Learning about Trees, part 2

Maybe I am just finding something everybody else already knows about, but that is one of the great things about the internet- information is easily available. I am trying to learn the difference between pines, spruces, firs, cedars, etc, etc. Once you start looking, there are all varieties of evergreens that I have not paid much attention to, previously! I found the Arbor Day Foundation website, http://www.arborday.org/trees/wtit/ which gives an easy tutorial about learning to identify trees. Then it helps you identify more trees! If you are as ignorant about trees as I am, it is a good, basic resource.

So, we have a lovely tree in the front that I thought was a blue spruce, but now I think it is a white fir, a tree that is recommended as better than a blue spruce for our area (central Utah), because it has few pest problems, is a Rocky Mountain native, and has a nearly perfect 'Christmas tree' shape.

White Fir -Abies concolor

These pictures are all from my BYU tree tour, our white fir is big, but not THIS big! Here is a closeup of the needles -

Eastern Redcedar -Juniperus virginiana

This columnar tree is not a cedar, but a juniper. Hmm, I wonder what difference that makes? At any rate, it is the tree used to make cedar chests! I snuck in behind the bushes and smelled the tree, and sure enough, it smells great.

These last two photos are of the Douglas Fir, another Rocky Mountain native, which is also popular as a Christmas tree.

Douglas Fir - Pseudotsuga menziesii
Another fir tree. Short needles seem to be characteristic of a fir, long needles of a pine - ? I thought the cones were cool -

Next time I talk about trees, I'll try and show you the two larches (?) I think I have in our yard.