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#1
27-03-2003, 10:32 PM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
Our community has a large tract of wooded land which is scheduled for
clear-cutting this summer. At any rate, I contacted our city manager's office and have been given a permit to collect anything/everything I want from the area to be cleared. There seems to be a pretty good variety of trees including Beech, Maple, Oak, Willow, supposedly some Elm and Hawthorn, and of course some bushes, shrubs, etc. My question is this: is there any telltale giveaway means to tell what is what without leaves (e.g. bark, buds, etc)? I'm fairly good at being able to determine a tree by the leaf; but can't do it very well by the bark (except stuff like Birch & Beech). If anyone knows right off hand, thanks in advance. If not, is there a good guide that I could check out at the library? Jeff Isom Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39 ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#2
27-03-2003, 11:20 PM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
Hey,
I recommend Audubon's Eastern Trees field guide, or the Petersons field guides. They are excellent, but the problem comes when you are looking at a young tree but the book has a picture of a fully mature tree. I have learned a lot from simply studying field guides. Hope I helped some! Sam ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#3
27-03-2003, 11:32 PM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
You can learn a certain amount from books but this is one of the areas
where I would heartily recommend that you find an expert in your area's trees and accompany him or her on a field visit. I've found that learning to spot them through actually seeing the bark, buds, growth habit and environment is the easiest and best way to retain all of the nuances. As you have permission to collect, try asking the chairman of a local bonsai society if they can recommend anyone. I'm certain that someone will JUMP at the chance to help you. Living with a collected version of each plant for a few years will cement the details into your sphere of knowledge. Good luck Kev Bailey Zone 9, North Wales, UK --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.463 / Virus Database: 262 - Release Date: 17/03/2003 ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#5
27-03-2003, 11:44 PM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
"Isom, Jeff (EM, PTL)" wrote:
... My question is this: is there any telltale giveaway means to tell what is what without leaves Hi Jeff, congrats on this wonderful opportunity! The best resource to take with you is someone local who knows the species likely to be there, and how to ID them. Also someone with a strong back to cheerfully help pack your trees out.. I'd come myself, but it's a bit of a drive  Next best resource is the Peterson Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs of Eastern/Central N. America. NOT the newer one which is only Trees... there's a lot of potensai amongst the understory shrubs! You should be able to find this at the library. Better yet, get one used from www. bookfinder.com or similar source, for your permanent library. Shouldn't run you more than $8 or 10. In the back of the book is a Key to leafless trees. The best identifier is not bark, but buds. You can tell opposite from alternate right off, and there are other easy characteristics. You mentioned beech, it has unique long pointed buds with straw-colored covering. Oaks have buds clustered at the tip of each twig. Willow should have buds greening and swelling by now, and the year-old twigs will be green or yellow. Hawthorn has thorns (!) but so do some crabapples; haw buds are fat and round and reddish, crabs are very tiny. Bring a cheap magnifying glass to look at stipule scars, one of the main things the Key will want you to look for. If you don't have time to key out a twig, you can get a clue to what sort of trees/shrubs are in the area by looking at the leaves on the ground, just don't expect them to still be next to the precise tree they came off! If you still don't know what it is, and it has a great trunk, go ahead, dig it up and try! My only caution is to avoid mystery trees with thick twigs and coarse branching patterns, these nearly always turn out to be a disappointment. Oh, and be sure you can recognize poison ivy or oak leafless... Enjoy! Anita ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#6
27-03-2003, 11:56 PM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
Hey,
I recommend Audubon's Eastern Trees field guide, or the Petersons field guides. They are excellent, but the problem comes when you are looking at a young tree but the book has a picture of a fully mature tree. I have learned a lot from simply studying field guides. Hope I helped some! For winter (bare) Tree and shrub ID the Audubon book is better than Peterson's. It shows bark. There is a pair of books (whose titles TOTALLY escape me) that show photos of twigs, bud scars, etc.. They are large (10x11 at LEAST!). One deals with shrubs and the other with trees. B&N has carried them locally; I've not seen them at other book stores (and come to think of it I haven't seen them at all, lately, so maybe they're OUP. Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry David Thoreau - Walden ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#7
28-03-2003, 12:08 AM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
Jeff - Here's an online resource worth checking out!
