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Tree Keys


• Deciduous - summer
• Deciduous - winter
• Coniferous - winter

Key to coniferous trees and shrubs in winter

Part 3: Key to coniferous trees and shrubs in summer (or evergreen species in winter)
(Note: Only includes species likely to be seen outside collections and arboreta)

1.	Leaves can’t be removed cleanly when pulled outward or leaves scale like	Go to 2
	Leaves needle like and not as above, leaving a scar or peg behind	Go to 13
2.	Leaves pinnate (like the teeth of a two sided comb)	Go to 3
	Leaves not pinnate, triangular, leathery and 25 - 50 mm long (1” to 2”)	Monkey Puzzle Araucaria araucana
	Leaves not pinnate, like narrow needles, in 5 ranks and less than 25mm (1”) long	Japanese Red Cedar Cryptomeria japonica
	Leaves not pinnate, like narrow needles with sharp tips, in 3 ranks and less than 6mm (1/4 “) long	Juniper Juniperinus communis
	Leaves less than 5mm long, scale-like and arranged in sprays (cypress-like)	Go to 4
3.	Leaves mid green above but glaucous below	Redwood Sequoia sempervirens
	Leaves dark green and dull yellowish green below	Yew Taxus baccata
4.	Shoots and leaves all lying in one plane	Go to 5
	Shoots and leaves arranged in three planes	Go to 9
	Older shoots in one plane younger, terminal ones in three planes and leaves with turpentine odour when crushed	Leyland Cypress x Cupressocyparis leylandii
5.	Fragile foliage that breaks up into small pieces when crushed and almost odour-less	Chinese Thuja Platycladus orientalis
	Tough foliage that usually has an odour when crushed	Go to 6
6.	Leaves with odour of apple or pineapple when crushed and shiny	Go to 6a
	Leaves with no apple or pineapple odour and not at all shiny	Go to 7
6a.	Leaves with a strong pineapple odour when crushed and with white markings below	Western Red Cedar Thuja plicata
	Leaves with an apple odour when crushed and uniformly yellowish below	White Cedar Thuja occidentalis
7.	Individual leaves curved inward toward the tip, leaves dull, crushed leaves have an odour of sour parsley	Lawson’s Cypress Chamaecyparis lawsoniana
	As above but leaves bright green and with eucalyptus scent when crushed	Hinoki Cypress Chamaecyparis obtusa
	Individual leaves not curved inward toward the tip but spreading outwards, leaves dull	Go to 8
8.	Leaves in pendulous sprays, dark green with no pale markings below, odour sweetly parsley like when crushed	Nootka Cypress Chamaecyparis nootkatensis
	Leaves in ascending sprays, pale bluish or bright green, odour of orange peel (citrus) when crushed	Sawara Cypress Chamaecyparis pisifera
9.	Leaf tips long, sharp at tip and spreading, odour of orange peel mixed with aniseed when crushed	Wellingtonia Sequoiadendron giganteum
	Leaf tips not spreading and individual leaves convex	Go to 10
10.	Very young leaves resembling Juniper leaves present as well as sprays of small-scale leaves, individual scale-leaves pale edged	Go to 11
	All leaves, including young ones, in cypress-like three-dimensional sprays, individual scale leaves not pale at margin	Go to 12
11.	Scale leaves with an acute point at tip, leaves with a strong odour of 'roast lamb with mint sauce' or paint when crushed	Pencil Cedar Juniperinus virginiana
	Scale leaves are blunt at the tip, leaves with a weak odour of parsley when crushed	Chinese Juniper Juniperinus chinensis
12.	Leaves a bright yellowish-green colour with an odour of lemons when crushed	Monterey Cypress Cupressus macrocarpa
	Leaves a dull mid-green colour with almost no odour when crushed	Italian Cypress Cupressus sempervirens
13.	Leaves all separate solitary needles spaced along the twigs	Go to 14
	Leaves paired long needles or long needles in groups of 3 or 5	Go to 23
	Leaves are needle like and clustered in whorls on short shoots	Go to 27
14.	Leaves are stiff, mid to dark green and evergreen	Go to 15
	Leaves are soft, usually pale or yellowish green and deciduous	Go to 22
	(Note: These can only be keyed out between May and October)
15.	Leaves, twigs and part of buds are green, twigs longitudinally ridged	Yew Taxus baccata
