Ep. 219 Tree identification: Learning to name the trees around you | #GoodGrowing
Welcome to the Good Growing podcast. I am Chris Enroth, horticulture educator with University of Illinois Extension, coming at you
Chris Enroth:from Galesburg, Illinois. And we have got a great show for
Chris Enroth:you today, the magical powers of tree identification. Oh, you're gonna wanna hear this one. It is going to be fun. We're going to be talking about how do you learn to identify trees. It's gonna be great.
Chris Enroth:And you know I'm not doing this by myself. I am joined as always every single week by horticulture educator Ken Johnson. He's in Jacksonville still. Right, Ken?
Ken Johnson:Yes. I am I am still in Jacksonville, and I'm not sure I'm gonna contribute this how much to this week's podcast because I do not have this magical ability.
Chris Enroth:Oh, but then at the very end of the show, you will have gained, like, an apprenticeship's level, like, the sorcerer's apprenticeship, you know, that, yes, you can really wow people at the party. I mean, so, Ken, you you wow people at the party with your insect skills. Wait until you start talking about trees. My
Ken Johnson:Hogwarts equivalent to tree ID school is gonna become an
Chris Enroth:Yes. Well, hope you don't mind being in Hufflepuff today, because that's my school of choice. So, Ken, I don't think we can do this by ourselves. We need to have a special guest for this one. So we are also joined by horticulture educator Sarah Vogel in Decatur.
Chris Enroth:Sarah, welcome to the show, and thank you for being our wizard master to guide us through this today.
Sarah Vogel:Yes. Indeed. Thank you guys for having me, and I'll be sure to get some quiz questions, pop quiz questions for Ken at the end. We'll get them in there. Try and stump him.
Ken Johnson:Good thing I'm editing this week. Yeah.
Sarah Vogel:Okay.
Chris Enroth:Yeah. Oh, well. Well, Ken, we will get you next time. We have done that before. I have actually done a pop quiz one time, and I I I surprised Ken the pop quiz before on live on the show.
Chris Enroth:But not not today. We next time.
Sarah Vogel:Sure. We'll go easy.
Chris Enroth:Sure. I got you, Sarah. Next time we're doing this. Yeah. Alright.
Chris Enroth:Well, I I guess when it comes to tree identification, there is a lot that we we need to know. But I suppose the first question is, Sarah, why is this so important? Why do we really need to know what tree is which? Aren't they all all just trees?
Sarah Vogel:Well, Chris, I am so glad that you asked. Certainly, they are all trees. All trees are trees. That is true. Backed up by science.
Sarah Vogel:Like many things in the horticultural world, for many of us, it starts as a hobby or an interest and then becomes, you know, more than that or maybe a career, and then potentially it consumes your soul. So that's where I am in my life. I hope to drag others along with me because people love trees. Right? They are these great big elements in our landscape.
Sarah Vogel:They take up a lot of space. They last a long time or at least hopefully. They provide a lot of benefits, you know, to wildlife or maybe shade your house and help you save on energy costs. Sometimes trees are sentimentally valuable, and sometimes they cost a lot of money if we have to remove one. So we wanna know what trees maybe already are in our yards so we know how to care for them.
Sarah Vogel:And maybe if you're planting a new tree, we can talk about species requirements, right plant for the right site. I think extension does a really good job of staff and volunteers of hammering home that right plant for the right site. So, you know, you wanna know what the requirements, the care requirements are for a species. Because if you maybe you're getting ready to plant one and you pick out a species that you think you it's it's pretty or it smells good or you just like the look of it, whatever. For instance, if you have that species and it prefers shade, but you place it in a full sun area, that tree is going to become stressed, and you may begin to see, like, leaf scorch or other symptoms show up.
Sarah Vogel:So if you don't identify your trees accurately, that can cause for maybe improper care and even long term, you know, damage and decline. And it's good to know too what you have in your yard. So not only you know how to take care of it, but what it's susceptible to. So if it does get stressed out, we wanna know what species it is so we know what pests or disease might come along and be an affliction for that tree.
Chris Enroth:Yeah. That that last one, that too is it's usually where we start when someone's calling the office because they don't call us because the tree's doing great. They call us because there's a problem. And so step one is correctly identifying that tree, knowing that susceptibility to whatever ailment or symptom that they're seeing occurring there. So it is very important in that diagnosis world.
