Winter Twigs Field Trip to KCC campus

This lab will be an outdoor lab where you will identify trees that can be found on a typical Western Michigan college campus (Kellogg Community College).  These are the steps to follow when doing this lab.

  1. Look at how trees are identified
  2. Look at some samples of identification
  3. Practice identification
  4. Having prepared yourself for identifying trees in the winter, you are now ready to go on the field trip.

These are the things we learned on our field trip.  You may click the image shown to see a larger version of the image that shows more detail.  Please note that the next lab will be an indoor lab where you will identify the twigs from the trees you see this week (and a few more common specimens).

It is important to look not only at the tree but the surroundings as we begin to understand the structures and the environment they best survive in.  For example, the Platanus we are standing near is found near floodplains.  Note it is located near a pond on KCC's campus.  Here we start our field trip with a large old tree.  Look closely.  What do you see that is distinguishing on this tree.

 
Platanus occidentalis:  Sycamore  Note the "mottled"(thin plate-like scales) bark on this tree

 
Branches of the Platanus tree above. Many of these braches bear the fruit (achene)  a ball drooping from the ends of the branches.


Note here on the Platanus( sycamore) the terminal bud scales at the end of the darker  wood then the new growth as seen in the lighter bark on the stem. Note the terminal bud at the end of the stem.  The bud inside will swell as warmer spring weather appears and eventually these bud scales will fall off as the new emergent leaves appear.


Pinus strobus:  Eastern White Pine.  Looking carefully at this tree you will see the soft flowing needles 7-12cm long and arranged in bundles of 5.  This is our Michigan State Tree.  It is moderately shade tolerant and has been a  major specie of the lumber industry in Michigan.   You will see this on next lab's twig identification even though it is not in your lab tree key.


Picea pungens: Colorado Blue Spruce.  Note the needles are much shorter, pointed and arise singularly from the stem.  The spruces are "spiny" or sharp to the touch.  All spruces belong to the genus Picea.

Picea sp.  A landscape spruce near the lake on KCC's campus

Picea Pungens: Colorado Blue Spruce   Note this is a Medium tree 10-15 meters high.  Its trunk is straight and its leaves are short appearing grayish green.  This tree grows well on upland soil and tends to be drought resistant, shade tolerant and slow growing.

Picea Pungens:  as we look closer we see the leaves(needles) appear spirally arranged, 1.5cm long and the new foliage is bright bluish gray.

  
Pinus resinosa: Red Pine.  This is a large tree20-30 meters high.  Note the bark is thick, reddish and flaky.  You can see the twigs tend to be orange-brown. 


A student has removed a "cluster" of the leaves to note they are arranged in 2's.  Note they are 10-17cm, come to a sharp point. They are flexible yet snap apart when bent


Male pollen cones appear in dense clusters in April-May at the base of last year's shoots. 

 
Note carefully the vascular arrangement (2 needles) size of pine cone to determine the specie
Note this is not on the key that appears in your lab book but will be on next weeks key quiz.

 
Salix babylonica:  weeping willow   This tends to be a large tree with a short trunk and long slender branchlets drooping  gracefully.  The winter twigs tend to be yellow with the terminal bud absent.  This tree is shade intolerant and is found in moist to wet habitats usually near river beds.

 
Note the weeping branchlets and look for the terminal bud. Also noting the bud arrangement is opposite.

 
Note on this Salix the drooping branchlets in their winter yellow color

 
Quercus rubra:  Red Oak     This tends to be a large tree nearly 30meter high.  Note its leaves are winter persistent. The fruit is an acorn.  It is fast growing, shade tolerant, free of insect disease pests yet threatened by gypsy moths.


Note the shape of these two Oak leaves.  One appears bluntly rounded and the other appears sharply pointed on its ends.  It tends to be easy to remember them in this way

Ways to remember the shapes of the leaves of oak trees

 
Populus tremeloides: Quaking aspen  This is a medium tree with wood a characteristic smooth creamy white to gray.  This tree is often found in lowland sites such as swamp margins as is true on out campus.  It can be compared in this view to the Betula sp. Birch tree which has characteristic white bark.


Purnus serotina  Black Cherry   Note the bark of this cherry tree is broken into irregular plates giving it a "burnt potato chip" appearance.  Notice the winter buds are alternate with a terminal bud present. The twigs appear reddish with lenticels present.  When crushed a bitter almond smell is present and the pith is continuous.

 
Rhus Typhina:  Staghorn sumac    This is a Michigan big shrub appearing with many branched stems around 10 meters high.  The winter twigs appear to be velvety and the fruit is a densse cluster at the terminal end.

 
Acer rubrum:  red maple  This is a medium sized tree.  The bark is light gray in the young trees and the older trunks appear dark gray. This is a fast-growing, shade tolerant tree. Its fruit is dry and is called a samara


Note the winter twigs on this Acer.  The bud arrangement is opposite with a terminal bud present.  The twigs appear reddish.

   
Abies concolor:  white fir   Note the needle arrangement is spirally arranged in rows.  These leaves tend to be a sea foam green or silvery blue gray.  When crushed the aroma is citrus.  These are flat needles that tend to be blunt ended.  Thus, firs are flat.

 
The Concolor Fir tree grows well in upland soil , is slow growing, long lived and relatively insect disease free.

      
Betula paperfera: White birch.  Although it is difficult to see on these images, one of the distinguishing characteristics of this tree is the "catkins" that appear on the ends of the terminal branches. NOTE:  you may see this on a winter twig in the twig identification lab.


Betuala spp.  This is a student project from the botany class of 2002.  They studied the moist area and chose landscaping using the River birch with spring wildflowers encircling it as color attraction.


Taxus yew


Purple Loosestrife:  This is an introduced ornamental wildflower growing around the lake on campus.  It has become highly invasive, overriding our native wildflowers.  Currently it is a illegal to plant this.  There is research attempting to find a natural predator of this to eliminate it without having to use chemical means.  There are projects and studies going on to attract students to become involved in the elimination of purple loosestrife.

In addition to the trees above we viewed on our campus field trip, there are others that appear common in the Michigan Landscape that will be on your twig identification lab: 

Black Locust (locust.  Gleditsia spp.) can be seen at:  http://cal.nbc.upenn.edu/poison/plants/ppblack.htm

Sassafras.  Sassafras spp. can be seen at http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horticulture/kytreewebsite/commonnamefiles/text/sassafrasinfo.htm

Scots (Scotch) pine. Pinus sylvestris can be seen at http://www.fishing-in-wales.com/wildlife/plants/trees/scotpine.htm and the sites listed here

Last modified: October 08, 2004 by Cynthia Herbrandson  © Copyright 1999, Kellogg Community College. All rights reserved.