How to Identify Your Trees and Shrubs

When you encounter a tree or shrub, it is often difficult to recognize the particular variety. These plants come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, with some developing flowers and others growing fruit. If you have an unknown plant in your landscape, knowing the species you have enables you to take care of it properly. Fortunately, by noting all the distinct characteristics of your tree or shrub, you have the ability to identify it.

• 1

  Write down the location where you find the tree or shrub growing. Plants like the roostertree only thrive in California and Hawaii, but the Allegheny serviceberry is found throughout the eastern states.

• 2

  Record the colors of the foliage, and feel the texture of the leaves. Rhododendron tree and shrub leaves, for example, have a distinct leathery feel to them.

• 3

  Note the color of any flowers blooming, and mark down the time of year they are in bloom. For instance, bushes like the beautybush contain pink blossoms during the spring.

• 4

  Watch for developing fruit, and note the color, along with the time of year, that you see it. For instance, the inkberry shrub develops little black fruits in September.

• 5

  Point your browser to a plant database such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or University of Connecticut (see the Resource section of this article). Use the provided menus to enter your findings and make the appropriate selections. Click the USDA "Display Results" or the University of Connecticut "Find Records" button, and then click through the resulting links until you identify your tree or shrub.