Download Winter Tree ID Packet (click for PDF download)

White pine – 5 needles in a fascicle or bundle, grows distinct whorls
Other native pines in Maine: Red, Pitch, and Jack pines
Balsam fir – (friendly fir) flat needles not in fascicles but arranged in spirals along the branches
Eastern hemlock – short flat needles (similar to balsam fir but a little shorter). Small, inverted needles
on the top of the branch that run parallel to the branch. Large stands of hemlock (and other conifers)
create a preferred spot for deer to have their wintering area.
Red spruce – (spikey spruce) looks similar to balsam fir but feels spikier and is generally a lighter
shade of green. The needles are rounded (which you can test by rolling the needle in your fingers).
Other native spruce in Maine: White and Black spruce
Northern white cedar – Soft, scale like needles, characteristic bark that peels in vertical strips
Other native cedars in Maine: Eastern red and Atlantic white cedars
Eastern Hemlock
White Pine
Balsam Fir
Red Spruce
Beech – The biggest buds in the forest (they look like mouse cigars!). Often have leaves that stay on
the tree through the winter (which is called “incomplete abscission” or “persistent leaves”)
Red oak – alternate buds/branches, buds clustered at the end of the branch, furrowed bark that increases in texture as the trees age, their acorns can be a good source of food
White oak – similar to red oak (clustered buds), but the bark is a lighter color and flakes off when
rubbed. Leaves have rounded lobes compared to the sharp points of a red oak leaf
Other native oaks in Maine: Black, Swamp white, Bur, Chestnut, and Scarlet oaks
Red maple – oppositely branched, rounded buds (sugar maple has sharp buds)
Striped maple – striped bark, long reddish buds, (photosynthetic bark)
Other native maples in Maine: Sugar, Silver, Mountain, Boxelder maples and the non-native, invasive Norway maple
White (or paper) birch – large peels to the bark
Gray birch – similar to white with much less peeling and distinct upside down V markings at the branch
locations (“Chevrons”)
Other native birches in Maine: Yellow, Heartleaf birch
Beech
Red Oak
Stripped Maple
Gray Birch
Huckleberry – a small shrub that looks very similar to lowbush blueberry but a little bigger. Has very
tasty dark berries. Prefers sunny, warm sites.
Witch hazel – an understory shrub with naked buds that look like deer hooves. Often has persistent
leaves.
Winterberry holly – the wetland shrub with distinctive red berries. Very common in wetlands.
Speckled alder – wetland shrub with distinctive catkins; purple, stalked buds; prominent lenticels on
the bark; common in wetlands
Winterberry holly
Huckleberry
Speckled Alder
Abscission: the shedding of leaves, flowers, or fruits
Incomplete abscission: the partial shedding of leaves,
flowers, or fruits
Arrangements of Leaves
Opposite: stem leaves grow directly across from each
other in pairs
Alternate: leaves arranged singly on the stem, first at one
point and then at another
Basal: leaves growing from the base of the plant
Whorled: leaves that grow in circles of threes, fours, fives,
and so on
Types of Leaves: See diagram to the right.
Bud scales
Bud: the rudimentary form of a stem or flower
Bud scales: one or more thin membranes that cover the bud.
Bundle scars: the points at which vessels within the plant carried water and nutrients from the twig to the leaf.
Leaf scars
Catkins: A compact cylinder of flowers (birches, alders, and
eastern hop-hornbeam heave unopened catkins on the twig
through winter)
Coniferous tree species: Any of various mostly needle-leaved
or scale-leaved, chiefly evergreen, cone-bearing gymnospermous trees or shrubs such as pines, spruces, and firs.
Bundle scars
Deciduous tree species: Any of the various trees or shrubs
that shed its leaves annually
Fascicle: a bundle of leaves or flowers or a bundle of the vascular tissue that supplies nutrients to a plants leaves or flowers
False terminal bud: A lateral bud that has assumed the position
of the terminal bud. Some trees lack terminal buds, so the twig
keeps growing until the tree can no longer supply it with enough
nutrients, or it is impaired by other factors. The twig
dies back to the last well formed later bud. The section
of dead twig may persist or it may drop off, leaving a
circular branch scar. A false terminal bud will have a
leaf scar at its base and a branch scar on the other
side.
Leaf
scar
Lateral bud: a bud that grows on the side of the twig; lateral buds can be
found opposite each other or growing alternatively.
Appressed lateral bud: a lateral bud growing flat against a twig.
Divergent lateral bud: a lateral bud growing away from the twig
Leaf scar: the point at which a leaf stem formerly joined the twig
Shrub: plant with a woody stem permanently above the ground, but at maturity it is usually under ten feet high. Characteristically, shrubs are bushy
and extensively branched.
Tree: a woody plant, generally with a single main stem that is permanently
above the ground, and at maturity it is over ten feet high.
Terminal bud: Located at the end of a twig. Once the terminal bud forms,
the twig stops growing for that season. A true terminal bud will have a leaf
scar at the base of the bud.
A.
Leaves are needles...go to B
Leaves are series of plated scales...Northern white cedar
B.
Needles are flat...go to C
Needles are rounded...go to D
C.
Needles are not in bundles and arranged in spirals along twigs...Balsam fir
Needles are short and include small inverted needles running parallel along
the top of the branches...Eastern hemlock
D.
Needles are arranged in bundles of 5...White pine
Needles are short, spikey, and light green...Red Spruce
A.
Branches and buds are arranged opposite each other...go to B
Branches and buds are arranged alternately...go to C
B.
2 bud scales that meet but do not overlap, branches are green with
longitudinal white stripes...Stripped maple
3 or more bud scales that overlap; buds and twigs are dull red... Red maple
3+ bud scales,
overlapping
2 bud scales,
NO overlap
C.
Buds visibly clustered at the tip of branches...go to D
Buds NOT visibly clustered at the tip of branches...go to E
D.
Buds alternately arranged, dark brown, without any wooly covering; (if
leaves are present, lobes are pointed)...Red oak
Buds are reddish-brown; twigs are gray to purple; trunk bark is flakey when
rubbed; (if leaves are present, lobes are rounded)...White oak
E.
Presence of dead leaves still attached to branches and cigarlike buds (tapered at both ends)...Beech
Absence of leaves and cigar-like buds...go to F
F.
Large bark peels mostly white with black mottling...White (or paper) birch
Less peeling of grayish bark with distinct upside down 'V' markings at the
branch locations...Grey birch
Images by Dorcas Miller