	Leaves mid to dark green or glaucous, twigs not green, buds entirely brown or brownish	Go to 16
16.	When leaves are pulled off upright brown pegs are left behind, leaves obtuse (blunt) or acute (sharp), terminal bud is blunt	Go to 17
	When leaves are pulled off slightly raised oblique pegs are left behind, leaves obtuse (blunt)	Go to 17a
	When leaves are pulled circular scars are left behind, leaves obtuse (blunt), terminal bud acute (pointed) or obtuse (blunt)	Go to 18
17.	Leaves flattened and sharply pointed, 20 - 25mm (1”) long, glaucous below, twigs dull,pale brown, leaves almost with no odour when crushed	Sitka Spruce Picea sitchensis
	Leaves very narrow and four angled, sharply pointed, less than 20mm (3/4”), bright green, twigs orange, leaves with odour of turpentine when crushed	Norway Spruce Picea abies
	Leaves rounded in section, sharply pointed, 30- 40mm (1.5”) long, uniform dark green, twigs cream coloured, leaves with no distinctive odour	Morinda Spruce Picea smithiana
	Leaves obtuse (blunt) or acute (but other features different)	Spruce sp. Picea sp.
17a.	Leaves unequal but no third row of twisted leaves below shoot	Western Hemlock Tsuga heterophylla
	Leaves all about equal with third row of twisted leaves below shoot	Eastern Hemlock Tsuga canadensis
18.	Terminal bud is shiny, slender and acute (pointed), leaves with strong odour of tangerines when crushed, bark very rough with deep fissures	Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menziesii
	Terminal bud is dull or resinous, rounded and blunt, leaves various, bark not as above and usually rather smooth or scaly	Go to 19
19.	Axis of twig covered in needles so that it is mostly invisible from above	Go to 20
	Axis of twig mostly exposed and visible from above	Go to 21
20.	Leaves straight and dark green above	Caucasian Fir Abies nordmanniana
	Leaves curving outward and glaucous grey green above	Noble Fir Abies procera
21.	Leaves about 25mm (1”) long, dark green above, silvery below, leaves have an odour of grapefruit when crushed	Silver Fir Abies alba
	Leaves typically 50mm (2”) long, bright grass green, leaves have an odour of tangerine when crushed	Grand Fir Abies grandis
22.	Leaves pinnate and arranged in opposite pairs on the twigs	Dawn Redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides
	Leaves pinnate and arranged alternately on the twigs	Swamp Cypress Taxodium distichum
	Leaves needle like and arranged in whorls along twigs	Larch Larix sp.
23.	Leaves 3 to 20 cm (1 to 8”) long and arranged in pairs	Go to 24
	Leaves bright green (dark green in mass) with 5mm white, 10 to 25 cm (4 to 10”) long and arranged in groups of three	Monterey Pine Pinus radiata
	Leaves pale green, lax and pendulous, 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8”) and arranged in groups of five	Bhutan Pine Pinus wallichiana
	(Any other pine with needles in groups of 3 or 5 is rare outside collections)
24.	Leaves usually shorter than 10cm (4”) long	Go to 25
	Leaves usually longer than 10cm (4”) long	Go to 26
25.	Leaves bluish green showing fine white fibres when broken, bud acute at tip and not resinous	Scot’s Pine Pinus sylvestris
	Leaves grass green and not showing fibres when broken, bud blunt at tip and very resinous	Lodgepole Pine Pinus contorta
26.	Leaves up to 20cm (8”) long, stiff and dark green, foliage rather sparse on tree, bud not resinous	Maritime Pine Pinus pinaster
	Leaves up to 17cm (7”) long, lax and greyish green, foliage rather dense on tree, bud quite resinous	Corsican Pine Pinus nigra
27.	Most leaves over 25mm (1”) long, all leaves grass green, younger shoots droping at the tip	Deodar or Himalayan Cedar Cedrus deodara
	Most leaves less than 25mm (1”) long, all leaves dark green or glaucous	Go to 28
28.	Leaves usually in whorls of 15-20, leaf tips abruptly tapered to a 0.2mm long reddish point	Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani
	Leaves usually in whorls of 30 - 45, leaf tips gradually tapered to a 0.5mm long yellowish point	Atlas Cedar Cedrus atlantica

Phil Budd
Update: 17/02/2007

Phil Budd
Update: 17/02/2007