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Tree identification quiz.

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  • #31
    Originally posted by Neil View Post
    I would bet serious money on the Grey Birch. I deliberately took the pic of the somewhat atypical bark patterning but just a bit higher was marking like this:
    Those look like paper birch to me.

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    • #32
      This thread is really getting interesting and informative. When trying to identify an ash by its bark I have been taught to look for a chain-like or diamond pattern in the furrows.

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      • #33
        Interestinger and interestinger. I have always assumed this was a Grey. Maybe not?
        The best, the most successful adventurer, is the one having the most fun.

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        • #34
          I'm heading out tomorrow for a hike. Will bring back some more pics but will take more than just the trunks.
          The best, the most successful adventurer, is the one having the most fun.

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          • #35
            Like dundee, I'd say those are white birch.

            I've seen black birch in the southeast fringe of the park, so I assume that there are some within the blue line.

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            • #36
              Good thread!
              "A culture is no better than its woods." W.H. Auden

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              • #37
                In Ketchledge's guide book, "Forests and Trees" he shows a picture and describes red maple bark as resembling an exaggerated Eastern Hophornbeam. That's why I figured #1 was a red maple.
                The best, the most successful adventurer, is the one having the most fun.

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                • #38
                  That doesn't really seem right to me. It might be true in some cases, but again, it's an exception rather than the rule.

                  When trying to ID red maple based on the bark alone, the best visual clue I've learned to look for is the round "spider's web" or "bull's eye" pattern on the bark. The first picture is an extreme example but shows what to look for:


                  And the second shows a more typical appearance:


                  Apparently these patterns appear in response to a fungal infection and they are not ubiquitous to all red maples, but it is the single best clue I've found for identifying the species based on the bark alone.

                  If you can get a good l look at the buds, red and sugar maples are pretty easy to tell apart. Red maples of rounded red buds, while sugar maples have pointy brown bugs (the same color as maple syrup). Both have opposite branching patterns.

                  Ashes have opposite branching patterns also, but their twigs are much stouter (wider) than maple twigs are. To the trained eye, the difference between ash and maple twigs is readily apparent, even from a distance.

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                  • #39
                    Again, according to Ketch, the bull's eye pattern is more often seen in younger trees while the exaggerated Hop Hornmean shaggy bark appearance shows up more often in older specimens. The picture in the book shows both the bull'e eye in one specimen and a very shaggy looking trunk in another, older one. I'll have to go back to the Rooster Comb trail and gather more clues!

                    I read somewhere that nearly every anatomical part of a red maple has some red in it. (flowers, seeds, stems, twigs etc.)
                    The best, the most successful adventurer, is the one having the most fun.

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