Conifer ID

First Year Ponderosa Pine Seedling

Germinated in SpringGrowth at the end of summer

– maybe 12” or so

One Year Old –

The following spring

Candles forming in May/June

One Year Old – Candles have expanded by July/August

Two Years Old – May/JuneNext set of candles are forming

Two Years Old – July/AugustCandles have expandedOldest growth loses its needles

Three types of conifers based on foliage structure:

Single needles – Spruce/Fir

Bundle of needles - Pine

Scaled foliage – Juniper/

ArborvitaeOregon State University

• Sample #1 – Spruce - should be the one that rolls easiest.• Square – cross section – like a wooden match.

• Now, grab the branch in your hands – sharp – pointed ends• “pungens” means sharp

• Take another needle off this sample. Hold it between your thumb and forefinger. Bend it. It should snap in half. Breaks easily. Stiff.

• Pull another needle off and this time pay attention to the point on the stem where you took the needle off. Can you see that a little peg, or stalk, remains on the stem?

• Also, notice how the needles spiral all the way around the stem, like the spokes of a wheel. All sides of the stem are covered with needles.

Spruce:

Single

Square

Sharp

Stiff

Stalked

Spiral

• Spruce buds

• Golden tan, rounded, the scales peel back like an open cone.

• Not so much in the fall, but after the holidays, is when you begin to notice this ‘rosette’ shape to the buds

Colorado Spruce – cones usually at top of treeUniversity of Wisconsin

Oregon State UniversityColorado Spruce cone

• They’re usually large, papery or woody. • When seeds are mature, 1 to 2 years, depending on the genus and

species, they fall from the cone. With the cone up near the top of the tree, the seeds will fall farther from the base of the parent tree, giving the seed more room to germinate, away from it’s parent.

• Male pollen cones are usually toward the bottom of the tree. They’re usually small, papery and short-lived, disintegrating once the pollen has been dispersed.

• Conifers are wind pollinated. Wind currents blow the male pollen away from the parent tree to the cones at the top of another tree close by so that it’s own tree is not self-pollinated. Makes for a stronger, more diverse forest.

• Spruce cones are 2” – 4” long; with papery, thin scales.• Irregularly notched edges to scales.

Compare pungens to engelmann• Engelmann Spruce is the other native spruce -

compared to Colorado Spruce…• Engelmann usually not blue• Base of needle and young branch slightly

hairy• Needles not as sharp as CO Spruce• Tips are more blunt – not as sharp• Cones are smaller – 1-2”• Grows at a higher elevation – 9,000’ to

timberline• Engelmann can live at temperatures 50 degrees

below zero.• Also quite long-lived – 400 years old at maturity

Colorado Spruce Engelmann Spruce

Iowa State University

Dwarf Alberta Spruce

(in Oregon!)Oregon State University

Not a native – is cultivated.

Dense growth

conical

very slow grower

1” – 2” per year

As a rule, if a plant has slow growth, it’ll have dense foliage.

Fast growth – loose, open form.

FirPull a needle off – flat – not square in cross section

• Another needle – try to bend – doesn’t snap as easily – flexible

• Grasp the branch in your hands – not as sharp – soft as “fir” – “friendly”

• Needle not stalked – no peg – the needle leaves a round, flat leaf scar.

• Needles are usually longer than spruce – 1” – 3”• White Fir needles usually are retained on the tree for

7-10 years.

• Needles point up – they usually don’t spiral around the whole branch.

• They reach ‘fir’ the sky.

White Fir buds – rounded, tanOregon State University

• Buds are round and tan like Spruce buds, but they resemble a closed cone instead of an open cone. Bud scales don’t peel back.

White Fir cones Abies concolor

• Cones are at the top of the tree, but instead of hanging down, they point straight up, reaching ‘fir’ the sky.

Fir:

Flat

Friendly –soft as “Fir”

Flexible

“Fir” the sky – cones/needles point up

Douglas Fir• False Hemlock” pseudo – false; tsuga – hemlock• Not a fir, and not a hemlock. It’s own genus. Has a

lot of the “fir’ characteristics:• Flat, Friendly, Flexible.• But needles are shorter than white fir, 1” or less.• Groove down the center of the needle.• Leaf scar is slightly raised, and smaller than the

white fir leaf scar.• Cones – very diagnostic. They hang down, and fall

off the tree intact.• 3-lobed bracts – like tiny mice hiding under each

scale.• Cones are all over the tree – upper and lower

branches.

Douglasfir female cones and pointed buds Oregon State University

Blue Spruce University of Connecticut

DouglasfirUniversity of Connecticut

White Fir University of Wisconsin

Woody Plants Group 7

• Abies concolor• Abies lasiocarpa• Picea abies• Picea engelmanii• Picea pungens var.

glauca• Pseudotsuga menziesii

• Concolor Fir• Subalpine Fir• Norway Spruce• Engelmann Spruce• Colorado Blue Spruce

• Douglas Fir

Abies concolor

Foliage flat

Leaf scar is round

White FirAbies concolor

University of Wisconsin

Pull a needle off – flat – not square in cross section

Another needle – try to bend – doesn’t snap as easily – flexible

Grasp the branch in your hands – not as sharp – soft as “fir” – “friendly”

Needle not stalked – no peg – the needle leaves a round, flat leaf scar.

Needles are usually longer than spruce – 1” – 3”

White Fir needles usually are retained on the tree for 7-10 years.

Abies leaf scars

Needles point up – they usually don’t spiral around the whole branch.

They reach ‘fir’ the sky.

