Conifer Identification

Notes from the 4th class of the Botany Conservation Course 

by Course Volunteer Phyllis Daniels & Course Coordinator Mary Kiesau

Susan Ballinger, Wenatchee-area naturalist and educator and creator of The Wenatchee Naturalist course, was the fourth speaker in the Methow Conservancy's 2014 Methow Conservation Course “Botany: The Basics & Beyond.”  This is the 10th annual course.

Susan started the class off with some information about the Washington Native Plant Society and a quick overview of a conifer key, which is ordered according to their evolutionary development.  

Male pine "cones" aka strobili will release pollen.

Conifers are gymnosperms which means “naked seed.”  Unlike angiosperms (the flowering plants we studied in the previous three classes), conifer seeds are not contained within an ovary (aka not covered with fruit).  The seeds are born in cones and on scales.  Most conifers are evergreen (except Larch in our area) and have needle or scale-like “leaves.”  Most conifers bear both male and female cones.  The smaller male cones called strobili produce pollen. While the female cone produces seeds.  The female cone receives pollen by way of the wind. 

Conifers have developed from uncertain conditions; they can tolerate badly drained soil; they have adapted to wildfire; they are sun seekers; and can grow tall and massive.  In the world’s forests most trees are broadleaf.  Because of low humidity, weeks of drought, with a mostly cool winter the Pacific Northwest has mostly conifers. 

From top left clockwise: Ponderosa, Lodgepole, Whitebark and Western White

There are 3 families of conifers in WA state and 19 native conifers in the Pacific Northwest.  They are:

•       PINE Family

–      4 true fir (Abies)

–      2 larch (Larix)

–      2 spruce (Picea)- 1 only coastal

–      4 pine (Pinus)

–      1 false hemlock (Psudotsuga)

–      2 hemlock (Tsuga)

•       CYPRESS Family           

–      1 white-cedar (Chamaecyparis)

–      1 juniper (Juniperus)

–      1 cedar (Thuja)

•       YEW Family- 1 yew (Taxus)

Young trees often look different and have differing characteristics than the adult trees that they grow into, so to keep up with the incredible variety we must keep in mind some other factors:

There are 3 habitats for conifers in our area of the Pacific Northwest

•   Eastside Low Montane Forest: 1800-3000 ft; gets 15-30” of precipitation; main conifers that we find at this elevation have all adapted in some way to frequent wildfires.  They are the Ponderosa Pine, Western Larch, Douglas Fir, Grand Fir, and Lodgepole Pine.

•   East-side High Montane Forest: 4000- 6000 ft. - gets 35-50” of precipitation; the main conifers are Subalpine Fir, Engelmann Spruce, Western Larch and Lodgepole Pine.

•   Subalpine: 6000 ft. - the closed canopy disappears and the weather is windy and dry.  Growing there are Subalpine Fir, Whitebark Pine, Subalpine Larch, and to a lesser degree Mountain Hemlock and Yellow Cedar.

Common Characteristics of our Primary Conifers

Western White Pine

·         Needles are clusters of 5, whitish blue green, slender and flexible, 2.5 - 4 inches long. They are lined with tiny teeth so feel rough.  

·         Tree shape is narrow open crowns with regularly spaced whorls of branches extending from main trunk. 

·         Cones are long (6-11”), curved, slender, and have pitchy scales.

·         Bark is gray and thin. Mature tree bark appears checkered. Sap weeps and orange needles indicate blister rust infection.

Whitebark Pine

Whitebark Pine

·         Needles are clusters of 5; yellow-green color, stiff and short (1.5 – 2.5 inches).

·         Confined to the timberline zone in the Cascades it takes on stunted growth with shrubby forms on snowbound windy sites.  

·         Bark is gray and scaly

·         Cones are egg-shaped and 2-3 ½ inches long.  They remain closed on tree when ripe and rely on an unusual symbiotic relationship with the Clark’s Nutcracker bird to disperse its seeds.  Because of the birds habit of burying a cache of these seeds the trees tend to grow in clumps or groups.  The cones are an important food for the grizzly bear.

