A BRIEF KEY TO SELECTED TREES AND SHRUBS
 
	(Based upon basic leaf types and arrangement) in Memory of A.M. Wallace, 1966
 
This key is designed to illustrate the priciples of keying. A key to all of the 
native and introduced trees and shrubs would require several pages and additional
terms and characteristics. This key is designed on the dichotomous plan, that is
there are only two choices at each selective point in the key. If each choice made is 
correct, and the species is on the key, the specimen will be correctly identified.
 
1.  Leaves Broad...2 (Mostly common deciduous trees)
1.  Leaves needle-like or scale-like ...21 (Mostly evergreens, native or introduced).
 
	2.  Leaves dichotomously (forked) veined, fanlike Ginkgo biloba or
		    (Maidenhair Tree).
	2.  Leaves not dichotomously veined...3  See Leaf Arrangement
	    3.  Leaves opposite or whorled...4
	    3.  Leaves alternate...8
			4.  Leaves whorled, usually three to a node. Catalpa sp.  
                         (Indian Cigar Tree).
			4.  Leaves opposite...5
5.  Leaves Compound...6 See Leaf Types
5.  Leaves simple...7 See Leaf Types
   6.  Leaves pinnately compound: Twigs gray, Fraxinus americana  (White Ash).
       			          Twigs green, Acer secundo  (Boxelder).
   6.  Leaves Palmately compound: Usually five leaflets, Aesculus octandra (Buckeye).
			          Usually seven leaflets, (Aesculus hippocastanum)
	 	(Horse-chestnut).
	 7.  Pinnately veined; veins almost parallel. Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood).
	 7.  Palmately veined; Margin entire, heartshaped, Syringa vulgaris (Lilac).
			       Margin lobed, Acer (the Maples).
	     Lobed over 1/2 distance to midrib, silvery beneath. A. saccharinum (Silver
			Maple).
	     Broad leaves, not deeply lobed, dark underneath. A. saccharum (Sugar Maple).
	     Similar to above, with milky sap in petiole. A. plantanoides  (Norway Maple).
8.  Leaves compound...9
8.  Leaves simple...11
   9.  Leaves doubly pinnately compound, branched thorns. Gleditsia triacanthos
			(Honey Locust).
   9.  Leaves singly pinnately compound...10
	   10.  Lateral buds hidden, often stipular spines. Robinia pseudoacacia  (Black
			Locust).
	   10.  Lateral buds visible: with yellow buds. Carya cordiformis  (Bitternut or
			Pignut Hickory).
			              with gray buds. Carya ovata  (Shagbark Hickory).
11.  Leaves heart shaped, smooth margin. Cercis canadensis  (Redbud or Judas Tree).
11.  Leaves not heart shaped...12
     12.  Leaves star shaped, bark of twigs corky. Liquidambar styraciflua  (Sweet Gum).
     12.  Leaves not star shaped...13
	   13.  Leaves tulip shaped; truncate. Liriodendron tulipifera  (Tulip or Yellow
			Poplar).
	   13.  Leaves not tulip shaped...14
14.  Leaves lobed...15
14.  Leaves not lobed...18
    15. Leaves variously shaped: Edges of lobes smooth. Sassafras albidum (Sassafras).
		                 Edges of lobes serrate. Morus rubra   (Red Mulberry).
    15. Leaves all of the same shape...16
 
 
 
    16.  Leaves palmately veined, petiole covers bud. Plantanus occidentalis .
		(Sycamore).
    16.  Leaves pinnately veined...17
	   17.  Tips of lobes rounded. Quercus alba  (White Oak).
	   17.  Tips of lobes sharp, bristle tipped. Quercus rubra  (Red Oak).
18.  Leaves appearing palmately veined, cordate, serrate margin. Tilia americana
		(Linden).
18.  Leaves pinnately veined...19
    19.  Leaves entire: usually six to nine inches long, naked buds. Asimina triloba
	 (Pawpaw). usually ten to fifteen inches long, conical buds. Magnolia acuminata 
			(Cucumber tree or other native or introduced
			species or hybrids).
    19.  Leaves serrate...20
	   20.  Leaves singly serrate, equal at base, bark smooth gray.
                Fagus grandifolia (American Beech).
	   20.  Leaves doubly serrate, unequal at base, bark ridged. Ulmus americana 
			(American Elm).
21.  Leaves needle like...22
21.  Leaves scale like...24
    22.  Needles in bundles, if in bundles of five. Pinus strobus (White Pine).
    22.  Needles single...23
	  23.  Needles flat, soft: Tree. Two white lines beneath. Tsuga canadensis 
			(Hemlock).Shrub: Two yellow lines beneath. Taxus cuspidata  (Yew).
	  23.  Needles angular, stiff, whorled around branches. Picea abies  
               (Norway Spruce).
24.  Scales smooth, branches fanlike. Thuja occidentalis  (Arborvitae or white Cedar).
24.  Scales awl shaped, sharp, branches irregular.  Juniperus virginia (Red Cedar).  
  
Tree Data Continued Below:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Tree Data: to Supplement: a Brief  Key to Selected Trees and Shrubs)
 
2. The Ginkgo or Maidenhair tree: Almost extinct, often called a living fossil. Imported 	
from China. Grown around temples.
 
4. Catalpa or Indian Cigar Tree: Two native species plus several weeping and pollarded 
(trimmed into balls) types used in landscaping. One species once planted extensively
in Ohio and Pennsylvania for use as fence posts. Catalpa worms are good bait.
 