Needles are the same color (concolor) top and bottom

Fruit/cones

• brown cones, green when immature

• cylindrical

• 4" to 5" long

• cones shatter when mature

• cones borne on the upper third of the tree

Fir

Flat

Friendly –soft as “Fir”

Flexible

“Fir” the sky – cones/needles point up

ID Abies concolor

• ID Features – needles are similar in color on top and bottom

• (concolor) = same color

• unlike most Firs, which have solid green or blue upper surfaces, and striped silvery lower surfaces (the stomatic lines

– smooth bark with resin blisters

– Needles longer than spruce

– resinous buds

– Large cones held upright

Abies lasiocarpaSubalpine Fir

• Thin gray bark and flat smooth needles distinguish the Subalpine Fir.

• A longitudinal crease runs the length of the needle,

• as is true for all firs, cones project upward from the top side of branches

Abies lasciocarpa Form

• When mature 40 to 100 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet in diameter.

• Very narrow crown of dense foliage

• often spire-like with branches to the ground

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/picts/alasiocarpaform.jpg

Abies lasiocarpa

• Flower:Monoecious; male cones bluish and borne beneath the leaves; female cones purple and borne upright near the top of the crown. Fruit:Cones are 2 to 4 inches long, cylindrical, slender, and borne upright on the twig (frequently in clusters); cone scales are deciduous, falling from the cone as seeds ripen; purple when mature.

Abies lasiocarpa

Abies lasiocarpa

Abies lasiocarpa

Abies lasiocarpa Bark

When young, grayish green and covered with resin blisters;

later turning gray to white, unbroken except near base of large trees.

Resin pockets scattered throughout inner bark.

Abies lasciocarpa needles

• Flattened needles, usually about 1 inch long, thickened in the middle, bluish white bloom on all surfaces;

• tips mostly rounded, but may be notched (or pointed near top of tree);

• spirally arranged but uniformly upswept• commonly have a manicured appearance.

Abies lasiocarpa

Abies lasciocarpa Twig

• Stiff, orange-brown, and covered with round, flat leaf scars when needles fall.

• Buds are small, rounded, and covered with pitch

• terminal buds usually occur in clusters of three or more

Picea pegs and leaf scars

Picea abies Norway Spruce

Dark

• Form:A medium to large tree with conical form capable of reaching over 120 feet tall

• with horizontal to upward sweeping branches that often droop branchlets

Picea abies flowers

• Monoecious; males yellow-brown in large groups;

• females upright, purple

Picea abies

• ID Features– large evergreen tree – long narrow cones – needles leave petiole on stem when pulled off – stiff pointed needles – adelgid galls – long pendulous branchlets

Picea abies Fruit

• Cones are very large, cylindrical, 4 to 6 inches long

• stiff, thin scales that are irregularly toothed

• chestnut brown, maturing in fall

Picea abies Needle

• Evergreen needles• stiff, 1/2 to 1 inch long• 4-angled but somewhat

flattened• sharp pointed tip, shiny deep

green.• Each needle borne on a raised,

woody peg (sterigma

Picea abies Bark• Twig:Slender to medium

in size, lacking hair, shiny orangish brown; needles are borne on woody pegs; buds with very loose, orange-brown scales (resembles a rose). Bark:Red-brown and scaly, later turning gray with flaking scales or plates.

Picea engelmanii Engelman Spruce• evergreen tree • large, narrowly pyramidal tree

with ascending branches • 40' to 50' tall, but can reach

heights of over 100' • medium texture• best in well-drained, loamy,

organic soils • prefers acidic soils • full sun

Picea engelmanii

• needles are densely packed and glaucous blue in color

• needles are four-sided, about 1" long

• needles have rank odor when crushed

Picea engelmanii

Picea engelmanii Flowers

• Monoecious; male flowers cylindrical, purple and hanging in lower crown, females cylindrical, red and upright in the upper crown

Picea engelmanii

• cones found at the ends of branches • mature cones are ovoid; 1" to 3" long by

1" wide • pale tan color • cone scales have irregularly toothed

margins

Picea engelmanii

Picea engelmanii

Picea engelmanii Bark

• red-brown color

• thin loose scales

Picea pungensBlue Spruce

Picea pungens

Cooley Spruce Gall Adelgid

•

Picea pungens

• ID Features– large, narrow, evergreen tree – long cones with wavy scales – needles leave petiole on stem when pulled off – needles that are 4-sided – green to blue-green color – stem tip dieback from spruce gall aphid

Picea comparisonabies engelmanii pungens

color Deep green Bluish green Silver blue/ dark green very sharp

length .5-1” 1” .75-1.25”

Cone 4-6” 1.5-3” 2-4”

Male flowers

Yellow brown, large groups

Lower crown Scatter throughout tree

Cone scales Thin, irregular teeth

wavy Reflexed

Twig Hairless, shiny orangish brown

Hairs; brown Hairless/ tan

Pseudotsuga menziesiiDouglas Fir

• Flower: Males oblong red to yellow near the branch tips, females reddish with long bracts near the branch tips

• Fruit – 3 to 4 in long with rounded scales. A three lobed bracts ‘mouse rear-end’

• Twig: slender, red-brown, pointed red brown buds• Bark: smooth & gray on young, red-brown with

ridges and deep furrows on mature trees• Pyramidal crown, stems are straight, loose habit• Moist, well drained slightly acidic soil

Queen Fir – one of the largest know

Douglas Fir are second largest pine

treehttp://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/conifers/pi/ps/menziesii.htm

• Closeup of the underside of a sun foliage shoot of P. menziesii, showing pollen cone buds and the manner of leaf attachment to the twig

Pseudotsuga menziesii

• Single needles, yellow green to blue green ¾ to ¼ in long, very fragrant, blunt or slightly rounded tips, in two rows (V shaped)

Immature seed cone and active pollen cones on a shoot of var. menziesii

Id from Photographs

Entire Tree

Leaf

Fruit

species

species