Tree id learning

[toxicity2182]

Hi all, I was wandering how everyone learnt tree id. I still struggle a lot. Is there any hints and tips for learning trees and shrubs can't seem to make things stick in my head

[se7enthdevil]

as someone who has memory troubles i suggest you just keep looking at the books as much as possible.

 

25 years of epilepsy drugs have made my memory really crap but i've found if i keep going over some of the less common species i tend to remember them that bit easier.

 

also once i've found an unusual species i like to go back and look at it just to keep it fresh in my memory if i can.

[roys]

Also there is couple of good apps for your phone, easy to take out your phone while out on a walk, put in the bark, leaf, fruit details and probable tree ID appears on screen. I try and ID them first then double check with phone.

The main one I use is unsurprisingly called Tree Id and cost a couple of quid.

[se7enthdevil]

i don't own a mobile so have to do it the old fashioned way and break off a branch.

[Starscream]

Repitition is definitely key with ID's. There is a shelf above my toilet and on it is a Collins tree book and the RHS encyclopaedia of plants: I read these when I'm taking a dump. No lie.

Also walking around plant nurseries is really good for identifying stuff.

[daveindales]

One tip is take a look if the buds are opposite or alternate. It might not give you a definite answer, but can help eliminate a lot of other species.

[Fib]

If I see a tree that I don't recognise I usaually take a branch with a few leaves with me. Find out with a book or plantnet what it is and try to remember what it is. I know this isn't always possible ofcourse, but it helpen me a lot with tree-id.

[toxicity2182]

Thanks for the suggestions really appreciated, cheers

[gooseflight]

As above, visit nurseries and arboretums. It's also good to learn idents in all seasons so consider all features: bark, buds, leaves, flowers and fruit.

Edited July 14, 2016 by gooseflight

[daltontrees]

Learn how to key out trees, what the features are to look out for, what all the stuff like pinnate, bi-pinnate, simple, compound, palmate, lobed, serrate, decurrent, excurrent, bloom, hairy, rachis, ovate, etc all mean

 

As you're in Edinburgh get down to the botanic gardens and start looking at trees there. They all have name tags on to help. Also look at trees in parks and other gardens. When you find one you don't know try keying it out using a good key/book.

 

I'll often visit botanic gardens/arboretum/pinetum, make a guess at the trees and then check to see if I'm right. I'll also take photos, starting with the name plate, then other features that will help identify the tree; leaves, twigs, buds, bark, form, flowers, seeds etc. I started doing this for my Prof Dip L6 and haven't stopped.

 

It's one of those things that, like others have said, you just have to keep on doing and doing again.

 

Good avice there about learning the terminology. Without it the guide books are nowhere near as useful.

 

I virtually lived in the Botanics when I was studying for the tree/shrub ident part of the AA Tech. There's at least one of almost everything there that you'll come across in work.

 

Another tip, don't go too much by the leaves. Half the year you won't have these to go by. You may come to find buds just as useful as leaves.

 

And make up silly mnemonics. So if yoyu are faced with something in winter and you don't know if it's a Whitebem or a Swedish Whitebeam, you can look at the buds and remember -

"Green, whitebeem

Reddish, Sweddish"

Sort of rhymes....

 

I have dozens of these in my head.