Tree classifications Flashcards
Bark features include texture, color, and the presence of lenticels (or pores).
Tree bark may be smooth (Figure 2A), furrowed (Figure 2B), flaky (Figure 2C), or warty (Figure 2D). Furrowed bark has cracks and fissures, flaky bark tends to peel or flake off easily into thin layers, and warty bark has small nodules that look like warts.
Leaf characteristics such as their
persistence, structure, complexity, shape, venation, surface, smell, taste, and arrangement on the branch
Cherry tree leaf persistance
laurel cherry is evergreen and black cherry is deciduous.
Significance of twig growth and deciduous/evergreen determination
One way to determine leaf persistence is to look at older twig growth (previous seasons) vs. new twig growth (current season). On many plants, you can identify where new growth began by locating the terminal bud scar nearest the end of the twig (Figure 5). All growth between the end of the twig and its nearest terminal bud scar is new growth. If you only see leaves on this portion of the twig, you are probably looking at a deciduous species. This is because deciduous plants shed these leaves after the season is over. When the next season comes around, the plant puts out leaves on new twig growth. However, if you see leaves present (i.e. “persisting”) on an older portion of the twig, that plant is an evergreen species.
Leaf structure
Blade, a petiole, and sometimes stipules
Leaf structure detailed
The leaf blade is the expanded portion of the leaf, the petiole is the supporting stalk that connects the leaf blade to the branch, and stipules are small vegetative structures that form at the base of the petiole or on the twig.
Simple and Compound leaves
If a leaf has a single blade, it is simple (Figure 6); usually you can see a bud where the leaf meets the stem or branch. If the leaf has multiple blades attached to a common stalk or petiole, then it is compound and the individual blades are called leaflets.
Compound types
Compound leaves can be pinnately, bi-pinnately, trifoliolately, or palmately compound
Bud impact on simple/compound
You can determine if a leaf is simple or compound by looking for a bud at the base of the leaf. If you cannot find a bud below a leaf, you may be looking at a leaflet which is part of a compound leaf.
Complexity as filter
Leaf complexity is a great filter because most tree species have simple leaves. If your tree has compound leaves, then you can eliminate a large number of tree species that have simple leaves
Leaf Arrangement
Alternate, opposite, or whorled.
Arrangement details
Alternate arrangement is when one leaf is attached at each node and the leaves emerge in an alternating pattern on the twig (Figure 9A). Opposite arrangement is when leaves emerge paired on each side of the twig (Figure 9B). Whorled arrangement is when more than two leaves are found at the same node
Arrangement as filter
Many trees species have an alternate leaf arrangement, fewer species exhibit opposite or whorled leaf arrangement.
Leaf shapes
A long, slender pine needle is described as acicular (Figure 4A and Figure 10). Additional common leaf shapes are: deltate, elliptical, lanceolate, linear, obovate, and reniform
Environmental impact on leaf shape
if a tree is shaded by other trees growing near it, the leaves found near the top of the shaded tree may be very different from those found near the base of the same tree. In the shaded areas, larger leaves maximize the amount of surface area exposed to sunlight. Leaves that are exposed to full sunlight and wind (usually near the top of the tree) are usually smaller.
Leaf margins, tips or apices and bases.
(No serations or detentions)Smooth margin is called “entire”
Leaf venation (branching)
Two common types of leaf venation are pinnate (having veins emerging on either side of the mid-vein) and palmate (primary veins emerging from a single point like fingers from the palm of a hand) (Figure 13). While venation may seem like a subtle characteristic to observe for identification purposes, it can be a very distinct characteristic for some tree species
Acorns: Live and Laurel
Live oak acorns about 1” long and the acorns fall leaving the cap on the tree. Laurel are about 1/2” long and the entire acorn falls.
Petiole (pronounced “pet”)
A petiole attaches the leaf to the stem and contains vascular tissue that provides a connection from the stem to permit sap to enter the leaf and the products of photosynthesis (carbohydrates) to be transported from the leaf to the rest of the plant.
Laurel oak acorns (cup and nut)
biennial; sessile; cup has fine pubescence on scales and on inner surface, covering up to 1⁄3 of nut; ovoid to hemispherical nut, dark brown to black, 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) long
Sessile (pronounced “said”)
Attached directly to the base, not on a stalk.
Peduncle (prounced “peevish”)
the stalk bearing a flower or fruit, or the main stalk of an inflorescence. It is a modified stem that holds the flowers.
Pedicil
Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absence of a pedicel, the flowers are described as sessile. Pedicel is also applied to the stem of the infructescence. … The stem or branch from the main stem of the inflorescence that holds a group of pedicels is called a peduncle.
