Lab 2: Trees Flashcards
Needles are short and pointy
Bark is reddish and stringy
Eastern red cedar or juniper (Juniperus Virginiana)
Family Cupressaceae
Bark is Smooth and light grey or green in color (on old tress bark near base is dark gray and deeply furrowed, so look up to see the younger branches)
Leaves are simple, round with flat petioles and tiny teeth along margins
Trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)
Family: Salicaceae
small understory tree
leaves alternate, simple, finely doubly toothed;
soft to touch with fine hairs on lower surface
Hophornbeam or ironwood (Ostrya virginiana)
Family: Betulaceae
-Bark is fine in texture and somewhat flakey.
-Fruits look like hops used in beer brewing.
-Twigs are very slender, reddish brown, tough to break; tiny buds.
Hop hornbeam or ironwood (Ostrya virginiana)
Leaves alternate, aromatic, pinnately compound with 15-23 leaflets; terminal leaflet usually absent.
In the fall, the leaflets fall off first leaving the rachis (stalk) on the tree.
Black walnut (Juglans nigra) Family: Juglandaceae
Twigs have chambered pith.
Bark is very dark, thick, deeply furrowed.
Fruits are large nuts with indehiscent green husks.
The fruits, buds, and twigs of this tree have a resinous, spicy smell.
Black walnut (Juglans nigra)
Shaggy bark makes these trees easy to recognize.
Leaves alternate and pinnately compound with 5-7 leaflets.
Buds are large and round with prominent dark
brown bud scales.
Fruits are nuts with thick husks.
Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) Family: Juglandaceae
Pinnately compound, alternate leaves with 7-9 leaftlets
Bark thin, separating into shallow ridges and fissures.
Note alternate leaves and fuzzy yellow buds. Fruits are nuts with thin husks.
Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) Family: Juglandaceae
Two species of elm grow in Hickory Ridge Woods. They are easily identified as elms by their leaves, which have doubly serrate margins (left), oblique leaf bases (right), and zig-zag pattern of the twigs.
Red elm is more common here. The upper surface it its leaves feel rough, like sand paper. American elm leaves feel smoother on the upper surface.
You don’t need to be able to differentiate between the two species.
American elm and red/slippery elm (Ulmus americana and Ulmus rubra) Family: Ulmaceae
Bark reddish-brown to gray, with shallow furrows; the innner bark becomes slippery when chewed.
Twigs stout, reddish- brown, with short, gray hairs
Red (slippery) elm (Ulmus rubra)
Leaves are alternate, simple; long-pointed at the tip and asymmetrical with toothed margins.
Bark is “warty” with prominent ridges. (Bark is smooth on very y
Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) Family: Ulmaceae
The oak genus (Quercus) is divided into two groups, the white oak group and the red oak group.
Members of the white oak group have leaf lobes with rounded tips (left), while in the red oak group the leaf lobes and pointed tips (right). There are five oak species growing in Hickory Ridge Woods.
Bur oak and white oak belong to the white oak group and are generally not too difficult to identify based on the leaf shape, bark, and tree architecture. You should be able to identify these two species.
The red oak group is more difficult. We have red oak, pin oak, and black oak. For now, all you need to know is the “red oak group”. We won’t ask you to learn the differences, but I will show you examples of each in this slide show.
Even after the leaves are gone, the oak genus (Quercus) can be easily identified by the twigs, which have a cluster of 3-5 buds at the tip.
Most other trees have a single or no terminal bud.
Leaves alternate, simple; usually 7-9 rounded lobes, the sinuses shallow to deep; upper surface green and smooth, lower surface pale and smooth.
Bark gray or whitish with gray patches, shallowly furrowed.
White oak (Quercus alba) Family: Fagaceae
Bark dark brown, rather deeply furrowed.
Leaves alternate, simple, blades broader at the tips, coarsely round- toothed, usually with a pair of deep sinuses just below the middle, often with 5-7 lobes. Dark green upper surface, pale and softly hairy lower surface.
Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) Family: Fagaceae
Red oak (Quercus rubra)
Northern pin oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis)
Black oak (Quercus velutina)
Bark thin, smooth, reddish brown at first, becoming deeply furrowed and black. Looks like “burnt potato chips”.
Young twigs are glossy brown with lenticels
Leaves alternate, simple; finely toothed margins; dark green, shiny upper surface, paler and smooth on lower surface except for rusty hairs along midvein.
Black knot fungus often visible
on twigs.
Black cherry (Prunus serotina) Family: Rosaceae
Bark brown, scaly, furrowed.
Leaves alternate, simple; blades heart- shaped at base, coarsely toothed. Up to 8 inches long and up to 2/3 as broad.
Twigs slender, gray or brown, smooth. Buds ovoid, red, smooth.
Trees sprout from root collar of the “mother tree,” often forming a clump.
American basswood (Tilia americana) Family: Tiliaceae
Leaves are opposite, simple, and lobed.
Note opposite leaves.
Buds dark brown and pointed.
Bark is gray, smooth on young trees and more irregular on older trees.
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) Family: Aceraceae
Leaves are pinnately compound and opposite.
Note the smooth twigs.
There are separate ‘male’ and ‘female’ trees. Female trees have winged fruits.
Smooth green (sometimes purplish) shoots
Box elder (Acer negundo)
Large shrub to small tree.
Leaves subopposite, simple; dark green color with 3-4 pairs of upcurved veins, and finely toothed margins.
Twigs often tipped with a spine.
European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) Family: Rhamnaceae
Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) Family: Caprifoliaceae
There are several species of invasive honeysuckes.
Tall shrubs (3-10’) with many stems with shaggy grayish bark.
Leaves opposite, simple, and oval or oblong leaves.
Berries red, orange, or yellow.
Small, spiny shrubs with whorls of small leaves, turning yellow to orange in fall.
Berries red.
Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii ) Family: Berberidaceae
cache
to stop in a hidden location for later consumption
mast
seeds produced by woody plants and eaten by wildlife
mesophyte
a plant that grows well in moist conditions
predator satiation
when the amount of food greatly exceeds the amount needed by the predator population the predators become satisfied and stop consuming the food
recruitment
describes the successful reproduction and establishment of organisms in an area
sciurid rodents
the squirrel family (includes tree squirrels, chipmunks, prairie dogs, etc)
weevil
a type of beetle
stand
informal term used when describing an area of forest
plot
the sampling unit used in estimating abundance (usually a circle or rectangle of 100-200 m2 for sampling trees)
density
number of individuals/ area (units used are # trees/ha)
dbh
diameter at breast height, a standard measure of tree size (measured in cm)
relative density
density for a species/total density for all species- no units, this is a proportion
basal area
cross sectional area of stump at dbh (units are m2/ha)
dominance
basal area of all trees in a given area (units are m2/ha)
relative dominance
dominance of a species/ dominance of all species; no units
