Learn your Trees
Tree identification is a skill that comes in handy while out in the woods.
Learning how to differentiate a maple from an oak from a hickory from a basswood can not only give you a greater sense of comfort in the woods but it also allows you to selectively harvest trees for specific tasks.
I think I'll spend some time going over some of the trees locally and include pictures of bark, leaves, seeds, etc. to give you some idea of the process I use.
I've recently lost all of my online images from a former gallery and will now have to rebuild with new images so it will take me a few days to get things going.
Once we're up and running though I'll make it a regular part of the blog. I'll also include some popular uses for the tree, the wood, the seeds and/or fruit, the bark, and/or the roots. You'll quickly see just how extensive a toolbox nature provides for you.
Thanks for reading,
B
posted by American Bushman @ 10:05 AM
4 Comments:
Excellent Bri,
Looking forward to this. My tree ID has still alot to be desired. This will provide some good learning for me.
Pablo.
Mine too Pablo. This will be a good exercise to help me commit more information to memory also.
Tomorrow I'll be writing up Osage (also known as Bois d'Arc and hedge) as it's one of the few bark pictures I've still got handy.
If I can get into the woods tomorrow morning I'll also snap some pictures of the leaves. The fruit (the hedge apple, brain fruit, osage orange) will really start falling in about a month but I'll see what's growing up in the branches while I'm out.
Thanks for your comment,
B
Last weekend, I completed my first bushcraft course and when I got home, managed to find some great online PDF ID charts for leaves and twigs (for winter ID).
Planning to take my 5 year old son into the woods this weekend for a 'tree hunt' - some fun for him and some education for me.
Can't wait to see what you do with this. Thanks!
Chris
That's fantastic Chris.
Start him off with a few of the real easy ones like maple (Canada's Flag,) birch (white, papery bark,) or oak (acorns this time of year.)
Here's something else to consider:
Let him bring home a leaf from the trees he identifies and he can either do a rubbing or he can mount the leaf on a page, store it in a binder, and make his own tree identification book.
B
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