NATURAL RESOURCE
CLASS
TREE AND PLANT
IDENTIFICATION
Trees
Important Terms:
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Trees make up the canopy of the
forest
Conifers = Softwoods = Conebearing Trees
Deciduous = Hardwoods = Trees that
shed their leaves annually
Evergreens = Needle-bearing or
Leaf-bearing trees that don’t shed
their leaves annually
Douglas Fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii
Not a true fir!
Western Red Cedar
Thuja plicata
Not a Cedar
but a Cypress
Western Hemlock
Tsuga heterophylla
Washington State Tree
Rocky Mountain Juniper
Juniperous scopulorum
Identified by the blue
berry-like fruit
Sitka Spruce
Picea sitchensis
3rd tallest tree in the world
Vine Maple
Acer circinatum
Commonly grows
underneath taller trees
Bigleaf Maple
Acer
macrophyllum
Largest leaves of any
Maple
Red Alder
Alnus rubra
Largest Alder in the world…one of it’s uses is for electric guitars
Pacific Madrone
Arbutus menziesii
An evergreen tree that is
deciduous, therefore
hardwood
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa
First one was discovered
in 1826 around Spokane
Lodgepole Pine
Pinus contorta
So-named because American Indians used them for their teepees
as they grow straight and relatively knot-free
Western White Pine
Pinus monticola
• The needles are in
bundles of 5.
• 90% of these have
been killed west of the
Cascades by White Pine
Blister Rust
Noble Fir
Abies procera
Grows in high
altitudes and is a
popular Christmas
Tree.
Grand Fir
Abies grandis
Tolerates temperatures
below -400 C
Wood is used for paper
and cheap construction
Western Larch
Larix laricina
A deciduous coniferous tree
Is extremely cold-tolerant, surviving -650 C
Engelmann Spruce
Picea engelmannii
A high-altitude mountain
tree
Lombardi Poplar
Populus nigra ‘Italica’
Commonly used as
windbreaks and
ornamentals
Cottonwood
Populus trichocarpa
Named for the cotton-like
substance it produces and
sheds annually
Western Paper Birch
Betula papyrifera
Produces catkins
Oregon Ash
Fraxinus latifolia
The largest flowering
plant in the world
Louisville Slugger
baseball bats are all
made of ash wood
(White Ash)
Shrubs
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Shrubs are plants that grow in the
understory of the forest.
Most, but not all, thrive in shaded
areas
Some, such as blackberries, thrive
where trees have been clear cut
Heights range from 10 ft. to 1 ft.
Salal
Gaultheria shallon
Its berries are edible.
Grows both in shade
and open sun areas.
Florists pay huge
prices for Salal to
use in flower
arrangements.
Oregon Grape
Mahonia aquifolium
Berries are edible
Not a grape at all
Its foliage is used
by florists
Grows 2 to 5 ft. in
height
Evergreen Huckleberry
Vaccinium ovatum
Edible, tasty berries
This plant is strictly native to the
Northwest
Red Huckleberry
Vaccinium parvifolium
Native to the Pacific Northwest
Berries are edible, but very tart
Pacific Rhododendron
Rhododendron macrophyllum
Some reach 12 ft. tall
Western Azalea
Rhododendron tsutsusi
The Azalea is in the Rhododendron family, the
only difference in them is the size of the blooms
Pacific Serviceberry
Amelanchier alnifolia
Often mistaken for wild
blueberries
Native Americans made arrow
shafts from their stems
Pacific Dogwood
Cornus nuttallii
The Provincial flower of B.C.
Oceanspray
Holodiscus discolor
Found in areas prone to wildfires and is usually
the first plant to grow back after a burn.
Wild Rose
Rosa woodsii
Wild roses provide food and
shelter for small wildlife and
birds.
Indian Plum
Oemleria cerasiformis
These produce a very small plumlike fruit that is edible. In the
Pacific Northwest, these are the
main plant in the understory of
the forest.
Hazelnut
Corylus avellana
Very closely related to the Filbert
and is concentrated in two states in
the U.S. Oregon and Washington
Pacific Ninebark
Physocarpus capitatus
Mostly found in wetlands and along streams
Red Currant
Ribes rubrum
Used commonly for medicinal uses, including
digestive, diuretic, and blood cleansing
Salmonberry
Rubus spectabilis
Produces yellow, red, and orange berries. Very important food
for the Native Americans.
