Tree Leaf ID

Levon Brunello & Aaron Bullock

Unless noted otherwise, all pictures in this collection taken by Levon
Brunello & Aaron Bullock

The Sugar Maple

The Red Maple has a toothed margin
Sugar maple has a smooth margin
Leaf is separated into 5 lobes with 3
main veins
Twigs are reddish brown and sleek
looking (almost like a wax coating)
Bark has vertical groves closely spaced.
Dark grey to dark brown in color

Red Maple
Look Alike: sugar maple

Leaves are green to a gray green

(not red)
Noticeably white undersides
Buds are tiny reddish balls
Bark on mature trees is dark grey,
and has vertical irregular grooves

American Beach
Strait veins that end in a pointed
tooth

Oval shaped with a pointed tip

Top is a dull dark green and bottom
is a lighter green
Saw tooth edges to the leaves
Bark is light grey and smooth

Red Oak
The red oak has pointed tips while white
oak has rounded tips and deeper lobes
Leaves are a dark green and have sharp
pointed lobes (7-9) with bristled tips
usually
Bark is smooth and a dark grey when
young and deep ridges grow as the tree
ages
Acorns are round with a scaly cap

Iron Wood
Look Alike is the yellow birch

Both are double but yellow birch has

a smooth surface unlike iron wood
that has a sand paper like feel
Leaves are green and oval shaped
with sharp teeth. The teeth are
longer closer to the stem
Have clusters of fruit that look like
hops (stuff used in beer to add
flavor)

Older trees have rough peeling,

greyish brown bark

Basswood
Large leaf, leaf shape is heart shaped

toothed edges and a sort point

Bark is dark brown with narrow ridges

Yellow birch
Both are double serrated but yellow
birch is smooth surface while
ironwood has a sand paper texture
Bark like white birch but yellow
Chew the twig of yellow birch and
taste winter green white birch
Bark is amber yellow to silvery
yellow grey. It peels in small curls

White Ash
Diamond ash has a diamond pattern
to the bark, while black ash
Leaves are dark green on top and
pale underneath
Oval and pointed leaves. Usually 7
leaflets per leaf (sometimes 5 or 7)
Leaves turn reddish purple in the
fall
Older trees have almost a diamond
pattern to their bark

Dog Wood
The parallel venation is the
best way to ID: Dog wood
Green oval leaves with wavy
edges. Silvery green
underneath
Oval and pointed in shape and
attached on the stem in 2s
opposite of each other.
Red/yellow or red/purple
leaves in the fall
Small white flowers appear in
clusters in the spring

Elderberry
Scratch and sniff and note strong
smell of ripe fruit
Very green leaves that are oval
shaped and very pointed
Small teeth around the whole
leaf
Veins disappear as the reach
close to the edge of the leaf

Black Cherry
Both have two small glands at the
base of the leaf stem, but black
cherry has a fine orange fuzz on
the back of the mid vein. The top
of the black cherry leaf is more
shinny the pin cherry
Black cherry is a tree while pin
cherry is a shrub
Narrow and pointy leaves with
curvy edges and saw like teeth
Produces white flowers in spring
Older trees have peeling bark that
is dark grey
Produces dark red cherries late
august to September

Silver Maple
Look alike: red maple

Silver maple has very deep lobes

and grows in wet locations often
near lakes
Pale to bright green leaves with
a silver underside
Between lobes of the leaf it is a
U shape rather than a V like the
other maples
Very toothed and pointed
Leaves are yellowish green to
yellow in the fall. Sometimes
turn red

Sumac
Green, long and narrow
leaflets with 2 leafs
opposite each other
along the stem
Almost looks like a fern

Photo thanks to Rose and Jenna

Butter Nut
Looks similar to black oak
Compound leaves. Leaflets
have 11 17 oval pointed
leaves
Hairy stalk
Leaflets are all the same size

Bright green in colour

American Chestnut
Lighter green leaves that are narrow
and oval shaped
Bristly tipped teeth on the edge of the
leaf
Females have spiky husky fruit with nuts
inside
Males have white flowers

Manitoba Maple
Leaves are a translucent green
and turn yellow in the fall
Very invasive species and
unstable, can grow many trunks
that like to grow horizontal
Compound leaves. Usually 3 7
leaflets
Branched are smooth and
breakable, sometimes smaller
ones are pinkish red
Photo Source:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/things
tosee/trees/manitobamaple.shtml

Bark is deeply cut with large,

scaly, horizontal grooves

Black Ash
Deep green and very oval leaflets
on a stalk
Bark is light grey and smooth.
Becomes scaly with age
Very smooth leaf no hairs on it

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr
axinus_nigra

Large Tooth Aspen

Take note of the size of the
teeth Compared to trembling
aspen. Large tooth and
trembling together is often
referred to as poplar
Large green and round leafs
White fuzzy hairs on the
underside

Veins are light green

Bark is dark grey with lighter
horizontal rings and mostly
vertical ridges and grooves

Trembling Aspen
Take note of the teeth compared to large
tooth aspen. Large tooth and trembling
together are often referred to as poplar
Leaf stalk is longer and flatter than leaf
itself
Yellowish green leaves

Oval/heart shapes with fuzzy teeth

around the edge
Whitish grey bark that darkens with age

White Birch
Look Alike: yellow birch
White birch is not double serrate
like yellow birch, white birch has
a glossy top to the leafs
Leaves are green
egg/triangular shaped
Edges are saw like and
underside is a little fuzzy
Smooth white bark that peels
off

Willow
Long and narrow pointed
leaves
Single or multiple trunks
Dark brown and scaly nark

Photo supplied by Rose and Jenna

Pin Cherry
Oval leaves with a point. Teeth are
pointy and spread apart
Yellowish green in colour
Bark is brownish grey and smooth
with horizontal ridges

Produces a white flower and bright

red cherries

Photo supplied by Rose and Jenna

Beaked Hazel
Leaves are oval and bright
green coming to a point
Double toothed edges and
hairy underside
Heart shaped at the base of
the leaf
Bark is a smooth light brown

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cor
ylus_cornuta

Sources
Info sources

http://ontariotrees.com/mondaygarden/article.php?id=134

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/american_beech.htm

http://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/tree-atlas

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/iowa_trees/trees/yellow_birch.html

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/iowa_trees/trees/yellow_birch.html

Photo sources
Rose and Jenna

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraxinus_nigra

http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/thingstosee/trees/manitobamaple.shtml

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corylus_cornuta