Guides

Each guide answers one question completely, using what you can see on the twig in your hand.

• Maple or Sycamore? Look at the Bark, Not the Leaf

  Both have big lobed leaves and both are everywhere. The leaves are genuinely similar; the bark and the seeds are not, and either settles it in seconds.

  3 min read

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  Pine, Spruce or Fir? Start With How the Needles Attach

  Needles in bundles means pine. Single needles that roll between your fingers means spruce; flat ones that will not roll means fir. Three seconds, no guide needed.

  3 min read

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  What Tree Did This Nut Come From?

  Nuts and their husks are the most specific thing a tree drops. A dozen types cover almost everything you will find on the ground in eastern North America.

  4 min read

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  Leaf Shape, Properly: Lobed, Toothed, Entire

  Every tree key asks whether the margin is lobed, toothed or entire, and whether the leaf is simple or compound. Here is what those four words actually mean.

  3 min read

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  Identifying a Tree by Its Bark

  Bark changes with age, which is why most bark guides fail. Work with texture, direction and colour under the surface rather than matching a photograph.

  3 min read

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  Opposite or Alternate? The Question That Halves the Answer

  Only a handful of North American trees have opposite leaves. Checking this first eliminates most species in seconds — here is how to read it, and the mnemonic that lists them.

  3 min read