but some 5 needle pines are not any of the whites. Bristlecone Pine is the one that comes to mind.

[MushCreek]

Our property in SC is almost the opposite- almost all deciduous hardwoods. The only conifers we have are Virginia Pines, which aren't good for much, but they are grown in that neck of the woods for Christmas trees.

Mostly we have red oaks of several flavors. Red oaks tend to have pointy tips on the leaves, where as the white oak family has rounded lobes. Of the reds, we likely have southern red, black, turkey, and scarlet oak. Might be some Shumard, as well, but reds are notoriously hard to tell apart, since they hybridize with each other. I've got some nice white oaks as well. We have a few hickories, bitternut, I think. Throw in some sweet gum and poplar, and that's our patch of woods. The trees are good size, up to 24" dbh. The understory is surprisingly clear of brush and vines, and I intend to keep it that way. The trees are a bit close together for optimum development, so I'll be harvesting some for firewood, and the bigger ones that have to go to make way for the house will be used for flooring, among other things. I love trees!

[NM_Shooter]

Corkbark, Ponderosa, Aspen, Spruce!

[diyfrank]

Funny you should post tree Identification. The room I'm in when using the computer has 1 picture on the wall and it right above the monitor. Northwest native conifers. 

[Solar Burrito]

Funny you should post tree Identification. The room I'm in when using the computer has 1 picture on the wall and it right above the monitor. Northwest native conifers. 

Can you use your handy chart to ID these trees on my property near Hoodsport, WA. Scroll down for a good tree photo: http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=8797.0

They are all tall, skinny and straight as arrow.

[diyfrank]

Thats tough to say without better pictures that show more detail. Dough fir has needles all the way around where they attach, where the true firs point up and to the side but are flat on the underside. The cones hang down and fall to the ground on dough fir and hemlock and point up on true firs,if that helps. From one of the pictures it looks like dough fir. There is commonly a lot of hemlock  mixed in around here. Look at the very top of the tree. The hemlock is lazy and droops like cedar at the top. Fir is very straight and sturdy at the top. Without actual looking at them its tough to say.  Don posted some good tips to look for at the top. There are a lot of small differences you have to look for.
I mentioned Dough fir and hemlock Mainly because It's seems the most common on the Western  side of WA.
A little less common but still see. Nobles, Silver fir, Spruce, Pine, Yew

[Pine Cone]

Funny you should post tree Identification. The room I'm in when using the computer has 1 picture on the wall and it right above the monitor. Northwest native conifers. 

Can you use your handy chart to ID these trees on my property near Hoodsport, WA. Scroll down for a good tree photo: http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=8797.0

They are all tall, skinny and straight as arrow.

Solar Burrito - Most of the trees in your photos are Douglas-firs.  You will also have western red cedar, western hemlock, red alder, and bigleaf maple.  You might have a few others (vine maple, western white pine, grand fir, dogwood & cottonwood) but mostly you have Doug-fir.  Your understory is mostly salal.

OlJarHead - most of the firs I see in your pix are Douglas-fir.  You have some very nice ponderosa pines.  Eventually you will need to be concerned about fire danger and will need to do some thinning to reduce ladder fuels and keep any potential wildfire out of the tree crowns.

[OlJarhead]

Discovered we also have Tamarack on our property

[MikeOnBike]

We have Juniper and Mountain Mahogany.  The Juniper are choking out the Mahogany so they will be thinned for firewood.  We are trying restore the Aspen.  They used to have a good population in the little canyon but were burned out about 50 yrs ago.  There is also some a rumor that there was red fir on the property before the Juniper choked them out.  If we can find a healthy population nearby we will try to transplant some.

[rick91351]

Mike the Forest Service at one time did and I do not know if they still do turn loose of Ponderosa Pine and Doug Fir seedlings to the general population and land owners from time to time.  I think your property would be a good candidate.  Is the USFS nursery still in operation up at Lucky Peak?  You might check there with them and I will talk to Terry the USFS timber cruiser up my way.  I do not know if the BLM has such a program but then I am not aware if the Forest Service still does as well.  It is sure worth a try. 

The Juniper does need to be thinned all over that country.  It chokes out everything and when there is just so much water to go around it seems to gather its share and everything's as well....       

[MikeOnBike]

We are on the western edge of the big thinning effort they did recently to improve the Sagehen habitat.

[mldrenen]

conifers:

-eastern white pine
-hemlock

deciduous:

-white oak
-black birch
-paper birch
-american beech
-moose maple
-sugar maple
-hop hornbeam
-white ash
-black cherry

[Don_P]

Conifers;
Eastern White Pine
Virginia Pine
Table Mountain Pine- This has a narrow range from about the Smokies up through the Shenandoahs just on the spine of the Blue Ridge. It's cones release seeds best during a fire. From pre European times until fire supression began in the '30's our forests used to have fires every 5-10 years, it has been in decline since. Several areas where I know it used to be are rhododendron/ mt laurel/ flame azalea slicks now. Those mountainsides are beautiful in bloom and the tourists love them, but there is no regeneration under that canopy.
Eastern and Carolina Hemlock- the wooley adelgid will remove these two from the forest
Eastern Redcedar
Red Spruce and Balsam Fir-remnant communities left on our mountaintops by a previous climate change
Fraser fir- the only southern fir, the premier Christmas tree

Hardwoods;
Too numerous to name them all
red oaks, northern, scarlet, pin...
white oak and chestnut oak (the only leaky white)
Tulip poplar
Cucumbertree
Fraser Magnolia
Red, Sugar, Striped Maple
Mockernut and shagbark hickory
Black walnut
Ash
Black locust
Tupelo, black gum- often hollow, a bee gum
Sourwood, no finer honey
Black Birch, nothing better than birch beer
Sassafrass, unless its sassafrass tea
Eastern hophornbeam, since the deer don't like them they are converting our woods to this and spicebush and hornbeam (musclewood)
Beech
Sycamore
Butternut
Basswood
Buckeye
Sarvis, serviceberry
Dogwood, the wood of the Cross
American Elm
Kentucky Coffeetree
Carolina Silverbell
Redbud
pin and black cherry
willow

And what I've been felling and sawing the past few weeks, the exotic invasive Ailanthus, Tree of Heaven... or, tree from ****. This beauty was imported as an ornamental, is very fast growing, the trees I cut a month ago are 18" tall now. It is a prolific seeder and is alleleopathic, it kills competing species by the secretions from its roots. The cove I'm in contains multiflora rose, russian olive, and barberry as well. All introduced but without the entire package of natural controls from their home environment. We also have kudzu. There are reports of truckers pulling off on the sides of southern roads for a quick nap, never to be seen again, swallowed truck and all by the fast growing kudzu.

An acre would provide a hundred different smaller plants. The southern Appalachians would give a rainforest a run for its money as far as diversity is concerned.
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/main.htm