Ponderosa Pine

·         Needles in clusters of 3 (sometimes 2), dark green and very long (5-10”).  

·         Mature trees have broad crowns of regular whorls of long limbs. As they grow, they shed their bottom branches as an adaptation to fire which is hindered from reaching the crown and forced to stay low to the ground.  

·         Bark is gray brown when young and becomes red-brown and deeply furrowed when mature.  Large trees shed the bark in jigsaw puzzle plates with a corky texture that are resistant to burning.  Once burned the area weeps causing a “catface” that serves as insulation.

·         Cones are egg shaped, symmetrical, 3-5 inches long with prominent prickly scales.  Male strobili are purple

Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine

·         Needles are in bundles of 2, are yellow-green and 2”  long.

·         Bark is thin, gray-red/brown, scaly and pitchy

·         Cones are usually bent and narrowly egg-shaped. 1-1/2-2 inches.  Sharp prickle on back of cone scale.  Can remain closed on tree for several years until burned.

·         Trees are relatively short-lived (ave age 60 yrs) and have a small and slender form in forested habitats, rounded crown in open habitats.

·         Adapted to stand-replacement wildfires: -- their serotinous cones open only when heated by fire. Seeds then spread & grow in full sun

Western Larch

·         Needles are deciduous, in soft fine clusters of 25-40 on little woody spurs on branch.  Triangular, bright yellow-green,

·         The tree has a tall narrow pointed crown.

·         Cones are small (1 – 1.5”) with long bracts that extend beyond scales.

·         Bark thick, deeply furrowed, flakes into orange brown plates. At base, thick and corky and fire resistant.  Rapidly grows tall into a high open canopy.

Subalpine Larch

·         Needles are like Western Larch needles but are in smaller clusters (20 – 30 needles), are 4-sided, are blue green, and are marked on all sides by white rows of stomata.

·         Bark is yellow-brown, furrowed and thin, and broken into large loose scales.

·         Cones are same size as W. Larch, are rounded and deep purple, covered in wooly hairs, bracts longer than scales, end in long spikes.

·         New shoots are covered with fine, white, wooly hairs, unlike W. Larch.

Sharp Spruce Needles

Engelmann Spruce

·         For Spruces think about Ss. Needles are sharp, and square (you can’t roll them between your fingers) and short.

·         For Engelmann spruce, needles are blue-green with whitish bands, about 1” long and they extend from all sides of a twig.

·         Cones hang down like a pendant, are oblong, 1-21/2” long, scales diamond shaped and ragged at tips; rubbing them sounds like paper. 

·         Bark is thin, dark purple/reddish-brown; in loose scales that flake off easily

Douglas Fir (aka False Hemlock)

·         Not a true fir.

3-pronged bracts extend beyond cone scales.

·         Needles are soft (fir think fur) and scattered singly over the twigs, often in rows on opposite sides of the twigs, length varies around 1” long, mostly blunt at apex, yellow or blue green.

·         Bark is dark brown to black, deeply furrowed & thick

·         Cones are 3-4” long, oblong to cylindric, pendant with a three-lobed bract that extends past the cone scale (looks like a mouse feet and tail)

·         Best field ID mark:  there’s a spear-like tip at the end of every branch – touch the tip to feel a poke (true firs have rounded tip)

Western Hemlock

·         Needles dark green on top, whitish below; variable length up to 1 inch.  Project outward on the sides of twigs, making branches look flattened & spraylike.

·         Cones are small, up to 1 inch long, and almost as wide.

·         Bark is dark gray-brown & heavily furrowed, but only 1-inch thick. Inner layers dark red to purple.

·         At tree-top, bent over leader.

Mountain Hemlock

Mountain Hemlock

·         Needles -- scattered singly and project from all sides of the twigs (looks like it has crazy hair), about ¾ inch pale green or whitish on both sides b/c of rows of stomata on both surfaces. 

