I always find the Virgina Tech site to have good pictures.

Here is the search page:
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/factsheets.cfm

Here is a link that might be useful: Va Tech page for Beech

I always have a tough time with this. I have a small booklet called "Winter Tree Finder" by May Theilgaard Watts and Tom Watts published by Nature Study Guild Publishers, Rochester, New York (www.naturestudy.com).

Also, here are a few sites that a quick web search revealed:

http://www.nativeplant.org/WinterIdentification.html

http://forestry.about.com/od/forestphotogalleries/ig/Dormant-Winter-Tree-Gallery/

http://www.neonaturalist.com/wintertree.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Nature Study Guild Publishers

Thank you both.

I will check out the sites.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I've identified a huge serviceberry (Amelanchier spp)--I'm hoping I'm right or I'll be in for a big disappointment come spring.

There is an older dogwood too...in the landscaping so, I guess I'll have to wait for spring to see if it is white or not. I prefer the natural white to the pink.

I'll enjoy the sites and trying to ID what I have while I await spring to return.

Thanks again,

David

Over a couple of seasons you will come to get a much better idea of what you have and don't have and what the conditions of your land are. As you remove invasives you might also get some native volunteers for free. In my humble opinion, relieving the trees of invasive vines is usually first priority since replacing mature trees is basically impossible (cut low, then high and don't pull the remainder out of the canopy or you can break branches). Cutting back invasives with thorns will help you be able to navigate the land more comfortably.

It is so fun to discover new stuff. After clearing out some japanese honeysuckle, I discovered some Trillium cuneatum growing in one area (or trying to!). Two years after I'd been in my present location, I found a Serviceberry in the wooded section just 15 feet off the driveway. And I knew how to identify Serviceberry ... I just had not been focused on that area. Just this past fall (4 years after being here) I found 3 medium sized Viburnum prunifolium in the more wooded area behind my house. These were all just off the path I had created to traverse the area ... I had walked past them countless times! They were not getting much sun and were not blooming. Now I am clearing out some of the red maple saplings (which I have tons of) to try and bring more light to the area.

esh_ga & bob64,

Over the past two days I've finally had a chance to explore the suggested sites. I pulled up a few names of trees that I was hoping I'd found on my land.

While cutting down one of the many pasture rose bushes, I found a few short trees--my first thought was that the shape reminded me of sassafras. I'd love to have some sassafras on my land...and will try to get some, because, based on one site I realized that I have pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) not sassafras. That suits me just fine. I felt a bit vindicated, 'though, when, after looking it up in my Landscaping with Native Trees book, I read that sassafras has the same growth pattern.

It is great to know that they are already doing well there and are obviously in a site that suits them.

With the flowering dogwood, pagoda, and Cornus racemosa (which I brought with me as a five inch sucker), I will have three representatives of the dogwoods. I'm assuming they have different ripening times so the birds will have a more continuous supply of berries.

Today, after getting home, I cleared another small section of pasture rose. I'd have probably done more if the sun didn't go down. ~smile~

Thank you both for your encouragement and sharing your stories. I'm hoping to know a LOT more by spring. After one season I'm hoping to have an even better idea. Yes, several seasons will make me even more aware of what the land is like...but, that sounds like such a long time to wait!

Spring can't come too soon for me, but at least I'm enjoying the planning as I make paths then walk them again and again.

It is good to be back on the Native Plant Forum. It has been years since I've contributed but having land and a plan gives me more to discuss.

Thanks for listening to me ramble (if you've made it this far),

David

Sassafras are beautiful trees. They have a neat fragrance, interesting mitten-like leaves and stunning fall color.

The "Winter Tree Finder" book by Watts and Watts was given out in a tree-identification class I took this past fall. As the instructor said, there are more complete books for identification but you can't beat the size of this book. It fits in a pocket and covers many of the most common trees. And at $4 or so on Amazon, how can you go wrong? We used other books as well but some of them were far from being things you could lug through the forest.

The instructor for the class strongly suggested and had us practice keying items we already knew as well as items we didn't. It is a way to get used to the key you are using since they all work slightly differently. I'd suggest trying a couple of items you know as well as those you don't for any identification keys in-print or on-line you might try.

FataMorgana

FataMorgana,

Yes, I love the look of a sassafras thicket and would like to create it on my land. One house we'd looked at had some growing with mosses, lichens, and various 'rocky barren' kinds of plants. I'd like to recreate that look in one section of my yard.

Thank you for the book suggestion. At $4 or so, I'd gladly add it to my collection. That fits in the budget of a new home owner! ~wink~

David

Be certain that you leave some of the sassafras to form trees. The tickets are nice but the trees are magnificent and can grow quite large.

maifleur,

I remember the first time I realized that sassafras could grow so tall. I was walking a trail at the entrance to the forest and saw the distinctive leaves. When I looked up I saw that it was on par with most of the other trees.

Perhaps I should've said "grove" instead of "thicket". ...but, I do like the colony look. I'd have said "copse" but that never seemed to stick in my vocabulary.

I'll hope for some of each.

I just need to find a source for sassafras.

~smile~

David

Musser Forests in Pennsylvania sells sassafras. They do mail order and I have been very pleased with the trees I have ordered from Musser.

FataMorgana

Thank you for the suggestion. ~smile~ I used to live close enough to drive out to Musser's! Not anymore. It would be a 5 hour drive or so now.

I'll look for them online.

I'm in NEPA now. Does anyone know of any local nurseries that carry natives?

Thanks,

David

David, Some people cut the stems off to keep various plants as a thicket of what I call whips this is called "coppicing". If you have a lot of deer they will trim your young trees so you never see anything other than a thicket. In some areas people harvest the roots for herbal usage. I love the smell of sasafras tea. It was unavailable for years because of fears of it causing damage to, I think, liver. However, I found a large enough stash to last a couple of years in Oregon last year.

maifleur,

I love the smell of it too. The fall foliage is beautiful and I've always loved the shape it takes on with age.

Years ago I found out that sassafras is considered a mild carcinogen. I remember being shocked because it is a natural, not artificial flavoring--I was a teenager at the time and realized that there are plenty of toxic things in the natural world.

Sigh...lost innocence. I'd love to try brewing some natural rootbeer, but I've never tried since reading that.

~smile~

David

Speaking of things which smell good, Calycanthus floridus is so wonderful.

I don't know why I didn't remember, but one resource I have (and just got recently) is William M. Harlow's "Fruit Key & Twig Key to Trees and Shrubs". Published by Dover ($5).

The Fruit Key says it is for Northeastern Trees and the Twig Key says it is for Deciduous Woody Plants of Eastern North America.

Safrole is the constituent found in sassafras that the FDA took issue with. Here's a note found in the sassafras entry in Peterson's Medicinal Plants and Herbs (Eastern/Central) by Foster & Duke:

"Warning: Safrole (found in oil of Sassafras) reportedly is carcinogenic; it is banned by the FDA. However, the safrole in a 12-ounce can of old-fashioned root beer is not as carcinogenic as the alcohol (ethanol) in a can of beer."

I thought you might find this interesting.

FataMorgana

FataMorgana,

That is interesting--and good to know. Thanks.

I have not been online much lately. I do appreciate all of the feedback from everyone.

I know that I will have to watch the land over time to get an even better idea of what to grow where. I have a good foundation and this is a great resource.

I probably should start another thread soon--most of what I'm thinking about now doesn't fit this topic.

Thanks again,

David