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/forestry/...treesindex.htm Trees of Ohio, and the links for each species show a close up of buds and bark as well as leaves. Maybe you can print out that whole list to take with you  Some of the species worth doing bonsai with on that list, from my experience, a European Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa) Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) Blue Beech aka American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) American Crabapple (Malus coronaria) Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) Hawthorn (Crataegus species) Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) American Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) Red Maple (Acer rubrum) Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana) American Plum (Prunus americana) Thicket Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) Other list-friends may want to add to the above. My personal favorites, which you might want to be sure you can recognize, are Hornbean, blackhaw (*super* bark texture, even when young, responds well to root and top pruning, great fall color; branching pattern tends to be rather stiff and perpendicular, Burning Bush (dig a great *trunk* and grow out), crabapple and serviceberry. Anita Northern Harford County, Maryland ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#8
28-03-2003, 12:08 AM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
Sam Williams wrote:
Hey, I recommend Audubon's Eastern Trees field guide, or the Petersons field guides. They are excellent, but the problem comes when you are looking at a young tree but the book has a picture of a fully mature tree. I have learned a lot from simply studying field guides. Hope I helped some! Sam I use the Audibon guide for Eastern Trees. Very good. Craig Cowing NY Zone 5b/6a ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#9
28-03-2003, 12:08 AM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
Anita Hawkins wrote:
"Isom, Jeff (EM, PTL)" wrote: ... My question is this: is there any telltale giveaway means to tell what is what without leaves Hi Jeff, congrats on this wonderful opportunity! The best resource to take with you is someone local who knows the species likely to be there, and how to ID them. Also someone with a strong back to cheerfully help pack your trees out.. I'd come myself, but it's a bit of a drive snip If you don't have time to key out a twig, you can get a clue to what sort of trees/shrubs are in the area by looking at the leaves on the ground, just don't expect them to still be next to the precise tree they came off! If you still don't know what it is, and it has a great trunk, go ahead, dig it up and try! My only caution is to avoid mystery trees with thick twigs and coarse branching patterns, these nearly always turn out to be a disappointment. Oh, and be sure you can recognize poison ivy or oak leafless... Enjoy! Anita Other giveaways are if the tree holds on to its leaves during winter--hornbeam, oak, beech for example. One trick I use, although it is not foolproof, is to look at the leaves on the ground near the tree. I use this as a secondary method though. The buds and bark are the best way. Craig Cowing NY Zone 5b/6a ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#10
28-03-2003, 12:08 AM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
Thanks to EVERYONE. All suggestions and recommendations were excellent.
And, as at least one person suggested, if I can't identify it and it has a nice trunk - it's coming home with me! I'll probably never have another chance like this again. I just wish it would dry out a little bit...I'm getting a little old to lug around 40 lbs. of mud on each foot while carrying trees, tools...! Jeff Isom Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39 -----Original Message----- Anita Hawkins wrote: "Isom, Jeff (EM, PTL)" wrote: ... My question is this: is there any telltale giveaway means to tell what is what without leaves Hi Jeff, congrats on this wonderful opportunity! The best resource to take with you is someone local who knows the species likely to be there, and how to ID them. Also someone with a strong back to cheerfully help pack your trees out.. I'd come myself, but it's a bit of a drive snip If you don't have time to key out a twig, you can get a clue to what sort of trees/shrubs are in the area by looking at the leaves on the ground, just don't expect them to still be next to the precise tree they came off! If you still don't know what it is, and it has a great trunk, go ahead, dig it up and try! My only caution is to avoid mystery trees with thick twigs and coarse branching patterns, these nearly always turn out to be a disappointment. Oh, and be sure you can recognize poison ivy or oak leafless... Enjoy! Anita Other giveaways are if the tree holds on to its leaves during winter--hornbeam, oak, beech for example. One trick I use, although it is not foolproof, is to look at the leaves on the ground near the tree. I use this as a secondary method though. The buds and bark are the best way. Craig Cowing NY Zone 5b/6a ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#11
