WildLife: Winter Fun in the Forest
by Ana Ruesink,
December 2, 2010, page 8.....

Fun in the Forest

Saplings in winter make marvelous slingshots. My eight-year-old daughter likes to bend them back deeply, hold a piece of bark or a Y-shaped twig against the sapling near its tip and then let go. If she’s lucky, her woody missile will launch gloriously through the woods. If she’s unlucky, it will flop comically to the ground, and we’ll have a good laugh. It’s one of the joys of winter outdoors, when trees are leafless and the woods are uncluttered. Stripped of summer’s color and bounty, things simplify.
But when it comes to identifying deciduous saplings in winter – if you want to know your slingshot’s name, for example – things are not so simple. Without leaves, woody residents of the northern forest can be hard to tell apart.
In deciduous forests of the Northeast, you could encounter roughly 70 species of trees. Considering woody shrubs as well adds another 80 species to the list. Daunting? Just be glad you don’t live in the tropics, where woody plant species number in the thousands (and you’re stuck with 12 months of bad skiing).
Luckily, woody plants have many identifying features. A moment’s scrutiny reveals details, distinctions and marvelous diversity. Winter tree identification can be almost as much fun as launching missiles with a sapling slingshot. And it’s a great antidote to the first impression of dull uniformity that so often attends our visits to the winter woods.
Examine your saplings closely, and consult your winter field guide. This time of year, my rucksack includes Winter Keys to Woody Plants of Maine (by Campbell, Hyland and Campbell) and Harlow’s Fruit Key and Twig Key to Trees and Shrubs. For your first outing, try walking the trail in the Charlotte Town Forest off Flat Rock Road at Thompson’s Point, where more than 20 common trees have been labeled with English and Latin names. Learn to identify those 20 and you’ll be well on your way.
Here are some useful features to focus on in winter:
Twig and bud arrangement: On most trees, twigs and buds are attached in an alternating pattern along each branch. A few notable exceptions occur, in accordance with the so-called MAD Honey Rule. Woody plants in these groups – maple, ash, dogwood and the honeysuckle family – arrange things opposite to each other in pairs. There are spoilers in every kingdom, of course, and a small handful of woody plants have discarded the simple elegance of opposite vs. alternate in favor of a “sub-opposite” arrangement. Look at common buckthorn for an example.
Bud size and shape: Fat ones (e.g. American basswood), skinny ones (e.g. American beech), tiny ones (e.g. black locust), hairy ones (e.g. apple): buds exhibit a remarkable variety of shapes and forms. The buds of most woody plants are protected by scales, but in a few, such as witch hazel and hobblebush, the buds are naked.
Bud or twig color: Even in winter, the plant world has its share of flashy dressers. Look for the distinctive sulfur-yellow buds of bitternut hickory or the characteristic blotchy green twigs of box elder.
Overall tree architecture: Just as an expert birder can identify a bird by its silhouette alone, a savvy student of winter trees can recognize distinctive shapes and growth forms, especially for older trees and shrubs. Look for the graceful, vase-shaped form of American elm, the contorted branches of pignut hickory or the irregular, zigzag branching pattern of black cherry. White ash generally sports a small number of chunky twigs and branches, while gray birch grows clumps of numerous slender twigs.
Unusual features: Several woody plants can be identified with a quick scratch-and-sniff. Black and yellow birch both smell sweet like wintergreen when their twigs are bruised, while cherries have an aroma like rancid peanut butter. Other unusual features include thorns (hawthorn, for example), spines (prickly ash), catkins (beaked hazelnut), persistent leaves (American beech), persistent fruit (high-bush cranberry), sticky, aromatic buds (balsam poplar) and monkey-faced leaf scars (butternut).
So go ahead – embrace the fun sport of winter tree identification. Nature’s fine details will astound you. Stripping trees down to the bare branches beneath frees us to look for nuance and subtlety, to invest all our senses in close examination and to marvel at the deep blend of form, function and beauty that is a tree. And even if you can’t figure out a sapling’s name, you can always use it as a slingshot. Just ask my daughter.

Ana Ruesink is a Burlington-based naturalist who likes to play in the woods with her family all year long. Portions of this article first appeared in Northern Woodlands Magazine.

Charlotte Conservation Commission collaborates with talented area naturalists to provide Wild Life nature notes, coordinated by Linda Hamilton and Alicia Daniel, helping residents understand and appreciate wild nature close to home. For more information about the Conservation Commission, see charlottevt.org.