Sarah Vogel:Absolutely. Yeah. You you both know how many tree tree problem photos and questions that we are sent, and it's you know, it gets tough, right, especially for more mature trees, like, you know, oh, this beautiful 100 year oak has been here so long. We wanna save it. A lot of times with more mature trees, we don't know the whole history on that.
Sarah Vogel:Certainly, we can't accurately digitally diagnose, but some things. But sometimes when it's a younger tree, we can help at least narrow it down for people.
Ken Johnson:Alright. So tree ID. Do you remember the first tree you learned to identify?
Sarah Vogel:So, yes, I remember a couple of instances. In, like, my younger childhood, I grew up in a in a pretty urban environment, and so tree of heaven was everywhere, and alleyways and, you know, all kinds of places. So I do recall as a kid, like, stripping the leaflets off that great big long rachis, you know, the big long leaves, and that maybe a lot are familiar. It has a very distinct smell.
Chris Enroth:Oh, yes.
Sarah Vogel:And coincidentally also called stink tree. So I kinda remember that as a kid, but the first tree I learned to identify on purpose was actually a pawpaw for a third grade leaf collection project. So I rarely miss that one. You know? That one rarely gets me, especially if it has leaves or fruit or any of those other identifying characteristics on.
Sarah Vogel:Papa has that big leaf, smooth edges, and a pointed tip. And I remember too that tree was producing fruit, which also has a very distinct sweet smell, and pawpaw happens to be North America's largest native tree fruit. So it's kind of a fun little fact for everybody. And then I wanted to share because you guys might as co nerds, I thought you guys might appreciate that when I transferred to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale to get my bachelor's in forestry, the first required class was a fall tree ID course. Right?
Sarah Vogel:So I not only remember, like, being out in a lot of those sites with the professor or the TA, you know, describing species, talking about them, but I also still have my original tree identification flashcards. This is from twenty three years ago. Okay? You're impressed. The hoarding runs in my genes and my family, so I have to actively fight against those, but not with not with educational stuff.
Sarah Vogel:So I have the the common name on the front there and the family genus species on the back, which for flowering dogwood is actually not a very good example because the taxonomy changed on that one. So they're not all still good, but it is kinda fun to look back on some of those things and just remember how hard we work to remember some of those Latin names.
Chris Enroth:Well, Sarah, I don't think I knew you down in Carbondale twenty three years ago, but I was also there. And I remember I also took a tree ID, fall tree ID course, and there was the landscape students, which was me, and then there was forestry students. And we were all so happy we were not forestry students doing the tree ID course because you guys go hardcore. Like, you know, professor goes out, strips all the leaves off, and he's like, here you go. You know, identify this, and they have a deer nibble on it or something.
Chris Enroth:Or, like it's like yeah. You that that's a a hardcore course. So yeah.
Sarah Vogel:It was it was it was was hard, like don't know, just a lot to memorize, a lot of categorization and things like that, and, yeah, and then the physical characteristics. And it was. So our final exam it was a great class because we were required to go visit all these beautiful natural areas and find trees both native and introduced. So, like, how are you not gonna get a good grade in that? Right?
Sarah Vogel:You get to just travel around to cool places. But the final exam was in December, so that is challenging. That can be very challenging. So you really had to we really had to study hard for that. And I'm still not perfect at it.
Sarah Vogel:Like, I hope to get better at evergreen identification, maybe work up, like, a winter tree ID thing that would be offered to the general public as well.
Chris Enroth:I'd say my my brain got full once we got to Quercus. And then Viburnum, what's that? I have no idea. That there was no more room by that point in the semester. Oh, yeah.
Chris Enroth:There's plenty of medical. Yeah. Oh, man. We started Acer, which is I don't think Maples are Acer anymore, are they? Or did they get moved into a different family maybe?
Sarah Vogel:The different family, like Sappondales or Sappondales or something like that.
Chris Enroth:Yeah. Sappondales. So
Sarah Vogel:Yes. It moved to a different family. The taxonomy changed on that one too. And it's honestly, even now, the programs that we, you know, crank out all the time, it's hard to keep up on some of that stuff. So it takes a little bit of research every time we we go out and do some of these programs.
Chris Enroth:Well, I Ken, did you take a tree ID class when you were in school?
Ken Johnson:At Botany.
Chris Enroth:Good. Okay. That works. That so you could identify trees. Like, that's a tree.
Chris Enroth:That's a moss.
