How to Identify Flowering Trees
- 1). Get a tree identification guide for the region in which your tree is growing. Both the "Peterson First Guide to Trees" by Roger Tory Peterson and the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees-E: Eastern Region" are good references that you can take out into the woods with you. There are a number of online sources as well---many use interactive keys to help you make quick identifications.
- 2). Start by determining whether you are looking at an evergreen or deciduous tree---that will help whittle down the first possibilities to more likely candidates. Examine a leaf from the tree next door, to determine its basic overall shape---oval, heart, rounded, lobed, lanceolate and so forth---so that your field guide may assist you to limit the options even more.
- 3). Look at the flower only after narrowing the field---a sweet-smelling or colorful flower may seem the most obvious part to you, but it is actually easier to identify a tree using other characteristics first. Flowers are available only in certain seasons, while a tree's basic shape and trunk characteristics are always present---you can compare those to other trees in most guides.
- 4). Notice the pattern of leaf veins, number of lobes, smooth or saw-toothed edges, etc., as a further way to narrow the possibilities. Smaller leaflets that repeat within a single leaf are obvious clues as well.
- 5). Check the way leaves attach to twigs---alternating or opposite one another, or spiraling around the twig---different tree families have different patterns of attachment.
- 6). Look at the bark, too---peeling, smooth, rough, strangely patterned or conspicuously colored bark will provide valuable tips. Fruits and seeds (though not generally available when trees are flowering) can offer additional hints in other seasons. Where the tree is growing may be important, likewise.
- 7). Determine the flower color, shape and number of petals---especially notice whether flowers are single, in clusters or racemes---to zero in finally on your tree in the field guide. At this point images will make the ultimate identification fairly easy.