Transcript Mystery_Trees.ppt

Mystery Trees
Using Dichotomous Keys
Dichotomous Key
• Find the Identity of a Mystery Tree!
In your science journal, number 1 to 8. This is
where you will record your findings.
Continue through the slides to reveal a tree
description, complete with photographs and text
describing the characteristics of a particular
tree. Then, connect with the dichotomous key
link above to try to identify the tree's genus and
species.
After carefully making choices in the
dichotomous key, you will reach the name of a
genus and click on it to receive a description of
that genus.
Mystery Tree #1
leaves: Needle-like, occur in bundles of 5; 2-4" long; white lines on all 3
surfaces of each needle.
Fruit: Huge, woody cones, 10-20" long (larger than western white pine cones)
and straight. Cone scales are thick and straight.
Bark: Reddish-brown and furrowed; broken into long plates on older trees
(narrow plates on young trees). No small blocky patches, and no rings where
whorls of branches once grew.
Distribution: Southern to central Oregon Cascades, Siskiyou complex, and
California Sierras.
Mystery Tree #2
leaves: Scale-like and appressed to twig; set of four leaves is much longer
than it is wide (and is shaped like long-stemmed wine glass); little or no
white pattern on underside.
Fruit: Woody cones about 1" long; unopened cones are shaped like a duck's
bill; open cones are shaped like a flying goose.
Bark: Flaky when young; platy, furrowed, and reddish-brown when mature.
Distribution: Native to the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and the Sierra
Nevada in California.
Mystery Tree #3
Leaves: White on both surfaces; about 1" long; needle-like, with blunt tip and shaped
like a hockey stick. Massed on the upper surface of the twig. A tiny groove runs the
length of the upper side.
Fruit: Large woody cones (4-6" long); cylindrical in shape; have distinctive bracts that
look like elephant heads. Fall apart when mature.
Twigs: Reddish-brown. Buds clustered at the terminal end are usually round, and are
over-lapped by curved needles.
Distribution: Occurs along the Pacific coast in Washington, Oregon, and northern
California. Commonly found at 3,200-5,600 ft. (1,000-1,700 m) elevation on the west
side of the Cascade Mountains.
Mystery Tree #4
Leaves: 1" long; needle-like and sharp; yellow-green; often flat (difficult to
roll between your fingers). Some needles on a twig point sideways; others
point forward.
Fruit: Woody cones; 1-4" long; hang down; very thin scales with jagged
edges.
Twigs: Each needle is borne on a square, raised, woody peg.
Distribution: Grows in a narrow coastal zone from southern Alaska to
northwestern California at low elevations.
Mystery Tree #5
Leaves: Large, the size of your head (around 12" wide); palmately lobed.
Fruit: Big double samaras (seed about the size of your pinky tip); fuzzy,
occuring in hanging clusters.
Twigs: Opposite one another, like the leaves.
Distribution: grows widely along the West Coast, from Southeast Alaska
south to central California, from the coast east to Cascades and Sierras.
Mystery Tree #6
Leaves: Pinnately lobed, about 5" long; 7-9 rounded lobes on each leaf, but
quite variable; dark green above.
Fruit: Looks like an acorn with a hat-like cap (shallow); about the size of the
tip of your thumb.
Twigs: Thick, with several buds at the tip.
Distribution: Throughout the valley bottoms and foothills of western Oregon
and Washington, and south into northern California (to San Francisco).
Mystery Tree #7
Leaves: Large leaves (6 in. long), especially the leaves near the top of the tree which
are much larger; triangular in shape with a long petiole; green on top and white below
with rusty markings.
Fruit: capsules dangling on a stem that pop open and have cottony tufts attached to
tiny, black seeds.
Twigs: stout, arranged alternately on branches; the buds at the end of the twigs are
large, pointed, sticky, and smell sweet.
Distribution: Found this tree along a watercourse in the Willamette valley, western
Oregon, but can be identified in riparian areas from southeast Alaska to Baja
California, and from the Pacific Coast to the Dakotas.
Mystery Tree #8
Leaves: Thick (look like they'll persist through the winter), dark green above
and light green below, edges finely serrated.
Fruit: Blueberry-sized, orange-red in color, looks like a berry and has a gritty
texture.
Twigs: Stout and smooth; the outer bark on older branches is orange o
reddish-brown, peeling to show a twig green to yellow in color.
Distribution: Found this tree on a sunny hillside in southwestern Oregon, but
this species can be identified in western Oregon, Washington, and northern
California.