Sarah Vogel:No. We did. You learned what a leaf was. It was more like
Ken Johnson:We we had to do a leaf collection and my collection, and I I got rid of that. That that class scarred me.
Chris Enroth:So you burned those in a very hot fire. Okay. So I guess for getting started in TreeID, so Ken can start his new pile of note cards. What are some of the the basics to to to beginning this skill? I guess, like a muscle that you flex.
Chris Enroth:Because I I feel like if you don't use it, you you can't really build it. So what are some of those basic things that you need to do when it comes to identifying trees?
Sarah Vogel:Yeah. Sure. You're right. If you don't use it, it does kinda go away. It's just not as familiar.
Sarah Vogel:And on the other end of that spectrum, if you work somewhere where you see one species over and over and over, you will never forget what that species looks like. You'll recognize it in the winter. You'll recognize a branch. You'll look at the bottom of a trunk and know what it is. So such are the days in tree nurseries tree nursery work.
Sarah Vogel:So basics in identifying trees, I think most people probably go straight for the leaf shape, which is obviously pretty helpful. Another thing that we look at is leaf arrangement. So do leaves originate let me get my prop here. Do leaves originate in oppositely off of the stem? So we have this little maple tree here, and you can see possibly that the leaves are coming out right across from each other on the stem.
Sarah Vogel:So that is opposite arrangement where other trees will have alternate arrangement. So get this honey locust. Maybe. Maybe. I'll send you a picture of it.
Sarah Vogel:And it has alternate arrangement where the the buds and the leaves originate kind of alternately on the stem, hence the name. So that's one of the first things that we look at, at least in tree ID, because that will narrow down your what species it is pretty quickly. There's only a handful of, you know, trees that are opposite that are here in Central Illinois. So when we get into the shrub world, that's a different story. But if we're just talking about trees, leaf arrangement is very helpful.
Sarah Vogel:We also I always like to point out the bark. You know, when we go out and do tree ID walks, I want people to know a a opposite from alternate, a simple from a compound leaf. I want them to be able to identify the tree in the winter. Like, that's the goal. Right?
Sarah Vogel:To be able to identify this tree without leaves. And so I oftentimes point out the bark or the twig in the bud or the flowers or the fruit, whatever is around there. And I get, like, okay. Alright, Sarah. Bark is bark.
Sarah Vogel:Right? But people often I think they don't realize maybe that they know more characteristics about trees than they think. So for instance, if there were no leaves on a sycamore tree, one might still identify it through that camouflage bark. Or even in the wintertime when there's no leaves on the the kind of white tree top in the forest of more mature sycamore trees. Or another example might be like, oh, I don't know much about tree IDs, but in early spring, I guarantee that most people recognize a redbud tree from far away because it's, you know, the thank heavens the first color in spring, you know, right along with those forsythia shrubs.
Sarah Vogel:Some other characteristics, know, when you start to get really good at tree identification or a little more practice even, you can tell from afar what trees, what some trees are based purely on the shape or maybe the growth habit of that species. I'm thinking of maybe a pin oak even with no leaves. From far away, you can see that straight central leader, very uniform, pure middle architecture, and those bottom branches that kind of point downward. Pretty easy to spot right away once you know what you're looking for. And the same goes for other species, you know, whatever shapes they might have.
Sarah Vogel:If you see one that's split right down the middle, it's probably a pear tree or a silver maple. We like to pick on the callery pear for being invasive. What else? You know, I think that's what because people don't know what they actually really know deep down, but things that they've we've just learned along the way. So I think that's what makes something like winter tree ID really challenging and fun.
Sarah Vogel:We kinda challenge ourselves to see, like, what we really know. Evergreens are pretty easy to spot then too.
Ken Johnson:So are there tools and stuff that can help? Like, when I do trade, one of the things I always struggle with when they talk about, like, the leaf edges, the serrations, and stuff like just differentiating, like, all those different types. Because after a while, you go to me, I thought I'm just they look the same, and, like, there's these little subtle differences that to me is like, yeah. That's the same. Then I know other people, yeah.
Ken Johnson:A bug's a bug. What's the difference? But
Sarah Vogel:I'm trying to keep the tears in. Really make me upset. Everything just looks the same. We all look the same. Yeah.
Sarah Vogel:There are lots and lots of different helpers out there. I mean, of course, you can come right to extension and ask us for help with identification, or you can ask our Master gardener volunteers. But if you're out there in the field on your own, there are some different little guides here. I have for one, we have like an Arbor Day Foundation. What tree is this?
