Main -->Projects-->Tree Project-->References

References for Tree Identification

The best reference is the little green booklet, Tree Finder, by May T. Watts. If you want to check your answers, try some of these.

The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/forestry.htm, has a great list of common trees of Pennsylvania, complete with drawings of the leaves and ways of identifying them.

Fourth grade student Thomas found Athenic System's (http://www.treeguide.com/) guide to North American Trees. I particularly like this because you can see the tree's leaves, fruit, flowers, and bark as well as its description.

A useful site is What Tree Is It? You can start from the tree's name, from the leaf shape, or from the fruit. http://www.oplin.lib.oh.us/products/tree/index.html

Mrs. Thomas found Cook Forest Online, which has excellent Pennsylvania tree information http://www.cookforest.com/trees/index.cfm

Environmental Education for Kids (EEK!) has a good Tree Key at http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/forestry/treeid/BeginKey/dikey1.htm.

Ohio State has a glossary of plant parts and a leaf shape guide at http://www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/hcs300/glossary/glossary.htm. This is very thorough.

Another leaf shape guide is Leaf Shapes: Simple Leaves at http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/b_online/e02/form.htm - this one, part of a site called Botany Online, has photos of different leaf types, but it is not as complete as "Looking at Leaves." I think it is part of a bigger section of this site called How to Identify Plants which is at http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/b_online/e02/02.htm, and is a little more complex for fourth graders.

To go beyond the leaf, try The Basics of Tree ID at http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/Idtree.htm - there is also a set of fact sheets on trees and a dichotomous leaf key at http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/dendrohome.htm (click on "Fact Sheets" or "Leaf Key").

Michigan State University's Kellog Experimental Forest has a set of Tree Identification Cards which can be helpful. http://kbs.msu.edu/volunt/TOUR/index.htm

A very thorough Canadian inex to Trees in North America is at http://www.domtar.com/arbre/english/p_07.htm

The hardest information to find is about the Paulownia (or Pawlonia or Empress Tree or Dragon Tree), even though this tree is now common in our area. It is a very fast-growing tree. Here are some links:

Royal Paulownia - Roots of Gold? at http://forestry.about.com/science/forestry/library/weekly/aa081797.htm (2nd page at http://forestry.about.com/science/forestry/library/weekly/blp02081797.htm)

Dragon Trees at http://www.dragontrees.com/dragonhi.html

At the F.R.E.E. Network Kids Corner there are a couple of interesting games to play relating to trees. http://www.freenetwork.org/kids/index.cfm

This page last updated October 11, 2002