·         Bark is dark reddish purplish brown, deeply divided by rounded scaly ridges.

·         Cone is broadly cylindrical 1-2” long.

·         At timberline, grows in a shrubby form.

True Firs have:

•       Cylindrical cones stiffly erect on horizontal branches near the top.

•       Different pattern of foliage on cone-bearing branches (denser) 

•       Cones stand upright on tree, are purple and sappy when young, and then scales open and fall away, leaving the stalk of the cone standing upright

•       Young fir trunks have resin-filled blisters on smooth bark.

Pacific Silver Fir

·         Needles flattened, blunt, 1-inch long, glossy green on top, silvery white on rows of stomata on underside (2 bands).  Neatly arranged with 3 rows of needles: one row each project horizontally from opposite sides of twig, and one row runs along the top of the stem.

·         Bark-- ashy gray with lichen blotches, thin and smooth with resin blisters becomes scaly on old trees.

·         Cone is upright cylindrical, 3 ½ - 6”, deep purple and smooth.  

·         Key field ID mark:  Looking down on branch, the stem is hidden from view; unlike grand fir with brown stem always visible

fir cones stand upright and are purple and sappy

Subalpine Fir

·         Needle tips rounded, whitish on both sides, <1 inch.  One white band above, 2 white bands below.  Growing on all sides of the twig-on short, stiff horizontal branches all the way to the ground.

·         Cones are 2.5 – 4”, deep purple, often covered with an “icing” of shiny resin.

·         Bark is thin, smooth, light grey. 

·         In rocks & on ridge tops, takes on shrubby form

·         Slender cone-shape sheds snow.

Grand Fir

·         Needles are flat, blunt, dark shiny green above & whitish (2 bands) on underside, >1 inch long.  Spread in two regular comb-like rows from opposite sides of twig
in a “two-ranked” array.

·         Cones are 3-5 inches, greenish. Sit upright, but sometimes tip sideways due to weight.

·         Bark is thick, furrowed, divided into narrow flat plates. In young trees-dark, gray, & thin.

·         Fire-ladder, due to low branches

Red Cedar

Western Red Cedar

·         Needles are scale-like, oval, lying flat against the twig, opposite in 4 rows, rounded on back & sharp pointed, and dark yellow green.

·         Branches are spray-like, spreading down & outward.

·         Bark is thin, ridged and fissured; is grayish to reddish brown.  Mature tree bark can be peeled off in long thin strips

·         Cones are small, woody, egg-shaped, less than ½-inch thick. 

Alaska Cedar

•       Needles are scalelike, opposite in 4 rows. Prickly tip, Keeled ridge on back. Dark bluish-green. 1/8-inch.  Branch in flat fern-like sprays.  After 2 years, needles turn yellow-brown for 1 year before being shed.

•       Cones are woody, rounded, <1/2 inch thick.

•       Bark is shaggy & gray, hanging in loose rough pieces, but will not peel off into strips.

•       Thrives in cold, wet, climate.  Deep snowfall insulates tree from extreme cold.

•       Slow-growing-often at upper limit of trees, avalanche chutes, bogs, or rocky crags.

Pacific Yew

·         Needles are flat with pointed tips; arranged in two rows, one along each side of the twig; dark green above, paler below (no white bands), ¾ - 1” long.

·         Bark is reddish brown, thin, broken by broad fissures into red to purplish scaly ridges.

·         Small low-spreading tree 20-50 feet tall with asymmetrical form, often branching to the ground, in understory of moist, mature and shady conifer forest and along streams at low to mid elevations.

·         Cone is hidden in a rounded scarlet, fleshy berry-like-cups (an aril); open at one end.

·          

Next week’s class is on Ethnobotany.

Botany Basics - Continuing the GILF Method, plus Plant Intelligence

Notes from the 3rd class of the Botany Conservation Course 

by Course Volunteer Phyllis Daniels & Course Coordinator Mary Kiesau

Dana Visalli, local botanist, educator and creator of The Methow Naturalist quarterly journal, was the third speaker in the Methow Conservancy's 2014 Methow Conservation Course “Botany: The Basics & Beyond.”  This is the 10th annual course.

