Tree Identification

Tree Identification page 2

Post Oak – Quercus stellata

A Post Oak is in the white oak section so it’s leaves are rounded, not pointy. The most distinctive thing about a Post Oak are its five lobed leafs, where the three terminal lobes form a cross. Being in the white oak family, the bark will often be platey, especially higher up on/in the trunk/canopy.

Swamp Chestnut Oak – Quercus michauxii

Swamp Chestnut Oak is in the white oak family so it often has, light colored, platey bark. Its leaves are obovate (broadest at the tip) and have 15-20 lobe-like teeth on each side. It has large acorns. It can be easily confused with Swamp White Oak (Quercus biocolor) due to their similar leaves, but Swamp White Oak has a taper toward the petiole, whereas Swamp Chestnut Oak has teeth/lobes all the way to the petiole. The tip of the Swamp White Oak leaf is more rounded whereas the tip of a Swamp Chestnut Oak leaf is more pointy. Swamp Chestnut Oak is common in a large parts of North Carolina whereas Swamp White Oak is only in a few small parts of NC. Basically, you’re much more likely to find Swamp Chestnut Oak in and around Raleigh.

Sugar Maple – Acer saccharum

Sugar Maple has opposite leaf arrangement and is deciduous, producing brilliant colors in the fall. The leaves have five pointy lobes, three with deep divisions, and two with less deep divisions.

Chinese Fringetree – Chionanthus retusus

Chinese Fringetree is a large shrub or small tree with deep fissured bark. The leaves are 1–5 in long and around 1 – 2.5 in broad, simple ovate to oblong-elliptic.

Siberian Elm – Ulmus pumila

These specimens may be hybrids.

Medium-sized. Tall, straight trunk. Twisted branches. Bark brown to grayish brown, deep fissures. Leaves 1-3″ long, 3/4 – 1″ wide. Narrowly elliptic, with pointed tip. Nearly symmetrical base. Finely single-toothed margins.

American Persimmon – Diospyros virginiana

“It has a thick, dark gray bark that is divided by furrows into square blocks resembling a checkerboard, sometimes called “alligator bark.” – NCSU Extension The leaves are four to six inches long and oval. In autumn they can turn orange or scarlet. “It has a short, slender trunk and spreading, often pendulous [1] branches, which form a broad or narrow, round-topped canopy.” – Wikipedia 1) Hanging loosely; suspended so as to swing or sway.

Japanese Persimmon – Diospyros kaki

Reaches 33 feet, shaped like an Apple tree. “The kaki fruits ripen when the leaves have mostly fallen off the tree, typically in October and November.” – Wikipedia (These pictures were taken in early January). “Bark is deeply fissured or furrowed in shapes of rectangles or squares” – NCSU Extension. Alternate arrangement.

Loblolly Pine – Pinus taeda

Evergreen conifer which grows natively in the Raleigh area. Commonly reaches 100 feet in height. Leaves are needles 5-9 inches long, in groups of three. Seed cones are 2-5 inches in length.

Longleaf Pine – Pinus palustris

This pine doesn’t grow around Raleigh as much as loblolly. It’s concentrated along the coast. The needles are around 7-18″ long. It reaches to around 100 feet like the loblolly.

Arborvitae – Thuja spp.

This specimen is likely a hybrid. The genus Thuja is a coniferous evergreen tree or shrub commonly used for privacy. The leaves are scale-like and from 1-10mm long. They are also flattened and fan-shaped. The bark is usually thin/stringy and reddish-brown. This specimen doesn’t have thin bark but it is reddish-brown.

Japanese Cedar – Cryptomeria Japonica

National tree of Japan. Pyramidal evergreen which grows to around 150′ in Japan, but 50-60 feet in the U.S. Redish-brown bark which peels in vertical strips. Male seed cones in terminal clusters, globular, 1/2 – 1 inch. Tiered horizontal branching. Needle-like leaves 1/4 – 3/8″ which spiral around the branchlets.

Southern Magnolia – Magnolia grandiflora

Medium to large evergreen tree with simple leaves 5-10″ long. Elliptic to broadly elliptic. Dark green with a waxy texture, also shiny. Broadly conical or rounded crown. Spreading branches that can swoop low to the ground in open areas. Fruit is 3-4″ long, conelike cluster of follicles; ovoid. Bark is sometimes flaky, sometimes not. Light brown.

River Birch – Betula nigra

Small to medium sized deciduous tree. Often multi-stemmed with flaky, paper-thin bark. Rust to salmon colored. Bark can become platey like in mature trees. Alternate and simple leaves.

Black Cherry – Prunus serotina

Small to large fast growing forest tree. Leaves 2-5″ long ovate-lanceolate in shape, with finely toothed margins. Tall, straight stout trunk. When young the bark is smooth with horizontal markings (lenticels). When older, the bark becomes dark and blocky. It breaks up into little cubes at maturity.

Chinese Elm – Ulmus parvifolia

Medium sized deciduous tree. Often used for landscaping purposes. Flaking and molting bark of grey and brown, revealing tan or red underneath. Also called “lacebark elm” due to this distinctive characteristic.

Black Tupelo – Nyssa sylvatica

Also known as Black Gum. Medium-sized deciduous tree with simple leaves. Tall, straight trunk. Spreading branches. Branchlets are slim and at 90 degrees to branches. Bark is light brown to reddish brown. Narrow, scaly ridges and shallow furrows. Mature bark looks a bit like American Persimmon (alligator skin). Fruit 3/8 – 5/8″ long drupe, ovoid, purplish blue to black. Leaves 2-5″ long narrowly elliptic to broadly elliptic.

Sawtooth Oak – Quercus acutissima

Medium sized deciduous tree. Leafs are long/narrow with serrated edges, like saw teeth. Dark grey bark, deeply furrowed.

Tulip Poplar – Liriodendron tulipifera

Large deciduous tree that can easily grow to 120 feet. Very straight trunk often without limbs until the top. Brown/tan colored bark, furrowed.

Red Buckeye – Aesculus pavia

Small tree / large shrub. Opposite leafs, usually five elliptical serrated leaflets. Often multi-stemmed.

Cherrybark Oak – Quercus pagoda

Large deciduous tree can grow 100-130 feet. Red Oak family, so pointy leaves. The name comes from its similarity to the bark of black cherry. The bark is gray and has scaly, narrow ridges.

Black Willow – Salix Nigra

Often found by streams/ditches. Multi-stemmed. The bark is dark brown to blackish, becoming fissured in older trees, and frequently forking near the base.