Sarah Vogel:A smaller book, so it doesn't have quite as many species, but it does have good illustrations in it. And we know that it can't have that many species in it because the first part of the dichotomy key is, do you live in the East do you live East Of The Rocky Mountains or West Of The Rocky Mountains? So if it has all of those trees, we're probably not gonna get every species that we actually have here on the ground. In a field guide, a dichotomy key is a series of of questions. If this, then jump to the next one.
Sarah Vogel:If not, then it's it's something else. That's not a very good way to describe it, but the systematic way, kinda yes or no answers to narrow down what species you're talking about. And it'll be, you know, does this have opposite or alternate leaf arrangement? If opposite, go to such and such page, and if alternate, go to the other. So they are really handy.
Sarah Vogel:So that Arbor Day Foundation book is really good. We have a couple iterations of the forest trees of Illinois. This is what the most recent publication looks like that you can find. This is my one from college. I still use it when we go out for tree ID.
Sarah Vogel:This is probably one of the first editions that I have just for kicks. And so those are really good. I like the forestries for Illinois, especially some of the newer additions. It has not only, the dichotomy key to get you through keying out one of the species, a species that you're looking at, but it has all of that stuff that Ken was talking about. The leaf shape, what different, you know, the the physical characteristics are, what some of the fruits are called and so on.
Sarah Vogel:And another really cool thing about this book is that it has seasonal tree identification. So it has kind of a fall tree ID and summer and winter and all that stuff too. So spring, summer, and autumn. So not winter. I lied.
Sarah Vogel:But it does have both native trees and introduced trees. It has where that species may be located in the state, which I think is really helpful. So excellent resource. There is also so that's for identification. There's one other resource that I'd like to mention because we get all of those questions coming in.
Sarah Vogel:What's wrong with my tree? This is not necessarily for identification, but the USDA Forest Service puts out a tree owner's manual that is incredibly helpful for anybody that has a tree they are trying to care for. Let's see what other ones. Oh, even one for ones for kids identifying trees. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has a fun little coloring and activity book of Illinois trees, and that even comes in Spanish.
Sarah Vogel:So a lot of times, I'll take that out to some of the programs we have. And same things, it has some of those leaf shapes, what the margins might be, and really just introducing those basics to youth, which is amazing for me. That's what to me this job is all about, or even jobs before this. It's like, I get, you know, 30 kids, and if, like, one of them walks away and they're excited about an acorn, I'm like, yes. This is a successful program, you know, that has sunk into that that youth and hopefully, you know, made that a little more connection with nature.
Sarah Vogel:If they learn about it, oftentimes, they appreciate it more, take care of more things like that. So making that connection is really important to me, especially with young people, but all ages.
Ken Johnson:So do you have a a favorite mnemonic device that you use for tree ID?
Sarah Vogel:Oh, well, there's the I have lots of weird ones. Okay? Like, in my own head, like, northern red oak is Quercus rubra. Rubra means red. But the acorn cap is very shallow, and it kinda looks like beret.
Sarah Vogel:So I think of red beret, raspberry beret, because I'm a Prince fan. That's a weird one that I have. But a lot of people so for the opposite alternate leaf arrangement, the mad buck horse mnemonic device. So mad would be maple ash dogwood, buck would be buckeye, and horse is horse chestnut. So those things are the opposite oppositely arranged tree species that we are pretty common, you know, around Illinois.
Sarah Vogel:There are also you know, a lot of people use apps for identifying, and I used to be a little more gatekeepy about it, but I've made my peace, and I'm fine. It's fine. I use them too. They're really helpful, and they're in our pocket.
Chris Enroth:It's true. It's not cheating.
Sarah Vogel:No. Helps. Yeah. It totally helps. And I think the important part is, like, don't go with the first answer you get.
Sarah Vogel:Right? We use more than one app or take a few different pictures. Double check it by, you know, searching that species name. When you're doing Internet searches, maybe put in extension or dot e d u so you know you're getting good results, accurate results. So, yeah, those I am all for apps.
Sarah Vogel:And even some of those, like iNaturalist and some others, I think, report to each other, and you can, whatever, report invasive species or different pests and things like that. So it's also kind of a community that you can join with too. Citizen science, I think that's the term I'm thinking of. Mhmm.
