Good day! I have a picture of an evergreen. I would like an ID for it. I have attached a jpeg. I don't know pine from spruce from fir. Any ideas? Also, what would be the proper names for the reproduction parts? (cones and???) Thanks, Wazungy.
Looks like a pine. The left one shows male cones, which produce pollen, and the right one is the female cone, which produces the seeds. I live in the "Piney Woods" of east Texas and when these male cones dump their pollen the air is thick with it and everything becomes covered in yellow. Where is this tree? That would help to identify it as well as how many needles are in a fascicle (bundle), and how long they are.
Pinus nigra (European Black Pine a.k.a. Corsican Pine a.k.a. Austrian Pine) Pollen cones on the left, seed cone on the right.
I may be wrong but it appears to me that the leaves are mostly in clusters of more than 2, probably 3. If this is right then it cannot be Pinus nigra which has its leaves in clusters of 2.
Could be Pinus ponderosa Ponderosa Pine, also known as Yellow Pine or Bull Pine. I have lots of them on my property, they thrive here in the northwest. It's helpful to see the bark of the tree to assist in identifying.
Definitely Pinus nigra - the cone is characteristic of that species, and very different from P. ponderosa, etc. The needles are in pairs too, look at the flat inner face of the needles (if they were in 3s, the inner face would show triangular; see diagram below). The needle fascicles are tightly packed, so there are a few fascicles that give the illusion of being more than two per fascicle, but a close look shows they are just pairs. Worth adding that P. nigra (like all 2-needle pines) will produce the occasional fascicle with 3 needles, but (again, like all 2-needle pines) usually only on vigorous shoots on young trees.
RE:Re: need evergreen ID please. If memory serves me it does have needles grouped in pairs. About 4 inches long. Pinus Nigra huh? Austrian pine or black pine. If it is any help, I live in Vancouver BC which is just north of ellingham in Washington. I doubt I have a picture of the bark of the tree. Thanks for the replies! The link to that pine site is really nice, I'll add it to my collection. Waz
There's a couple guidebooks to Vancouver area trees you may be interested in, if you don't have either. The earlier one was called Trees of Greater Vancouver or something similar, was prepared by the late G. Straley, of UBCBG. Since then I have seen a second one at UBCBG gift shop. If Dr Straley's book is out of print probably a public library will have it.
Gerald Bane Straley "Trees of Vancouver" ISBN 0-7748-0406-8 UBC Press 1992 great local guide to our urban trees..
Trees of Vancouver is still in print. We're actually in discussions with UBC Press to host a digital (and updateable) copy of it on these forums...
Good. First change "Thuja plicata - mystery variety" (or whatever phrase was) to Thuja occidentalis 'Aureospicata'.
Thanks again, No, I doubt I will be picking up any books. At least not on trees. Cactii are another matter though. Waz
