LEAF IDENTIFICATION GUIDE TREE PLUS

We use the genus-and-species combination to be specific enough to avoid confusion since people can give the same tree many different common names. (Think earlobes.) SO WHY USE THE FORMAL NAME? In California, however, we are likely to see a Valley Oak, or Roble, which goes by the genus and species of Quercus lobata. The “lobata” name comes from its easily identifiable, deeply ‘lobed’ leaves. Can you see that in the leaf?) VALLEY OAK, OR ROBLE (“Falcata” is actually the name of a pre-Roman sword.

LEAF IDENTIFICATION GUIDE TREE PLUS

Has a long narrow lobe at the end of the leaf, plus one more on either side, that makes it look a bit like a turkey foot. All 60+ species of oaks fall under one single genus: Quercus.īut how can we tell what particular species of Quercus we’re examining? The species of oak can usually be identified by the shape of the leaf. We’ll start with an oak tree, a tree most of us have seen since oaks are found in so many climates throughout the United States. PLANT TAXONOMY HOW PLANTS ARE NAMED Uses Latin Names Eg. Red Maple A genus brings together a group of closely related species. A species is the most specific level of classifying living things. We refer to trees by a double name, made up of their genus and species. With that many species, we’d better have a good way to name them. (That accounts for hundreds of more species of ‘naturalized exotics.’) All told, worldwide we have about 50,000 species. To that we can add all the trees that people have brought here from elsewhere and planted where conditions are similar enough for the trees to thrive. Nearly 1,200 species of trees grow naturally in the U.S. It’s “an individual kind of tree that shares the same general appearance and the same characteristics of bark, leaf, flower, and seed.”

The branches and twigs that grow out of the trunk, above ground, in different configurations.

The network of roots that anchor the trunk into the ground.

The central column or trunk, which is covered with bark.The distinctive leaves that grow out of the branches and form the green crown.The cones or flowers that serve as reproductive mechanisms, so the species don’t die off.WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF A TREE? TO MOVE FORWARD, WE NEED TO KNOW THE MAIN PARTS OF A TREE A vine, also a woody plant, cannot stand on its own but needs to support itself on something.A shrub or bush, on the other hand, is a woody plant that grows low and has multiple stems.Sounds obvious, but officially it’s a woody plant with a single vertical trunk that measures a minimum of 3 inches in “Diameter at Breast Height” (DBH). 3 TWO BASIC TREE TYPES: CONIFERS AND BROADLEAF TREES.

Leaf identification guide tree