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Got Conifer? When is a tree with needles not a Pine?
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Got Conifer? When is a tree with needles not a Pine? by Joan Zimmerman, Ph.D.
Forest and Tree Home,
Glossary pages:
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C, D,
E, F,
G, H,
I, J,
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Y, Z.
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Soquel Demonstration State Forest.
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You found a tree with needles. But is it a pine tree or what? Here is a quick
way to tell.
The main features of the Pine (Pinus genus):
- an evergreen
- with long needle-like leaves in bundles or clusters of up to 5 needles
- held together at the base by sheath of papery bark.
Sometimes (though we discourage it), the
name "pine" is used loosely for any tree in the pine family Pinaceae.
In North America, that family contains larch, true fir, spruce, hemlock, and
Douglas-firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii).
A tree with needles is not a Pinus if:
- the tree has bundles of a dozen or more needles; needles are soft, flat,
in brushlike clusters on short spur-like shoots; deciduous not evergreen;
-- then the trees are larches or tamaracks, Larix.
- its needles are flat, often with a notch at the end; needles grow in two
ranks, directly and singly from the branch, and have a plump base that leaves
a round depression on the branch. Cylindrical cones are upright and
disintegrate on the branch;
-- then the trees are true firs,
Abies.
- its needles are short and not bundled but have a stalk and 4-sides; they
spiral from persistent peg-like bases; the naked twigs are rough and warty;
-- then the trees are spruces, Picea.
- its needles flat, with blunt ends; the needles are in two ranks like the
fir, but blunt, shorter, and fatter; dark-green and shiny above, pale below
with two slim lines;
-- then the trees are hemlocks,
Tsuga.
- its needles are flat with pointed tips and linear; they grow directly from
the branch; the leaf scar is small and raised (for the true fir it is larger
and depressed); each needle narrows at the base into a short, thin stem. Cones
hang down with 3-point bracts;
-- then the trees are
Douglas-firs,
Pseudotsuga menziesii.
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Forest and Tree Home,
Glossary pages:
A, B,
C, D,
E, F,
G, H,
I, J,
K, L,
M, N,
O, P,
Q, R,
S, T,
U, V,
W, X,
Y, Z.
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[Thanks for visiting.]