Dana started off the class with a “side-bar” discussion of plant intelligence.

The Intelligence of Plants

Bristlecone Pine Photo: Chris de Rham/Flickr/Creative Commons License

Plants show an incredible amount of “wisdom” in their adaptations, if we apply human values to them.  Plant don’t have a brain (as we think of a brain) but they have to do a lot to stay alive, not the smallest of which is to get all of their needs met while staying in one place.  The hero of the plant world - the Bristlecone Pine - is the longest living being on earth.  The oldest living organism is a Bristlecone pine in Nevada that is 5063 years old – just imagine, it has responded and adapted to and survived all the climate extremes from glaciers to drought over the last 5000 years.

We should rethink our idea of movement when it comes to plants.  For instance, bunchberry’s little flowers open and explosively shoot out pollen at 500 mph (the speed of sound and 1000x the force of gravity).  Why?  Possibly because they grow low to ground in thick forests so they needed to adapt to a world where there is a lack of wind and few insects.  Another example of movement is with mistletoe that grows on Douglas fir.  Mistletoe spreads through fir stands by shooting out sticky seeds at 50 mph that hit another tree and stick to it like glue and then grow.

The Bee Orchid

 Many flowers, particularly certain orchids, have evolved to look (and sometimes smell) like a female insect in order to attract the male insect of that species.  These plants are called “deceptor pollinators,” Out of 22,000 species, one third are deceptor pollinators.  In the Methow, the Fairyslipper or Calypso orchid is a deceptor pollinator.

Plants too seem to have a sense of smell.  Dodder doesn’t photosynthesize because it is a parasite plant.  When offered green wheat or a tomato to eat it chose the tomato - suggesting it could smell.  Even when blowing only the scent of the two plants the Dodder choose the tomato.

Another plant adaptation are attempts to keep herbivores from eating/killing them.  Some plants have created toxic chemicals, such as nicotine, morphine and caffeine, to repel herbivores.  Western water hemlock is considered the deadliest plant in North America killing livestock with just a few nibbles.

Some plants have adapted ways of eating insects such as the venus flytrap, bladderwort and butterwort.  Venus flytraps conserve energy by waiting until 2 tiny hairs inside the “trap” are triggered by the pray to be sure it is big enough prey to make it worth their while to close.  This plant seems to have a memory of 20 seconds between when an insect touches one hair until it touches the second. Bladderwort can catch small fish and tadpoles using water pressure. Butterwort is carnivorous plant that catches flies with sticky leaves.  Look for it in wet meadows in the North Cascades.

Dana then switched gears to teaching the last several plant families in our GILF presentation.  We reviewed what we learned in the previous two classes, then moved on to learn the basic characteristics of the families in “10 or More Stamens” Group, the “Families with Fused Petals” Group, and the “Families with Free Petals” Group.  But remember, when placing a plant in one of the seven ID Groups, you start with Group 1 and move through each group in numerical order deciding whether it fits or not.

The “10 or More Stamens Crowding the Center” Group (Group 5) includes the Buttercup and Rose families.  We learned these families in the first night when they were initially in the “Central Clusters” Group, but Dana revised the groups.

Buttercup Family -  This family can also be in the Bilateral Symmetry Group, but most have radial symmetry.  Buttercups usually have 5-12 petals with simple to elaborate flowers.  They usually have more than one pistil (female part), and they have 10 or more stamen (male part).  The “look” is one of many pistils and numerous stamens.  Includes: Anemones (fern-like leaves); Marsh Marigold (big round to heart-shaped succulent leaves); Buttercups (leaves mostly basal and palmately  three-lobed; usually 5 petals and always very shiny); Columbine; Meadowrue (male and female flowers are on different plants, wind pollinated; leaves in 3’s and 3 lobed)

Rose family - 48 species in the Methow with extensive variation.  Includes trees, shrubs, annuals & perennials.  In all genera, there are multiple pistils and numerous stamens.  There are always 5 petals & sepals.  Most flowers are large & showy and there is often large, fleshy fruit (strawberries, raspberries, rosehip, etc.).  No common pattern for the leaves except for the smaller plants, like brambles, you get a sense of 3 to 5 leaflets, mostly basal and toothed.