Chris Enroth:Well, Sarah, you had mentioned quercus rubra, and then maybe we've skirted around this a little bit, but we have common names and we have scientific names. A lot of times, people, they're not too pleased about having to learn a Latin name for a plant, or it might feel a little intimidating. So is that necessary when we are doing tree identification to learn the Latin name?
Sarah Vogel:I mean, if you're in my class, yes. Absolutely. If I'm grading you, you better.
Chris Enroth:You better. Yes.
Sarah Vogel:Yeah. No. I mean, of course not. I mean, beginners are not gonna know, you know, let alone the terminology for some of those plant parts, you know, like plant anatomy, which in a tree ID guide might be really important. If you don't know the terminology of a sepal and a whatever, then it might be challenging.
Sarah Vogel:So Mhmm. Starting out that way. But Latin names will also help us avoid kinda just confusion between plant species. The the scientific name, which is can be derived from both Latin and Greek, is the universal name for that species, like across languages, across countries, there that is the name for that species. So when we hear common names, like for instance, I've heard several different a couple different species called a tulip tree.
Sarah Vogel:And I always try to clarify, are you talking about a saucer magnolia or a tulip poplar or yellow poplar? Because both of those things are kinda interchangeable to people. So, you know, the tulip poplar is liriodendron tulipifera. Tulip's right there in the name. And the magnolia is like a hybrid.
Sarah Vogel:I forgot Solngiana or something like that. But what I think is really cool, why I nerd out over scientific names is because often they are descriptors of the species. So I mentioned Quercus rubra. It might be rubrum, now that I'm thinking about it. So Quercus alba.
Sarah Vogel:Quercus is gonna be an oak. Alba means white, so that's our our white oak. I had probably a few more examples, but I don't remember them right now. We mentioned the viburnum earlier and how there's so many of those. There is a oh, the leather leaf viburnum, or is that the same as double file, I think?
Sarah Vogel:So that one is viburnum is the genus name, the first and the two part name. And the second part of the name, the species or specific epithet is Rhytidophyllum, and rhytid means wrinkly, and phyllum means leaf. So it's a viburnum with wrinkly leaves. And if you look at it, it is a very textured leaf that that you might say looked wrinkly. So I think that's why they're cool.
Sarah Vogel:I get very curious when I see anything Latin, you know, the the etymology or root words in that because it's a descriptor. And it goes I mean, the English language and other Latin based languages, you kinda know what some of those things are because we've been speaking it for most of our lives.
Ken Johnson:It's true.
Chris Enroth:So of of these Latin names, I sometimes they they roll off your tongue really easily. Sometimes they don't. But do you have a a particular favorite Latin name? Either maybe just to say, or maybe it's a favorite treat of yours.
Sarah Vogel:Know, Metasekoia Glyptrosstreboides is a really good one. It just right off the tongue. We don't get a lot of that one out here.
Ken Johnson:Mhmm.
Sarah Vogel:Oh, what is that? Douglas fir or redwood? Oh, golly.
Chris Enroth:Dawn Redwood.
Sarah Vogel:Yeah. Redwood. See? Shows what I know. Around here, we see well, probably one of my favorites is the scientific name for sweet gum is liquid amber styrociflua, and I'll even spell it right if you challenge me.
Chris Enroth:Oh my gosh.
Sarah Vogel:That scares me. Well Only to write it in. We can't do that on the web podcast.
Ken Johnson:That's right. I
Chris Enroth:I would say my so I had Doc Henry when I was down in Carbondale, and he was from North Carolina. So all of my Latin has a twang. So you said I don't even know how you said styrasiflua. This I styrasiflua. Yeah.
Chris Enroth:But
Sarah Vogel:I Styrasifluas.
Chris Enroth:Styrasiflua. But I remember liriodendron tulipiphora. Like, all of my Latin has little twanginess to it. Metasekoi, eccleptostreboides. It's kind of there.
Chris Enroth:But, yeah, I so I kind of you're you're learning a different language, I feel like, when you're learning some of these plant names. And so whoever your teacher is, you kinda glean some of their speech patterns off of that. So
Sarah Vogel:Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And like I said, I remember, like, being in a spot with my professor or the TA, and now I see that very same TA at a lot of the professional development opportunities we go to and where I present to them. And you wanna talk about impostor syndrome, you guys.
Sarah Vogel:Woah. Woah. But it's it's just kinda cool. Yeah. It sinks in and, you know, especially when we're we're there to learn.
