Identify My Trees: Conifers

conifers are the first type of trees to learn in your woods conifers are distinguished from other trees by their needle-like leaves and the presence of cones they are often referred to as evergreens because most keep their needles throughout the year lastly you may hear foresters or other woods workers refer to them as soft woods although the word density varies there are seven key conifers the first is Eastern hemlock Eastern hemlock needles are attached individually to the stem they are flat round tipped and have two white lines on the underside the bark is scaly and becomes more rigid with age uniquely when the bark is bruised or cut look for it to show purple when looking up into a tree expect to see a dense dark canopy from afar it has a droopy appearance the next conifer is red spruce the needles are yellow green in color and also attached individually to the stem but unlike hemlock the needles are angular stiff and pointed red spruce bark is thin and dark starting smooth on young trees it develops into loose scales that can be readily rubbed off looking up in the tree red spruce has a broad crown cones if present are between one and two inches in length the next tree is also a spruce the Norway spruce this is a European tree but it has naturalized throughout New York State the needles are like red spruce but are darker green in color Norway spruce bark is similar to red spruce but lighter in color Norway spruce crowns are very pyramidal with a distinct symmetrical shape characterized by upturned primary branches with drooping secondary branches off them the cones if present are over six inches long easily distinguishing it from other spruce trees next is eastern white pine pines have needles attached in bundles to the stem rather than individually look for needles of this tree to be under five inches long and one in groups of fives the bark is very smooth on young and rapid growing individuals with age the bark thickens and takes on a blocky appearance looking up into the tree canopy the branches of white pine have a soft and feathery look next is red pine the needles are longer than those of white pine greater than five inches long and bundled in groups of two's red pine gets its name from the distinctive bark at the base of the trunk it's gray but looking into the upper crown you will see the bark is a red orange in color when looking up into the tree expect the canopy to appear more sparsely needle than other conifers the long stiff needles also give it a bottlebrush appearance the next conifer is balsam fir its needles are one and a half inches long and attached singularly to the stem they are flat round tipped and have two white lines on the underside the bark of balsam fir is smooth and gray with small resin blisters these blisters become increasingly common with age and if popped will exude a very sticky and aromatic resin when looking up into a balsam fir canopy expect to see a very slender spire like top the final conifer is American larch it is unique among the conifers introduced here because it is not evergreen as it drops all of its needles every fall the needles are pale green very soft and growing Tufts out of barrel-like Spurs on the twig large bark is flaky and gray it will occasionally appear subtly pink when looking up into the branches of a large weather in summer or winter look for the barrel-like Spurs along the twig you

Channel: MyWoodlot

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Keywords: Tree (Literature Subject), tree identification, Forest (Literature Subject), Forestry (Field Of Study), walk in the woods, Walking (Sport), pine tree, pines, my woodlot, mywoodlot, mywoodlot activities, my woodlot activities

Id: X1pAPZeQcmc

Length: 4min 4sec (244 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 22 2015