Articles

Narrower than the guides and published as they are written. The guides are the evergreen reference; this is where the more specific questions go.

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  Identifying a Tree From a Photograph: What Actually Works

  Photo identification succeeds and fails in predictable ways. Which four photographs to take, and why a picture of the whole tree is the least useful of them.

  3 min read

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  How Old Is This Tree, Without Cutting It Down

  Circumference and a species growth factor give an age estimate in two minutes. Here is the method, and an honest account of how wrong it can be.

  3 min read

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  Identifying Trees in Winter, With No Leaves at All

  Bark, buds, twigs and last year's fruit on the ground. Winter identification is not harder than summer — it just uses different characters, several of them more reliable.

  3 min read