A Walk in a Ohio Park
Tree I.D.
Take your children for a walk in the park and discover all the clues to what types of trees you have living nearby.
The first step in tree identification is knowing that there are always distinguishing characteristics that separate one tree species from another in and around Defiance. By examining different tree parts, your kids will be able to confidently identify the different trees around their school, home or park. This will require some careful detective work on both your parts, but it should be fun and easy. After collecting all of your clues, you should use the following leaf key to verify the tree species you are identifying.
Here are some clues that you will need to examine:
• TREE TYPE - Deciduous or Conifer? Tree of shrub? Determining these things starts you off on your way to tree identification.
• LEAF - Leaves are often the easiest way to identify most trees. Are the leaves arranged in an opposite or alternate pattern?
• BARK - Bark can be helpful for identifying some types of trees.
• FRUIT - The wide variety of fruit shapes makes them useful when identifying trees.
• TWIG - You can actually tell a lot just by looking at twig
• FROM - The way a tree grows can tell you a great deal about a tree.
1. YELLOW BIRCHLeaf: Leaves appear in an alternate pattern on the twig. They are simple, with even veins, a sharp tip, a rounded base and pointy edges.
Flower: Flowers appear in April and May, and they are 1 inch long and appear near the twig ends.
Fruit: This tree’s fruit is nut- and cone-like, ¾ to 1 ¼ inch long and upright with many hairy scales. The fruit matures over the winter months.
Twig: Slender, green and hairy when young: light-brown and smooth later. This tree’s twigs have a wintergreen smell when cut, and its bugs are chestnut-colored.
Bark: On young stems, the bark is bronze-color (sometimes gray), peeling horizontally in thin, curly, papery strips. On older trees, red-brown scaly plates may be apparent.
Form: A medium-size tree with an irregular crown.
2. RED MAPLE
Leaf: Leaves are 2 to 4 inches long, are light green above and whitened and sometimes hariry underneath. They appear opposite each other on the twig and each leaf has three to five lobes.
Flower: This tree’s flowers appear from March to May, usually before the leaves; they are bright red, but occasionally yellow.
Fruit: This tree’s fruit appears in ½ to ¾ inch long clusters of light brown, often reddish fruit from May to June on long slender stems.
Twig: The red maple’s twigs are reddish and lustrous, and its buds are usually blunt, green or reddish (in the fall and winter) with several scales usually present. The twigs leafs scars are V-shaped.
Bark: On young trees, the bark is smooth and light gray, but with age becomes darker and breaks up in long scaly plates.
Form: The red maple is medium-sized tree when fully grown. In the forest, its trunk is usually clear for some distance, but in the open, the trunk is shorter and the crown is rounded.
3. AMERICAN ELM
Leaf: They appear in an alternate pattern, are 3 to 6 inches long, 1 to 3 inches wide, and the edges are coarsely and sharply lined with pointy notches. The base of the leaf is conspicuously uneven. The upper surface is hairless and rough, while the underneath is paler and softer.
Flower: The flowers appear in bundles of three to five from March to May before the leaf buds open.
Fruit: The fruit is round in shape, 3/8 to ½ inches in size, deeply notched at the tip, hairless except for the edges, and appears from April to May each year.
Twig: The twigs of this tree are slender, smooth, slightly zigzag in shape and reddish-brown in color. Its buds more than ¼ inch long, reddish-brown with darker edged scales and often placed a little to one side of the twig.
Bark: The bark is dark, ashy-gray, and has flat-topped ridges separated by diamond-shaped cracks. When it is sectioned out, the outer bark shows distinct, alternating buff-colored and reddish-brown patches. When young, this bark is often spongy.
Form: When grown in the open, the trunk is usually divided into several large, arching limbs, ending in a maze of graceful drooping branchlets.
4. AMERICAN CHESTNUT
Leaf: Leaves appear in an alternate pattern; are veined like a feather; are 5 to 8 inches long, are oblong and taper to a point in shape, have sharply toothed edges, and are completely hairless.
Flower: Many small, white flowers are found on bigger pieces resembling a cat’s tail. They are 6 to 8 inches long and appear in April and May in the South, and in June in the North.
Fruit: This tree’s fruit is a nut that is chestnut brown, ½ to 1 inch in diameter and mostly round but flattened on 1 side. Two to three nuts appear in an envelope-like structure that is 2 to 2½ inches in diameter and armed with very sharp spines. The fruit matures from August to September each year.
Twig: This twig has few outstanding features, but it is hairless, chestnut-brown in color, with ¼ inch long. It also has chestnut-brown buds covered with two or three scales and semicircular leaf scars.
Bark: This tree’s bark is smooth and chestnut brown in color when young.
Form: Once a tall, well-formed tree, the American chestnut is now found mostly as stump sprouts that are less than 20 feet tall.
5. WHITE OAK
Leaf: Leaves are 4 to 7 inches long and appear in an alternate pattern on the twig. They are simple, oblong to egg-like in shape, veined like a feather with evenly lobed edges. The leaf tip is rounded and the base is wedge-shaped. Leaves are hairless and bright green on top and whitish underneath.
