Identifying trees

[+todd300]

Many times I come across cache descriptions that say for example "It's near a birch tree" or "look for a cluster of cedar trees."

 

Well, I'm not a botanist. It's difficult for me to identify different types of trees especially when I'm in the middle of the woods with several different types of trees.

 

I'm not asking how to identify each tree. That may take several posts.

 

Instead, does anyone know of resources online that I could research so I can have a better chance of identifying the type of tree when I'm in the field?

 

Thanks to all that respond

[+wkmccall]

Many times I come across cache descriptions that say for example "It's near a birch tree" or "look for a cluster of cedar trees."

 

Well, I'm not a botanist. It's difficult for me to identify different types of trees especially when I'm in the middle of the woods with several different types of trees.

 

I'm not asking how to identify each tree. That may take several posts.

 

Instead, does anyone know of resources online that I could research so I can have a better chance of identifying the type of tree when I'm in the field?

 

Thanks to all that respond

 

You could start here.

[+clubjuggle]

I tend to use Wikipedia. Most articles on trees have photos. Google image search works well, too.

[Motorcycle_Mama]

Here are some of my favorites.

 

http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/key/intro.htm

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/idit.htm

http://www.oplin.org/tree/

http://www.internationalpaper.com/Our%20Co.../Downloads.html

[+Harry Dolphin]

I find that many cachers who mention trees have no idea what trees they are! Sorry, that's not a fir, that's a yew. And that's not a fir, it's a cedar. The maple tree is really a cherry tree.

[+uxorious]

Many times I come across cache descriptions that say for example "It's near a birch tree" or "look for a cluster of cedar trees."

 

In my experience "it's near a birch tree", as often as not means near an Alder or Aspen, or something else. Look for a cluster of cedar trees can mean, look for a cluster of conifers of any kind.

[+SkellyCA]

If I'm in the woods and the Desc. says it's neat a birch tree or whatever; I just look at the trees and ask my self...Which one of these trees in NOT like the others?

[+todd300]

Here are some of my favorites.

 

http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/key/intro.htm

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/idit.htm

http://www.oplin.org/tree/

http://www.internationalpaper.com/Our%20Co.../Downloads.html

 

Thanks, MM. Appreciate it.

 

I find that many cachers who mention trees have no idea what trees they are! Sorry, that's not a fir, that's a yew. And that's not a fir, it's a cedar. The maple tree is really a cherry tree.

 

True. I never thought of it that way.

 

If I'm in the woods and the Desc. says it's neat a birch tree or whatever; I just look at the trees and ask my self...Which one of these trees in NOT like the others?

 

Good point. That's one way to think outside of the box. Thanks

[+msrubble]

Hi, todd300.

 

Try Identifying Trees of Michigan, put out by the Extension program at Michigan State University. The Tree Identification Key might be helpful if you are trying to find out what kind of tree it is based on its leaves and fruit.

 

A Beginner's Guide to Minnesota Trees, from the University of Minnesota's Extension program, is similar to MSU's tree identification key. The printed brochure is handier than the web page.

 

But, as others have noted, not all of your fellow cachers are botanists either. Some cachers call all evergreens "pine trees."

Edited May 27, 2009 by msrubble

[+briansnat]

I find that many cachers who mention trees have no idea what trees they are! Sorry, that's not a fir, that's a yew. And that's not a fir, it's a cedar. The maple tree is really a cherry tree.

 

I've screwed that up myself, usually when I hide a cache in the winter. I can tell some trees by their bark, but some are very similar and when the leaves came out I learned I guessed wrong.

 

I'm still a bit foggy on difference between mountain laurel and rhododendron. I think rhododendron has

the longer leaves. Or is it mountain laurel with the longer leaves?

[+StarBrand]

Good thing my wife has a degree in botany. I just ask her!!!

 

She often laughs at the descriptions that say "hidden 30 foot from a xxx tree" and it turns out to be something totally different. She even sends emails to cache owners so they can "correct" thier listings!

[+TazDevil091102]

They have pocket brochures for bird watching and for eatable plants in the wild, don't you think they would have them for tree identifying.I have both of these somewhere. Search online for them, I bet you could find some to print to take with you.

[+Jeep4two]

The Audubon Society has field guides for any activity that interests you.

 

National Audubon Society Field Guides are excellent resources, no batteries required, portable and available in many Geocacher friendly flavors (Trees, Insects, Reptiles and Amphibians, Wildflowers, Birds. . . .)

 

Here's the publisher list at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-h...DUBON%20SOCIETY

[+edscott]

I find that many cachers who mention trees have no idea what trees they are! Sorry, that's not a fir, that's a yew. And that's not a fir, it's a cedar. The maple tree is really a cherry tree.

 

I've screwed that up myself, usually when I hide a cache in the winter. I can tell some trees by their bark, but some are very similar and when the leaves came out I learned I guessed wrong.

 

I'm still a bit foggy on difference between mountain laurel and rhododendron. I think rhododendron has

the longer leaves. Or is it mountain laurel with the longer leaves?

 

Bet you're not a bad as one down here that tried to identify a tree by the bark in his clue and identified a Wild Cherry as a "dead Pine". Yes Rhododendron has the larger longer & thicker leaves.

[+popokiiti]

We've learned as we've gone along - the bark helps with some, especially in winter with deciduous trees, but sometimes firs and cedars get mixed up we've found. I am no authority, but this did awaken an interest, so I purchased an easy to read book, with good photos and brief, easy to understand descriptions.

[+cjz_here]

Instead, does anyone know of resources online that I could research so I can have a better chance of identifying the type of tree when I'm in the field?

I'd pick up a field guide at a local book store and pack it along I own a set of the Audubon Society guides. Like them particularly because they allow you to filter regional trees from what you're looking at (or flowers, snakes, butterflies, etc.).

 

There are plenty of botany sites that give all the specifics for simple searches. I like yahoo search above all (yep even over google) much more sensible in it's returns. Heck, you can actually use a picture filter on yahoo then ask it to produce pictures with "birch" in them - careful though <LOL> I wanted a blackberry (fruit) and had to look through hundreds of pages showing the various permutations of that darned phone on the market with the same name. Thousands of entries later I had only 3 images of the actual fruit! *SIGH*.. The only thing worse - not filtering out for image files. Darned thing returns everything that has "blackberry" in it - whoa!

[the3gmen]

I was at Barnes & Noble today and saw this ...

 

http://www.waterfordpress.com/index.php/co...task,showTitle/

 

Looks like exactly what you might want.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Did one today witn the hint: It's all twisted on the far right bush. Wisteria is a vine, not a bush! Oh, well.

[+hukilaulau]

I was having a hard time with a well camo'd cache. I finally noticed something odd about a perfectly normal looking pine cone. It was on an oak tree!

[+edscott]

Had one last week.. I liked it.. A bison tube buried in a pine cone on the ground. What made it obvious? It was in a grove of large spruce trees.

[+flask]

 

But, as others have noted, not all of your fellow cachers are botanists either. Some cachers call all evergreens "pine trees."

 

ohhhh, i HATE it when they do that....

 

at least when the hint or description makes reference to some kind of tree, though, we know to stop searching rocks.

 

here is one of my favorite logs in which i complain about dendrology.

[+edscott]

Here's a quote from one of my recent logs. "BTW, fir those that can ID trees, the page could be spruced up a bit."

[holz99]

You might check intp Peterson Field guides. Similar to Audobon books. I am a Secondary Ed./Biology major and have had some botany classes and we used more technical identification books. However, I found that many of the people in the class who were avid outdoorsmen/women use the Peterson books.

[+Prime Suspect]