Sarah Vogel:Like, if somebody drug me to a tree ID and I program, I didn't wanna know anything about it. Me. You know? But if you're into it and you wanna learn more about it, there's lots of ways to do it. And YouTube would probably nerd out.
Sarah Vogel:Many people would nerd out on the on the scientific names.
Chris Enroth:Do you have a favorite scientific name, Ken, of anything, bug, tree, plant? Pop quiz. Let's see who's coming. Here it is. Off the
Ken Johnson:top of my head, nothing's coming to mind. Sure there is. I'll report back later.
Chris Enroth:He's editing this week, so he's gonna pop something in there. I just know it.
Sarah Vogel:Just cover your mouth, and you can voice it over. Pinus strobus. There you go. Yes.
Ken Johnson:I did read somewhere. Pinus is not, like, how Latin or Romans would have pronounced it. Mhmm.
Sarah Vogel:It should be How would they have pronounced it, Ken?
Ken Johnson:It should be penis.
Sarah Vogel:Okay.
Ken Johnson:If you do it technically correct. It's from it's what I've heard.
Sarah Vogel:Kids love when I do that.
Chris Enroth:Yes. And this is the first time we'll ever have to check the explicit box for the podcast.
Sarah Vogel:So scientific.
Chris Enroth:Yep. That's us. Well, Sarah, I you know, it was mentioned before, like, you know, this is something to do that you have to do multiple times to learn to the more you do it, the better you are at it. So I know every year you offer classes. Like, you you will go out, do tree walks with groups of people.
Chris Enroth:So are you doing that again this year?
Sarah Vogel:Yes. Absolutely. I'll be doing some tree ID walks this fall. I like to do those in the fall because the the leaves are generally generally, you know, all the way to their mature size, and most tree species have set bud, so you can kind of look at their bud, which is boy, when you start looking at 20 different oak species, that bud is really important. So I don't teach 20 different oak species.
Sarah Vogel:We'll put that out there at the get go because then I wouldn't be able to fake some
Ken Johnson:of them.
Sarah Vogel:But, yeah, I'll have some tree ID walks this fall, mostly around Central Illinois, so keep an eye on our extension Facebook page, or I'm out of DeWitt, Macon, and Piatt County, so you can keep an eye on our page there too. We'll also have some community tree care opportunities, whether that's workshops this fall or possibly more of the webinar series in the spring or probably winter, like January to March range. And community tree care is a program that is designed for not only certified arborists who are already professionals working out there in the field, but those professionals doing tree care that aren't necessarily certified as well as a general audience. So we have a lot of really good information in those and do offer Arborist CEUs for those professionals who might need them. But you can really learn a lot, and we're each year really building that curricula and community tree care to include more
Ken Johnson:stuff. Alright.
Chris Enroth:Anything else to add then before we close her out?
Sarah Vogel:Nope. Nope. I didn't hear you wanna see the skeletonized leaves on on this. It used to be a crabapple, but it's gone reverted back to a regular apple. That is Oh.
Sarah Vogel:I don't know how well you can see it, but totally skeletonized. Yeah. Wow. That might be fun to show. No.
Sarah Vogel:I don't have anything else to share. I appreciate you guys trying to stunt me.
Ken Johnson:Do you wanna do a, like, a quick recap if you go out and find a tree? Kind of the real quick process. Do you have a process of here's a new tree. This is what I do.
Sarah Vogel:Yeah. I just look at it. Duh.
Chris Enroth:Look at it, taste it, and see how I feel afterwards.
Sarah Vogel:Yeah. I don't do mushroom ID just for that reason. So, yeah, if if you're going out on your own to try and identify a tree species, take your field guide, take your phone. You can, you know, use the app out there in the field. But if you wanna, you know, do it the prehistoric way, like we professionals, look first at your leaf arrangement.
Sarah Vogel:So opposite or alternate, that's gonna narrow a lot of things down for you. You'll also wanna know maybe the leaf complexity. So for instance, our maple leaf, that is one leaf, that is one simple leaf. A compound leaf would be something like this honey locust leaf that is falling apart as I touch it. But that is that is one honey locust leaf with individual little leaflets on there.
Sarah Vogel:So that's kind of something that you'll look for too. Some will ask, how do you know if it's if this is a leaf or a leaflet? How do you know? Well, where the stem attaches to the twig, there will be a bud in there, especially later in the year. So so, yeah, opposite or alternate, simpler compound leaves.
