How well do you know your trees? Can you identify the trees in the images above? Do you know where to start and what to look for?
When we get tree identification questions at the Home & Garden Information Center, we look not only at the leaves or needles but also the leaf arrangement along the branches, the size and shape of the tree, the bark, buds, and fruits too.
If you want to get better at tree identification, like most anything, it helps to have a good foundation and to practice. If you are interested in getting better at tree identification, you may be interested in the upcoming events we are sponsoring.
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Tree Identification Answers
Top Left: Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida
Top Right: American Holly, Ilex opaca
Bottom Left: Black Walnut, Juglans nigra
Bottom Middle: Chestnut Oak, Quercus prinus
Bottom Right: Tulip poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera
By Alicia F. Bembenek, Ph.D., Master Gardener Advanced Training Coordinator, University of Maryland Extension, Home & Garden Information Center
dogwood, holly, walnut, oak and tulip tree; but I do not know the specie. I could figure it out if there are enough identifiers to key them out. The tulip tree is Liriodendron tuliperfera (there is only one choice there). The oak would be easy. The holly might be American holly, but we do not have that here. The black walnut actually looks like a California native, but it is probably from the East. If they were western trees, I could identify them.