6. The White Ash: a large straight grained forest tree. Used for furniture, panelling, &
ball bats.The Boxelder or Ash Leaved Maple: Found along streams, used for a shade tree.
No great value. Boxelder bugs sometimes a nuisance.
 
6. The Sweet or Yellow Buckeye: No prickles on fruit. The Smooth or Stinking Buckeye in
the North has prickles and is State Tree of Ohio. Wood is soft, little value. 		
Nuts poisonous except to some rodents. Horse Chestnut : is imported from Asia. 		
Often planted as a shade tree. Leaves fall early, may not be a good choice.
 
7. The Flowering Dogwood: According to the legend used in making "the cross." Supposed
to be stunted and never again grow large enough to make a cross. Also, the "flower" is
in the form of a cross with nail prints, etc. Wood used in making spindles in
weaving mills as does not splinter. Pink forms also.
 
7. Lilacs: Imported, one type blooms before leaves out, other after. Maples: Silver or
soft or Water Maple. Grows fast but sharp angled limbs allow splitting. Wood of
little value, except for firewood. Sugar maple, Hard Maple, fine wood for floors,
furniture, etc. Some rare ones have curly grain, used for gun stocks. Some have many 
dormant buds, form birdseye maple. This is the maple tapped for sap to make syrup and 
sugar. The Norway Maple is intermediate in growth and strength. Used for shade trees. 
There is a red form often planted.
 
9. The Honey Locust :typically invades old pastures. The large branched thorns are a
nuisance, some thornless forms used for shade trees. Wood seldom used but similar to
oak if processed. Large pods of most forms very coarse, one type has been developed
for use as cattle food.
 
10. The Black Locust: Seldom forms a nice tree as the locust borer kills many of the
twigs. Planted in plantations for posts, often the non spiny form.
 
lO. Hickories: The bitternut group have smooth bark and do not usually grow very large.
Fruit very bitter, inedible. The Shagbark Hickory grows very large, has fine fruit,
and the wood is used for handles. Hickory wood makes fine firewood except it may
crack and pop out if not confined with a tight screen. The bark makes the best
smoked hams, but the wood is often used. Some mix this wood with apple and
sassafras for flavor.
 
11. The Redbud or Judas Tree: Rest of the cross legend, Judas hanged himself on this 
tree, and every Easter it blushes with shame.
 
12. Sweet Gum: A fine shade tree. Ornamental leaves and fruits.
 
13.Tulip Tree: Also called Yellow Poplar. Fine wood for weather boarding, often used 
in old cabinet work. Most log cabins were made of this.
 
 
 
Tree Key Supplement						Page 2	                                            
 
15. Sassafras: Not much of a tree, unusual yellow wood. Root bark makes tea. Mulberry: 
Mostly Red Mulberry. Birds feed on these, nuisance, edible.
 
16. Sycamore or Plane Tree: Trunk white, the ghost in Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Characteristic of stream banks, often large and hollow.
 
17. White Oak : Fine, often very large forest trees up to 300 years in age. Used in
construction, once in warships. By law used in whiskey kegs. Stave mills near
Coolville. Fine for floors and cabinet work. The Red  and Black Oaks are coarser
than white, but much of the same uses.
 
18. Linden or Basswood: Linnaeus named after this. A famous avenue in Berlin, Unter der
Linden. Used by American Indians to make bark cloth as bark is very fibrous. 
Early weavers here named it Bast or fiberwood. Now contracted to Basswood.
Flowers produce excellent honey.
 
19. Pawpaw: The only member of the tropical Custard Apple family. Relished by many wild
animals as o'possums and some people. Magnolia, from a forest tree, the Cucumber
Tree (from fruit) to many fancy flowering species and hybrids. Mainly for decoration.
 
20. American Beech  or Beechnut: Fine for carving initials. making toothpicks, and 
hunting squirrels. Often large, usually hollow.
 
20. American Elm: Once the favorite Elm Street shade tree, Now decimated by Dutch Elm 
Disease, a fungus disease spread by bark beetles and Phloem Necrosis, a virus
disease that clogs the phloem. Very spreading, wood warps and twists, rots easily.
However, it is almost impossible to split, once used as wagon hubs. The Red Elm or
Slippery Elm has a very mucilagenous bark, once chewed by many before chewing gum
days. Makes excellent spit balls for baseball pitchers.	
 
22. The White Pine :was the dominant forest pine in the East. A fine soft wood, easily
worked, it was used in the gingerbread (trim) in old homes. Also used to make the
tall masts in Yankee Clippers.
 
23. The Hemlock: A large forest tree of swamps in northern U.S. and Canada. Produces 
dense shade. Bark used in tanning as it contains much tannic acid. The Yews: Only
native one here is very small. The Japanese Yew is often planted. Has pips (red,
fruit-like seed containing structures) with seed sticking out of a hole into seed
as is a gymnosperm. Wood of the English Yew is used in fine bows.
 
23. The Spruces: are of mountains and far north. Mostly Norway Spruce planted here.
Majority of Twin Pine spots advertised are twin spruce. There are other species 
and horticultural varieties as Blue Spruce. Some spruces were used in early 
aircraft as wood is strong and light.
 
24. The White Cedar: or Arborvitae, Tree of Life. Characteristic of alkaline swamps 
here or of northern swamps and line many canadian lakes. Slow growing, decorative
trees. Many asiatic dwarf types imported to plant in tubs. Also used in landscape.
 
24. Red Cedar: Slow growing, characteristic of sandstone hills from here south. The
wood is fragrant and is used for pencils and cedar chests. The trees are the 
hosts for apple rust. Many horticultural varieties used in landscaping.