Identifying Trees by their Leaves

The different trees found in forests could be identified on the basis of the characteristics of leaves. The leaves can be differentiated with the help of their morphological characteristics. One of the method of classifying the leaves is to check whether they are broad or needle-shaped. The leaves can also be categorized as simple or compound ones. The simple leaves have only one leaflet per stem, while the compound leaves have more than one leaf on a single stem.

Trees Identification
The identification of trees is mainly done with the help of leaves and flowers. Let us understand how to identify trees by leaves with the help of their different features. In the process of identifying trees with the help of leaves, one should take into account the shape of leaves, their placement and different forms.

Identifying Trees by their Leaves
Leaves are helpful in identifying the trees; thus, different characteristics/features of the leaves should be studied to make the process of identifying trees a lot easier. Let us understand how to identify trees by their leaves.

Needle-shaped Leaves: The needle shaped leaves mostly belong to evergreen or coniferous trees. The trees from these groups include the fir, pine, cypress, spruce and larch families. Some of the trees may possess clusters of needle-shaped leaves while the others just have single leaves. The evergreen trees with clusters of 2 - 5 needles are most probably the pine. The larches are deciduous in nature and the needle-shaped leaves are arranged in clusters with spur-like branches.

The needle-shaped leaves, as mentioned above, could be single, i.e. one leaf is attached to a single twig as opposed to the cluster form. The firs and spruces have leaves with a needle-shape and which only one leaf is attached to the stem. The leaves of spruce trees have 4 sides and are diamond-shaped in cross section. These leaves are arranged in a whorl around the twigs and are attached with wooden pegs known as sterigmata. The firs have leaves which are attached to the twigs by means of bases which look like suction cups, which makes identifying these trees easier.

Leaf Position: The leaves could be arranged either on the alternate or opposite sides of the twigs. The leaves of maple, dogwood or ash are arranged on the opposite sides of the twigs.

Simple and Compound Leaves: The simple leaves are generally heart-shaped, roundish or lanceolate in shape. The Cottonwood and Quaking Aspen trees have roundish leaves. The leaves of the Quaking Aspen have a pointed tip and are small with fine teeth. The rattling noise made by leaves when breeze flows is helpful in identifying the tree. The Cottonwood has coarser teeth as compared to the Aspen. The trees with heart-shaped leaves mainly include the Catalpa, Paulownia and Basswood. The Basswood has leaves with irregular bases and coarse teeth. The leaves of Paulownia are large and almost the size of an adult's hand. The leaves of Catalpa are similar in appearance to the Paulownia and they could either be whorled or placed opposite to each other. The trees with lanceolate shaped-leaves could be the Willow, Black Cherry or Willow Oak. Leaves of the Willow tree could either be smooth or have teeth on the edges. The Black Cherry is characterized by pointed tip and fine teeth.

The compound leaves could either be pinnate or palmate in their arrangement. The leaflets of the pinnate leaves line the both the sides of the stem while those of the palmate leaves emerge from the stem end like the spokes of a wheel. The Black Walnut has pinnate leaves which are pointed at the tip and a single leaf has 7 - 17 leaflets. Alianthus has 11 - 41 leaflets per leaf and a lobe is present at the base. The Horschenut and Buckeye have palmate leaves. Leaves of the Horschenut are placed opposite to each other along the stem. These leaves are heavy which causes them to break off the stem frequently. The leaves of Buckeye are similar in appearance to the Horschenut.

Tree identification by flowers is the most common practice that is followed. However, identifying trees by their leaves is the second best option that one could consider. The different techniques described in the above article would help in making tree identification easier.