Tree Identification — some thoughts #1

Outdoor instructions, begin: “Ensure that you are looking at a large tree — 30 metres high, note the shape…Now go in closer, is the bark smooth or rough…Look at the branches are they ....”

I am trying to construct a primary lesson to enable tree spotting, the intention has not been to get a definitive answer as I have discovered that a simple flow chart is not how I do it. For example in the approach above I have omitted leaves(so far), as they are not around so much just now in the winter. They had though been pivotal in an online 2015 attempt using Oppia; now upgraded.

A new single local planting has forced me to reconsider. For some reason Oaks are not prominent in the local area and when I saw the brown leaves I would have assumed hitherto that it was a Beech, a favourite of mine as it lines the former drovers road outside my house. Their high, dense, crowns arc away northwards and you can imagine the path created underneath where vegetation is denuded. But it is south, to the town, where interesting titbits emerge, such as graffiti on the smooth silver trunk bark, etc. Thus my tree recognition technique relies on my personal experience which clearly youngsters do not possess. Such struck me forcefully when I was on an RSPB bird spotting tour. A duck was observed and the guide declared it to be a Teal and then proceeded to show us the page in the book where we could see the distinguishing features. No process as outlined in the book: How to Identify Trees in Southern Africa was followed eg step 1 “Is it a Succulent” ?

Finally let’s just try with another tree on the tour below. It’s an alder as the small seed cones on the branches indicate. “You can have male and female parts of a tree”, I hear him say.