Three common genera are: Cinquefoil (Potentilla), Brambles (Rubus) and Spirea (Spiraea).  Cinquefoils can be hard to tell apart from buttercups.  Cinquefoils have sepals and buttercups don’t.  Pull a petal off on a buttercup it has a nectary at the bottom of the petal and cinquefoils don’ts.  Cinquefoils are very shiny, and their leaves are more toothed.  Brambles almost always have white flowers (salmonberry have pink) and their fruit is usually a many-seeded pod.  Spireas are small to medium shrubs with large round or long/erect clusters of tiny flowers.

The “Families with Fused Petals” Group includes the Heather or Heath Family, the Borage Family, the Phlox Family and the Primrose Family. (ID Group 6)

Heath Family – A very diverse family from saprophytes to trees but all with flowers that are bell or urn shaped (some are more open than others).

·        The saprophytes are parasites on a fungus in the ground.  They don’t photosynthesize but live on dead or decomposing matter. Includes pinesap, pine drops and indian pipe.

·        Heathers are evergreen shrubby mats with needle or scale-like leaves

·        Other genera with closed bell/urn flowers are blueberries (vaccinium), kinnikinnick and salal.

·        Genera with more open bell-shaped flowers include wintergreen and rhododendron

Borage Family – Large family that can be hairy, have fiddleheads, a central bullseye in the flower, and/or have long flaring tubes of flowers.  Six common genera are:

• Cryptantha - smallish, coarsely hairy, most have fiddleheads
• Fiddleneck – distinct fiddlehead, bristly hairs, flower a narrow tube
• Puccon – hairs not obvious but plant is scratchy, flowers not in fiddlehead but short tubes
• Stickseed – flower a short flaring tube with a colored ring in the center
• Forget-Me-Nots – like stickseed but smaller, slender and weak
• Bluebells – flower tube is closed, bell-shaped and droopy

Phlox Family – The GILF is: flower has fused petals in a long narrow tube with perpendicular lobes; leaves are narrow or ladder like. Four common genera are:  Collomia, Gilia, Phlox and Jacobs Ladder

Primrose Family – family characteristics are mostly technical; they generally prefer moist soil,  The flower “Shooting Star” is our most common Primrose.

A special family that is not in any of our Groups is the Currant Family.

Currants are medium-sized shrubs with maple shaped leaves, and edible (not always palatable) berries.  There are several species of currant in WA. 

The “Families with Free Petals” Group includes the Stonecrop Family, the Saxifrage Family, the Purslane Family and the Pink Family.  Remember from ID Group 3 onward, the flowers have parts in 5 or multiples of 5.  These family all generally have five petals, just like the last group, but these petals are free not fused. 

Stonecrop Family – distinct in that they are small succulent plants that grow in dry, rocky places.  Also known as Sedums, which is the genus.

The GILF of Saxifrage

Saxifrage Family – flowers are small and usually white; have distinctly basal or mostly leaves; most flowers have double or split pistils; some have weird-looking pitchfork petals.

Purslane: two green sepals & pink stripes

Purslane Family – The GILF is: five petals, two green sepals (an unusual number), petals often have pink stripes, and plant are more or less succulent looking.  Three common genera are: Claytonia, which includes spring beauty; Lewisia, which includes bitterroot (exception to the two green sepals); and Montia.

Pink Family – GILF cleft or split petals (some so deeply they look like 10 petals), ovary superior and bulbous, leaves usually narrow, always opposite, and borne on swollen nodes on stem.  Genera include: Starwort, Silene, Chickweed and Sandwort.

Whew!