To ID a conifer
Some trees are really obvious and easy to ID but, to make ID easier, my habit is to include photos of:
- the whole plant to show overall form/stature,
a very closeup of leaves,
on big trees when I can not get close to leaves, I might use a telephoto to get the best view possible.
In pines, looking for number of needles per fascicle and needle length; in the cypress family, juniper in
particular, looking for scale leaf overlap, tip shape and leaf gland visible or not.close up of seed cones (in pines, what looks like miniature cones are likely pollen cones; in junipers, tear
open a fleshy seed cone to check seed(s) size and shape.
Notice if both pollen and seed cones (monoecious) or only one or the other (dioecios)- a portrait, so to speak, of mature bark.