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Trees

13 discoveries with Puschel and Flauschi.

Compare twelve trees. The first four follow the German Forest Inventory by forest-area share; the rest are a rough guide to familiar woodland trees. German Forest Inventory (2022)

Puschel sits to the left holding a small pine cone while Flauschi examines long paired needles with her green explorer magnifier beside the orange-brown pine bark

Tree

Recognising a Scots Pine

Scots pine needles usually grow in pairs from one small covering on the twig. It fits like a tiny sleeve around the bases of both needles.

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Flauschi examines a twig of single spruce needles with her green explorer magnifier on the left, while Puschel holds a long spruce cone on the right; more cones hang down in front of scaly bark

Tree

Recognising a Norway Spruce

Short, firm spruce needles grow singly all around the twig. Their tips can be prickly – look closely instead of touching.

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Puschel holds an oval beech leaf while Flauschi uses the green explorer magnifier to inspect beechnuts on a twig beside the smooth grey bark of a European beech

Tree

Recognising a European Beech

A beech leaf is oval with a pointed tip. Its edge is usually gently wavy.

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Puschel holds a lobed oak leaf while Flauschi uses the green explorer magnifier to inspect acorns on a twig beside the deeply furrowed bark of an old oak

Tree

Recognising an Oak Tree

The pedunculate and sessile oaks shown here have leaves with rounded sections separated by notches. The projecting sections are called lobes.

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Flauschi examines a drooping birch fruiting catkin with her green explorer magnifier while Puschel holds a pointed toothed birch leaf in front of the white bark

Tree

Recognising a Silver Birch

A silver birch leaf is triangular to diamond-shaped, with a pointed tip and many tiny teeth along its edge. Its striking white bark has dark horizontal marks.

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Puschel holds a five-lobed sycamore maple leaf while Flauschi uses the green explorer magnifier to inspect paired winged fruit beside the scaly bark of a sycamore maple

Tree

Recognising a Sycamore Maple

Sycamore leaves usually have five broad pointed parts spreading like fingers from one surface. These parts are lobes.

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Puschel and Flauschi study feathered ash leaves and hanging winged fruits on a tall tree.

Tree

Recognising an Ash Tree

An ash leaf consists of several leaflets on one shared stalk. This arrangement is called pinnate.

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Flauschi shows Puschel rounded black alder leaves and small dark seed cones beside a stream.

Tree

Recognising a Black Alder

Rounded leaves, dark older bark and small woody fruit clusters help identify black alder. The clusters look like tiny cones, but are not conifer cones.

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Puschel catches falling golden larch needles on the left while Flauschi examines a small upright larch cone on a twig with her green explorer magnifier on the right

Tree

Recognising a European Larch

Many soft needles grow in tufts on very short shoots. On long shoots they grow singly.

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Puschel points at a Douglas fir cone with small three-pointed bracts held by Flauschi in front of a conifer.

Tree

Recognising a Douglas Fir

Flat Douglas fir needles grow singly on the twig. Its cones hang down.

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Flauschi examines the underside of flat fir needles with her green explorer magnifier on the left while Puschel points to an upright cone in front of grey fir bark on the right

Tree

Recognising a Silver Fir

Fir needles are flat and usually blunt at the tip. Two pale stripes run along each needle’s underside.

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Puschel looks at a split fine-spined husk with two brown sweet chestnuts on the forest floor while Flauschi points out a long toothed leaf on the tree

Tree

Recognising a Sweet Chestnut Tree

Sweet chestnut has single long leaves with sharp teeth along the edges. Fruits sit inside a husk with many fine prickles.

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Puschel and Flauschi examine fallen leaves of different colours on a tree stump.

Why do leaves change colour in autumn?

In autumn many deciduous trees break down green leaf pigment. Yellow and orange pigments already in the leaves become visible.

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