Flower: Some flowers are green and 2 to 4 inches long, while others are reddish and appear as single spikes. These flowers appear with the leaves.
Fruit: Fruit is egg-like or oblong in shape with a warty cap that covers ¼ of the fruit. The cap always detaches at maturity. The fruit matures in one year, and ripens 120 days after pollination, which occurs from July to September each year.
Twig: The twigs are red-brown to somewhat gray in color, hairless in texture and have red-brown multiple buds that are small, rounded and hairless. They are also often shiny or somewhat waxy.
Bark: The bark is whitish or ashy gray, varying from scaly to irregularly flaky. On older trees, smooth patches on the bark are not uncommon.
Form: The white oak is a large tree. When grown in the open, they have rugged, irregular crowns that are wide spreading with stocky trunks. In the forest, crowns are upright and oval.
6. SASSAFRAS
Leaf: They appear in an alternate pattern on the twig and have one to three lobes that are elliptical in shape. Each leaf is 3 to 6 inches long. The 2- lobed leaf resembles a mitten.
Flower: The sassafras’ flowers bloom in March to April and are green-yellow in color.
Fruit: This tree’s fruit is dark blue, oval and fleshy, and appears on red stalks, maturing from August to September each year.
Twig: The sassafras’ twigs are slender, green and sometimes covered with fine, short hairs. The twig’s bugs are ¼ inch long and green. When broken, this twig has a spicy-sweet aroma.
Bark: The bark is brown, with cinnamon-brown inner bark, becoming coarsely ridged. When cut, the spicy aroma is obvious.
Form: The sassafras is a small to medium-sized tree with an irregular, usually flat-topped crown.
7. AMERICAN SYCAMORE
Leaf: Leaves appear in an alternate pattern on the twig, are 4 to 8 inches wide, oval in shape, with three to five lobes. The edges are toothed.
Flower: The American sycamore’s flowers are not showy. They appear in March to April and have spherical heads.
Fruit: A spherical multiple of dry, one-seeded fruits are borne on a 3- to 6-inch stalk on this tree. Each seed is ½ inch long. The fruit matures in November and disperses in late winter.
Twig: Twigs are zigzag, quite stout and orange-brown in color, and their buds are reddish in color.
Bark: The bark is thin, and mottled brown, green and white in color - often referred to as “camouflage” bark. Older stems are gray-brown and scaly.
Form: The American sycamore is a massive tree with heavy, spreading branches and obviously zigzag-shaped twigs. In the winter months, this tree’s fruits resemble Christmas tree ornaments.
8. NORTHERN RED OAK
Leaf: Leaves appear in an alternate pattern, are 5 to 8 inches long, oblong in shape with seven to 11 bristle-tipped lobes.
Flower: They appear from April to May each year with the leaves.
Fruit: Acorns are ¾ to 1 inch long and nearly round. The cap is flat and thick, covering about ¼ of the acorn. They matures in two years, ripening in August to late October.
Twig: The red oak’s twigs are quite stout, smooth in texture and red-brown in color. The buds are multiple, quite large, oval and covered with redbrown, mostly hairless scales.
Bark: On young stems, the bark is smooth. Older bark develops wide, flat-topped ridges and shallow grooves that form a pattern resembling ski tracts.
Form: The Northern red oak is a medium-sized to large tree that develops a short trunk and round crown when open-grown, but grows straight with a clear trunk when grown among competition.
9. YELLOW POPLAR
Leaf: Leaves appear in an alternate pattern on the twig, are 4 to 8 inches long, four-lobed, veined like a hand with fingers spread out and are somewhat shaped like a tulip.
Flower: The yellow poplar’s flowers are showy, but high in the tree, 2½ inches long, with yellow-green petals and an orange flower. Present April to June.
Fruit: This tree’s fruit is oblong in shape and matures from August to October each year.
Twig: Twigs are red-brown in color, often with shiny appearance or a waxy bloom. Buds are elongated and resemble a “duck bill.” Twigs have a sweet, spicy odor when broken.
Bark: This tree’s bark is light gray-green in color, often with white in patches. It’s smooth when young, developing flat-topped ridges and grooves in diamond-shaped patterns.
Form: In a stand, this tree is straight with a limbfree bowl. Open-grown trees have a pyramid-shaped
crown when young that becomes oval with age.
10. EASTERN COTTONWOOD
Leaf: Leaves appear in an alternate pattern on the twig, are veined like a feather, are 3 to 6 inches long, and are triangular in shape with toothed edges.
Flower: They debut before the leaves annually.
Fruit: The Eastern cottonwood’s fruit appears as cottony seeds that are ¼ inch long each and mature over the summer months.
Twig: Twigs are stout, somewhat angled and yellowish with buds that are ¾ inch long and covered with several brown scales. This tree’s twigs have a bitter aspirin taste.
Bark: The bark is smooth and gray to yellow-green when young. Later, it turns gray with thick ridges and deep grooves.
Form: The Eastern cottonwood is a large tree with a clear trunk and an open spreading crown resulting in a somewhat vase-shaped form.
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