Red Elderberry
Sambucus racemosa
Although birds eat the berries, they are
quite poisonous to humans when eaten
raw.
Snowberry
Symphoricarpos albus
Important food for quail, pheasant, and grouse
but TOXIC to humans
Sword Fern
Polystichum munitum
The favored habitat of this fern is the understory of moist
coniferous forests at
low elevations.
Bracken Fern
Pteridium aquilinum
Bracken Fern is great cover for small animals, such as insects, spiders,
and salamanders. Old fronds bend and cover the forest floor or
meadow, hiding these
animals from
predators.
Deer Fern
Blechnum spicant
It resembles a miniature Sword fern
but smaller with rounded fronds.
It gets the name Deer Fern because it
provides winter forage for deer, elk,
caribou, moose & bighorn sheep from
the Columbia River to Alaska
Groundcovers
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The lowest level of growth in the forest
Very important to the soil and minerals
Many of these serve as forage for small
game animals
All of these serve as protection for small
game animals
The first plants to thrive after a forest fire
Kinnickinnick
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Commonly called “bearberry” Used by Native
Americans as tonics for certain ailments
Thimbleberry
Rubus parviflorus
Berries are edible
Shaped like a thimble
Beach Strawberry
Fragaria chiloensis
These were 1 of 2 wild varieties that were
hybridized to produce the modern garden
strawberry
Slender Wintergreen
Gaultheria ovatifolia
Evergreen groundcover with
edible berries
Twinflower
Linnaea borealis
Notice how this plant earned
its name?
Grows in dense brush at most
elevatons
Heather (Calluna)
Calluna vulgaris
It is a low-growing perennial shrub
growing to 20 inches tall, or rarely to
39 in. Heather is a very popular
ornamental plant in gardens and for
landscaping.
False Lily of the Valley
Maianthemum dilatatum
Found in the wild growing in open forests and on damp soils in grassy
ditches and thickets.
Western Columbine
Aquilegia formosa
Aquilegia comes from the Latin
word aquil, meaning eagle,
referring to the shape of the
petals. Formosa means beautiful.
Great Camas
Camassia quamash
Except for choice varieties of dried salmon, no other food item
was more widely traded as Camas. Native American people
traveled great distances to harvest the bulbs.
Goatsbeard
Aruncus dioicus
Aruncus, from the Greek aryngos ("goat's beard"), refers to the
showy, finger-like
flower clusters,
which form feathery
masses of all male
or all female
flowers.
Bleeding Heart
Dicentra formosa
This is native of our very own
Pacific Northwest's moist &
shady woodland areas, but also
seen alongside roads' drainage
ditches in fuller sun
Western Trillium
Trillium ovatum
Its petals vary from white to
maroon
There is a folk belief that if you
pick the bloom, the plant will
not flower for seven years. This
belief exaggerates the impact
of picking the flower, but
removing the stem and foodmaking leaves will set the plant
back.
Inside-out Flower
Vancouveria hexandra
Inside-out flower is named after
Captain George Vancouver and its
epithet hexandra, means six
stamens.
Modern medicinal uses are for sinus
congestion, chronic rhinitis and hay
fever.
Piggy Back Plant
Tolmiea Menziesii
Grows naturally in the
wild, however is a
popular houseplant as
well
David Viburnum
Viburnum Davidii
They are eaten by birds and
other wildlife, and some are
edible for humans (though
many others are mildly
poisonous to people).
Forget-me-nots
Myosotis salvatica
The Alaskan state flower
Foxglove
Digitalis purpurea
The entire plant is toxic
(including the roots and
seeds), although the leaves of
the upper stem are particularly
potent, with just a nibble being
enough potentially to cause
death
Trailing Blackberry
Rubus ursinus
The branches of these can
reach up to 10-20 feet long
Himalayan Blackberry
Rubus armeniacus
One of the top 10 most
noxious weeds in the
Northwest.
Evergreen Blackberry
Rubus laciniatus
Introduced in the 1800’s from Europe
along with the Himalayan Blackberry,
which originated in Asia. Considered
a noxious weed by some people