Fir, Pine or Spruce?
We have a number of big conifers here at the new Anchovy World Headquarters, and, with the exception of the tamaracs, I'm really not sure what's what. There are a number of websites which help to identify conifers. I'm going to clip some small samples and gather some cones and try to figure out what kind of trees we have. I've spent plenty of time in the woods but I haven't really learned how to tell these trees apart.
5 comments:
Ooh...this sounds like fun. I like identifying stuff. Jill has some good resources for tree study. She took a course and I seem to recall she had a field guide.
I would think it would be easier to identify many of them in the spring. Say fir trees often have a winged seed. Hemlock is easy because it's top branch bends like a siamese cats tail. Spruce has 360 spiral branch pattern of growth. Spruce cones cones are often that long oval shape. If I remember correctly pine has scaly and/or flaky bark. The spiral on the pine is a little different pattern than spruce "dispersing" rather than 360. But usually their cones are easy to recognize because they are the hard solid and appear "open" compared to the thin scaled shape of the spruce cones. Pine has the longer seemingly "softer" needles.
If you post some pics...I might be able to help. I'm rusty but it's like a bicycle.
I can't believe the arborists didn't label the trees with you!
oh sorry...I just noticed once I commented that you had a website. Still I found some of the descriptions confusing there "square"? Heh heh...boy language and metaphor itself is a problem already!
you can tell pines apart by the number of needles per clump.
i believe - if there's many (as in four or five) it's white pine,
otherwise it's a red pine
spruce shouldn't be confusing.
mr. agawa canyon
Growing up in the west in the mountains, I learned mountain trees - not only from mountain treks and our own back yards, and also while choosing a Christmas trees. I think Candy has already done the technical part!
Being an emoter, I would say - enter your quiet space - smell the tree - feel its needles - then look at color, length of needles, shape of tree - :)
well geez, anyone named mister agawa canyon ought to know, eh?
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