Tree identification key

Answer whatever you can. Question one does most of the work — if you only answer one thing, make it the leaf arrangement.

Start here: opposite or alternate?

Look at where the leaves join the twig. Are they in matched pairs directly across from each other, or staggered one after another? The vast majority of trees are alternate, so finding an opposite tree removes almost everything else in one step.

In North America, opposite-leaved trees are remembered as MAD Cap Horse: Maple, Ash, Dogwood, Caprifoliaceae (viburnums and elders), and Horse chestnut. That is very nearly the whole list.

Check partway along a healthy twig rather than at the tip, where crowding can make alternate leaves look paired. And check more than one twig.

1.How are the leaves arranged on the twig?

optional

The most powerful question in tree identification. Most trees are alternate, so an opposite tree is already down to a handful of possibilities.

2.Simple or compound leaf?

optional

A compound leaf looks like several leaves but is one. Find the bud: buds sit where the whole leaf joins the twig, never at the base of an individual leaflet.

3.What is the leaf edge like?

optional

Lobed means deep indentations, like a maple or an oak. Toothed means small serrations along an otherwise unbroken outline.

4.Any fruit or seeds?

optional

Often the quickest confirmation when present — and frequently still on the ground beneath the tree long after it has fallen.

5.What is the bark like?

optional

The only character available in winter, and the one experienced people use most. It changes with age, so judge a mature trunk rather than a young branch.

17 matches

Answer any question to begin