Inflorescence or Infructescence (“truck”)
FLO: the complete flower head of a plant including stems, stalks, bracts, and flowers.
Inflorescence, in a flowering plant, a cluster of flowers on a branch or a system of branches. … An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a main axis (peduncle) and by the timing of its flowering (determinate and indeterminate).
FRU: In botany terms the difference between inflorescence and infructescence is that inflorescence is (botany) flower cluster while infructescence is (botany) the fruiting stage of an inflorescence; a group of fruit arranged on a stem in a characteristic pattern.
As nouns the difference between inflorescence and infructescence is that inflorescence is (botany) flower cluster while infructescence is (botany) the fruiting stage of an inflorescence; a group of fruit arranged on a stem in a characteristic pattern.
Myrtle Oak (scrub oak)
Evergreen shrub, grows to 35’. Bark gray and smooth, furrows with age. Bristle toothed tip, leaves turned under, leaves shiny dark green above and light under.1 - 2 acorns on each peduncle,
goblet-shaped, pubescent gray cup
covering 1⁄4 - 1⁄3 of the nut, inner surface
pubescent; nut almost round, 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 inch
(6 - 13 mm) long, dark brown when
mature.
Water Oak
120’ tall, leaves generally retained during winter, bark brown to black, short petiole (1/8” to 3/8”), 2-3 bristle tipped lobes,
ACORNS: biennial; 1 - 2 acorns with a short peduncle, shallow cup with pubescent outer and inner surface covers up to 1/4 of nut, nearly round
Identifying oak by acorn
https://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Oaks-by-the-Acorns
Cups on acorn
The small scales that make up the cup may be thin and flat, or thick and forming wart-like growths (tubercles). This variation is a great start for narrowing down the possible species.[2]
All oaks native to North America and Europe have a spiral of overlapping scales on the cup.
Shape of acorn
Some are round (“globose”), or nearly round with a blunt tip. Others are elongated (“ovoid” or “oblong”) and usually taper to a point (“fusiform”).
Color of acorn
Mature acorns can be light brown, dark brown, black, or chestnut red. If the acorn is still green or greenish-grey, it probably fell off the tree early. The size and shape of the cup is also useful, and you can easily eyeball it by comparing it to the nut. For example, the Northern red oak has a cup that sits flat at the top of the nut, while the overcup oak and bur oak wrap almost the entire nut in a cup.
The length of the stalk the acorn grows on can also help identification.
Hair around bottom ridge of cup
The cup of some acorns have hairs on the inner and/or outer surface. You can also look for hairs on the inner surface of the shell, after cracking it open. Botanists describe this hairy material with these terms:[6]
Woolly: long, matted hairs. Some species only have hair near the tip of the acorn, so check there.
Pubescent: short, fine hairs.
Glabrous: smooth.
Germination of acorns
If an acorn on the ground is sprouting through its shell, it must belong to a species that germinates at this time of year. In North America, oaks are divided into white oaks, which sprout in fall right after the acorns drop, and red oaks, whose acorns spend the winter dormant and sprout in spring.[7]
Here, we’re talking about the white and red oak categories. These include the specific species “white oak” and “red oak,” but there are many more possibilities.
Typical N. Florida oaks
Types of Oak Trees Native to North Florida Black Oak (Quercus velutina) ... Bluejack Oak (Quercus marilandica) ... Bluff Oak (Quercus austrina) ... Chapman Oak (Quercus chapmanii) ... Chinkapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) ... Laurel Oak (Quercus laurifolia) ... Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) ... Myrtle Oak (Quercus myrtifolia)
PDF on Florida oaks
https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/IR/00/00/18/06/00001/FR00400.pdf
Laurel Oak bark vs Live Oak
laurel oak is dark grayish to blackish and not as furrowed as the live oak. the bark of the live oak is darker and deeply divided into narrow furrows but becomes blocky with age
Laurel Oak leaves
The laurel oak has dark green leaves, often undulating and sometimes with a few shallow lobes. Leaves begin falling in the fall replaced by florescent green leaves in the spring. Light green underneath
Live Oak leaves
The live oak has leathery green leaves, with recurved (downward folding) margins; sometimes prickly-toothed, dark green and glossy on the upper side, pale-pubescent beneath. It retains its old leaves until new leaves appear. Thus considered “evergreen.” Gray green underneath.
Laurel oak acorns
One or two per stem, smallish (1/2”), virtually sessile, can produce year round, 1/3 to 1/2 covered by cap
Live oak acorns
Produced in the fall (sometimes copious sometime hardly any) cap covers about 1/3 of nut, 2-5 per stem