28-03-2003, 12:32 AM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
"Isom, Jeff (EM, PTL)" wrote:
Thanks to EVERYONE. All suggestions and recommendations were excellent. And, as at least one person suggested, if I can't identify it and it has a nice trunk - it's coming home with me! I'll probably never have another chance like this again. I just wish it would dry out a little bit...I'm getting a little old to lug around 40 lbs. of mud on each foot while carrying trees, tools...! Jeff Isom Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39 I just tried something this week for dragging stuff around. I have a couple of black mortar mix pans from Home Depot. I tied a piece of nylon rope in the hole on one end and put my tools in it and dragged it around on the pastures where I've been collecting. It works pretty well, and you can put a big tree or several small ones in it. Dragging it uphill was a chore, but much easier to hold on to than a gangly tree with roots all over the place. Craig Cowing NY Zone 5b/6a ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#12
28-03-2003, 12:32 AM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
H Jeff, Jim;
Jim Lewis wrote: For winter (bare) Tree and shrub ID the Audubon book is better than Peterson's. It shows bark. Bark helps, but often puzzles me on younger trees, they all seem to look alike which is why I suggested the Petersons, for thebud-based Key. Does the Audubon book have a key, Jim?? I can't recall, and I know your bookshelf is closer than mine. ...There is a pair of books (whose titles TOTALLY escape me) that show photos of twigs, bud scars, etc.. They are large (10x11 at LEAST!). One deals with shrubs and the other with trees. Shrub Identification Book by George Symonds, and the rather thinner Tree Identification Book. These are excellent, but a bit much to carry out collecting Anita ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#13
28-03-2003, 01:08 AM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
H Jeff, Jim;
Jim Lewis wrote: For winter (bare) Tree and shrub ID the Audubon book is better than Peterson's. It shows bark. Bark helps, but often puzzles me on younger trees, they all seem to look alike which is why I suggested the Petersons, for thebud-based Key. Does the Audubon book have a key, Jim?? I can't recall, and I know your bookshelf is closer than mine. No "key" in the sense you mean, Anita. Audubon calls the photo pages "keys" and they key in on flowers, leaves, bark, etc.. ...There is a pair of books (whose titles TOTALLY escape me) that show photos of twigs, bud scars, etc.. They are large (10x11 at LEAST!). One deals with shrubs and the other with trees. Shrub Identification Book by George Symonds, and the rather thinner Tree Identification Book. These are excellent, but a bit much to carry out collecting Those 'r them. And you're right . . . but if you have a wheelbarrow . . . Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry David Thoreau - Walden ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#14
28-03-2003, 02:32 AM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
Hey again,
A very helpful hint.... I will try to be as discriptive as possible. During the winter, poison Ivy looks like slightly zig-zagged, light grey to brown twigs. The buds are really thin and orange-pink. They have a large leaf scar. Sometimes you can see the rootlettes on the plants too. Poison Ivy is also called poison oak in the eastern US. The only true poison OAK is in the west. But Poison Ivy in the east comes in two forms. The vine with hair like rootlettes and as plants like a young oak sapling. During summer, the leaflettes can be oak shaped and/or lance shaped. I hope I was of some assistance! ( I know how much of a nuisance Poison Ivy is...I have scars from the pest!) Sam Williams ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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#15
28-03-2003, 02:32 AM
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[IBC] Identifying Trees in the wild
Another possibility is the very small and inexpensive paperback key by May
Theilgaard Watts called Tree Finder, ISBN 0-912550-01-5. There is also a Winter Tree Finder, ISBN 0-912550-03-1. I have seen them at museums and nature center gift shops, as well as book stores. They are beginner friendly keys, taking you step by step to the identity of many common North American trees. I've used them successfully with middle & high school students. Jay ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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