Sarah Vogel:Look at everything you can. It's not just about the leaves. Look at the bark. Look around on the ground for fruit. You mentioned, you know I mentioned distinct smells.
Sarah Vogel:You mentioned tasting things. So, like, if you run into a sassafras, run into a tree that may be sassafras and tasted it, and it tastes like Froot Loops a little bit. Mhmm. You might be right about that one. Oh, yeah.
Sarah Vogel:Just using using all the senses.
Chris Enroth:Yep. The tree of heaven, as you mentioned before. I know when I've brushed up against that one. Yeah.
Sarah Vogel:Yeah. That's that's pretty tough. Well, there are some trees too that it's kinda like the cilantro deal. Like, some people really like it and some people hate it, and, like, maybe it's a genetic thing. I don't know.
Sarah Vogel:But eighties con color, white fir, that's one of my favorite trees. I know it's not, you know, native to our area, but some people think it smells really good, like, kinda like oranges or citrus, and some people think it smells like khaki. So, yeah, it just depends on, I guess, your own body chemistry.
Chris Enroth:And if you have cats around.
Sarah Vogel:Yeah. Yeah. And if you have yeah. There it totally could be. Yeah.
Chris Enroth:Oh, well, was a lot of great information about getting started with tree identification. I think it's time to crack open the old dichotomous key and go outside and get
Ken Johnson:to work and identify some trees. The Good Growing podcast is production of University of Illinois Extension, edited this week by Ken Johnson. A thank you to our special guest today. Sarah, thank you
Chris Enroth:so much for joining us from Decatur to give us the good info of teaching us and becoming apprentices of your wizardly ways of tree identification. So thank you very much.
Sarah Vogel:I'll send your certificates in the mail.
Chris Enroth:Excellent. I'll have my graduation cap on when I receive it, because I wear it all the time at home.
Ken Johnson:And Ken, thank you so much for being with
Chris Enroth:us as always every single week.
Ken Johnson:Thank you, Sarah. I will start studying and try not to let you down. I'll earn a
Sarah Vogel:That's right. You better. Yeah. I'll remember that. Thanks, guys.
Ken Johnson:And, Chris, thank you as always. And let's do this again next week.
Chris Enroth:Oh, we shall do this
Ken Johnson:again next week. Raised bed gardening. We're gonna talk about it. Can you
Chris Enroth:do it? What do you do when you're doing it? And then how to build them their raised beds and grow in them their raised beds. It's going to be an interesting intro informative show next week about raised beds. Raised beds, I've said that many times.
Chris Enroth:Hopefully, the algorithms pick that up because I think it's popular right now. Anyway, well, listeners, thank you for doing what you do best and that is listening or
Ken Johnson:if you're watching us on YouTube watching.
Chris Enroth:And as always, keep on growing. Welcome to the Good Growing podcast. I am Chris Enroth, horticulture educator with the University of Illinois Extension coming at you from Galesburg, Illinois. I guess I sounded surprised when I said that.
Ken Johnson:But but, yes, I am in Galesburg.
Chris Enroth:I am not surprised I drove myself here. So I know where I am at all times. So the ah, see? I did it again. I screwed it up.
Sarah Vogel:I'm just impressed that you know where you are all the time. Chalk one up.
Chris Enroth:So I don't always know who I am, though. But, yeah, got good geographic skills. Yeah.
Ken Johnson:So somebody's got a a tree that they don't know what it is, or maybe somebody's brought a tree into the extension office, and the person trying to figure out what the problem is doesn't know what the tree is. What I guess, hold on. Sorry. Sure. I was reading the wrong question.
Chris Enroth:Oh, go for it, Ken.
Ken Johnson:Look at that.
Sarah Vogel:Any of them. I'm ready. Except for the fourth one because I took that one out.
Ken Johnson:So you wanna go with the basics, or you wanna do the first three?
Chris Enroth:I'd say go with the basics.
Sarah Vogel:Oh, sure.
Ken Johnson:Oh, oh, no. Yeah. Or yeah. For sure. You want.
Ken Johnson:For sure.
Chris Enroth:I just had a great you had a great intro to that one, Ken. I loved it. You had me Oscar worthy. So Yeah. Have good one.
Sarah Vogel:Yeah. Yeah. We can be right
Ken Johnson:from the tree. Go and do the best.
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