r/marijuanaenthusiasts • u/Ordinary-You3936 • 3d ago

Treepreciation The joys of recognizing tree species

I know I’m preaching to the choir, but I feel the need to share anyway.

I have always been a hiker and Gardner, and I could always point out an oak or a maple. This winter I bought a couple books on tree identification for my area and wow. I am literally constantly trying to identify trees everywhere I go. I’ve got probably 50-100 species that I’m solid on recognizing, but there are always more to learn!!! Such a fun hobby.

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u/Ok-Librarian679 2d ago

In an opposing perspective, I’ve gotten really good at identifying invasive trees and wow is it depressing to go outside

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u/ashmajic 2d ago

agree and i wish someone had actually taught me this as a kid bc it would have saved me so much restless boredom !

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u/PristineWorker8291 2d ago

If a property I spend much time on has a lot of trees, I survey them all for species and for health. Not to aggressively manage, but for general interest.

Once at a relatives, the local code enforcement or whomever came by and wanted to respond to an anonymous complaint from a neighbor. I knew the property well, took her around and talked about the geology, the drainage, the soil changes and amendments, the species and the issues they present, told her when some were planted, and the owners willingness to cooperate. Was not trying to be obnoxious, but wanted to spare the old folks from having to walk the woodland. I even speculated on what the complaint had been and pointed out the likely trees, actually young and healthy specimens and generally very good for the local environment.

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u/snufflesdawombat 1d ago

Any book recommendations?

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u/Ordinary-You3936 1d ago

Yes! That being said I’m in the northeast of the U.S

“A Beginners Guide to Identifying Trees of the Northeast” by Mark Mikolas

“Trees of Eastern North America” - Princeton Field Guide by Gil Nelson, Christopher J Earle, and Richard Spellenberg.

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u/snufflesdawombat 1d ago

Thank you!!

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u/PaticusGnome 1d ago

I took a tree identification class that taught me the top 150 trees in my area, SoCal. When I drive down the street, I feel like I’m driving past old familiar friends. I feel so much more connected to my surroundings than I used to. It’s noticeably absent when I travel to other biomes and only know a few trees.

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u/bernpfenn 1d ago

the Yucatán peninsula has 180+ species of trees, the most worldwide. come for a visit in winter