TreeID's -- Definitions

A Guide for Specific Tree Identification

Identification of the Hardwoods

Definition of the Hardwood Category

• HARDWOOD - Trees with broad, flat leaves as opposed to coniferous or needled trees. Wood hardness varies among the hardwood species, and some are actually softer than some softwoods.
  
• DECIDUOUS - perennial plants which are normally leafless for some time during the year.
  
• BROADLEAF - A tree with leaves that are broad, flat and thin and generally shed annually.

Identify trees known variously as hardwoods, deciduous, or broadleaf:

ash aspen beech basswood birch black cherry black walnut/butternut buckeye American chestnut cottonwood dogwood elm hackberry hickory holly locust magnolia maple oak poplar red alder redbud royal paulownia sassafras sweetgum sycamore tupelo willow yellow-poplar

Identification of the Conifers

Definition of the Conifers Category

• CONIFER - A tree belonging to the order Coniferales. with needles or scalelike leaves and cones as opposed to broad, flat leaves that more often than not are coneless.
  
• EVERGREEN - perennial plants which normally keep foliage or needles through the entire year.
  
• SOFTWOOD - Softwood trees are usually evergreen, bear cones, and have needles or scalelike leaves. They include pine, spruces, firs, and cedars. Wood hardness varies among the conifer species, and some are actually harder than some hardwoods.
  

Identify trees known variously as conifers, evergreens, or softwoods:

baldcypress cedar Douglas-fir fir hemlock larch pine redwood spruce juniper

Tree ID's -- Hardwoods

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The Ash's

The White Ash

The Green Ash

The White Ash

(Fraxinus americana)

White ash is the largest of the ashes native to North America. Its growth is very responsive when growing in rich soils but is never a dominant forest species. Ash has been a part of American sports since the 1890s when Louisville Slugger started manufacturing a baseball bat with ash. Ash is still considered the best baseball bat material to use.

Leaves: opposite , pinnately compound , without teeth .
Bark: gray and furrowed.
Fruit: a single winged key hanging in clusters.

White ash Images(courtesy of ForestryImages.org)

White Ash Habitat and Culture(silvics courtesy of Silvics Manual, USFS)
Fire Effects On White Ash(courtesy of U.S. Forest Service, Fire Effects)
North American Timber Types(courtesy About Forestry)
The Great American Hardwood Forest(courtesy About Forestry)
From Virginia Tech w/Photos(Big List courtesy of VT Dendrology)

Recent Champion:

95' height, 82' spread, 304" circumf.,

Palisades, NYNational Register of Big Trees

The Green Ash
(Fraxinus pennsylvanica)

Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), also called red ash, swamp ash, and water ash, is the most widely distributed of all the American ashes. Naturally a moist bottom land or stream bank tree, it is hardy to climatic extremes and has been widely planted in the Plains States and Canada. The commercial supply is mostly in the South. Green ash is similar in property to white ash and they are marketed together as white ash. The large seed crops provide food to many kinds of wildlife. Due to its good form and resistance to insects and disease, it is a very popular ornamental tree.

Green ash Images(courtesy of ForestryImages.org)

Silviculture(silvics courtesy of Silvics Manual, USFS)
Fire Effects On(courtesy of U.S. Forest Service, Fire Effects)
From Virginia Tech w/Photos(Big List courtesy of VT Dendrology)
North American Timber Types(courtesy About Forestry)
The Great American Hardwood Forest(courtesy About Forestry)
Recent Champion: 95' height, 95' spread, 259" circumf., Cass County, MINational Register of Big Trees
Green ash Images(courtesy of ForestryImages.org)

tulip poplar branch
Photo by Steve Nix

Start with the Tree Finder if you are not sure what kind of tree you have!

By Steve Nix,
Your Guide to Forestry.
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