Conifer ident tips and tricks.

[Andrew B]

Hello everyone,

 

I think everyone will agree, that for thoses starting out, the different groups of conifers can look frustratingly similar.

 

I would like it if people could offer up their tips and tricks which helped them remember how to tell the difference between pines or spruce or fir's for exams.

 

I think we will be amazed by the ingenuity and bizare methods that people came up with over the years and have never got the chance to share.

 

For example when I was at university and trying to remember scientific names for trees I would come up with weird images.

 

Lodegpole Pine (Pinus contorta). I imagined a native american tipi with a sexy naked indian girl contorting and sliding up and down the lodgepole.

 

I dont mean to be rude, but the more graphic the better your primitive brain will be at remembering it. I made that one up 12 years ago and have never forgot it strangly:blushing:

 

Ok lets hear some of yours.

 

Andrew

[Amelanchier]

Good thread.

 

There's the classic Cedar trick, comparing the branch form with the first letter of the species...

 

Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica) = A = Ascending branch tips

Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) = L = Level branch tips

Deodar (Cedrus deodara) = D = Descending branch tips

[Andrew B]

Good one Tony, Keep them coming!

 

Andrew

[Arborist]

Pines,

 

Branches around trunk in whorles.

 

Needles generally in clusters of 2, 3, 5, called fascicles.

 

Usually have male + female cones on the same tree. (monoecious)

 

 

 

 

Cedars,

 

Leaves in rosettes all aroud the branch.

 

Cones stand erect.

 

 

 

Spruce,

 

Needles attached to the branch in a spiral fassion.

Each needle is attached by a peg, (sterigmata)

 

All cones hang down.

 

 

 

Firs,

 

Cones stand up, needles are flat cannot roll them in fingures.

 

 

 

Cupressus

 

Large round cones, False cyprus small football like cones.

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Probably gonna embarass myself here but 'hey ho' never stopped me before!

 

Picea = 'peg' retained at base of needle when plucked

Abies = 'absence of peg' when plucked.

 

(Hope that's the right way round.)

 

The other one I remember is 'fern, urn = Western" (Red Cedar, Thuja plicata). The fern relates to the 'fern like foliage', the 'urn' relates to the little cone looking like an 'urn' and together they point to it being a 'Western.....Red Cedar'.

 

Tony pinched my last one...boo hoo!

 

Cheers all..

Paul

 

PS When doing Conifer id's for college previously I found a trip to the local garden centre, provided they were correctly labelled of course, was a big help.

[Bolt]

The top of a western hemlock is bent over, as is its suffering from a bit of poisioning

 

(hemlock being poision, you see)

[Lancstree]

Excellent. I'm a bit rough with my conifer ID compared to broadleaves. Keep the tips coming

[slack ma girdle]

Cedars have floppy tops

Sitka spruce foliage has a blue hue to it, Norway does not.

Spruce are spikey, firs are soft

Larch and swamp cypress is brown in winter

[Ian Flatters]

I've got a sheet of paper i wrote down ident tips from my tech cert course, will try to get it scanned and on tomorrow evening

[Giles Hill]

3 similar looking conifers, often used for hedging and screens

 

Lawson cypress - drooping tips to stems

Leyland cypress - straighter tips, less shaggy appearance

 

Both the above have dull foliage (assuming it's the species rather than a cultivar, the species are usually used for hedging / screening)...

 

Thuja has glossy, plasticy foliage compared to the above two and it smells nicer