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I was walking out on a trail near my house after a recent storm and found a tree that had been uprooted due to the storm. I plan on cutting up the tree to use it for some turnings but when looking at it I have no idea what the species is.

I seem to always have trouble at identifying tree species and was wondering if anybody has any resources/knowledge in the field that they can offer to hopefully help people like me that struggle with this task for the future.

In addition to that if you happen to be able to identify "my" specific tree species that'd be great. Sadly when I found it all the leaves were already gone so I only have pictures of it's bark. Also the tree was found in the Pacific Northwest Washington area (not sure if that helps or not).

Links to the pictures (sorry apparently they are too large to embed in the post):

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  • There are lots of plant-identification resources in the library and on the web, based on leaf shape, bark details, etc. The gardening Stack might be able to tell you more about those. – keshlam Nov 12 '16 at 15:12
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Bruce Hoadley, "Identifying Wood: Accurate Results With Simple Tools" is my go-to when you just have a hunk of wood.

However, your tree has neighbors with leaves/needles... it's very unlikely that it's the only one of its species in the area.

I'm going to go out on a limb (* see what I did there?) and say that you've got some sort of spruce/pine/fir.

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  • Haha, I like the joke. Thanks for the book recommendation I am going to check it out. I asked some of my neighbors who have lived and worked on the trails longer than I and they said it was fir so it looks like you were right. Thanks! – mvr007 Nov 13 '16 at 2:11
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It looks like a Pacific silver fir tree.

Next time make sure you get a closeup photo of the leaves. That makes it much easier. Bark can vary greatly in appearance due to the age of the tree, but the leaves have the same appearance regardless of the age of the tree.

Also give the LOCATION. I mean is this a tree in China, in Lebanon, WHERE IS THE TREE??? That makes it much easier to figure out what it is.

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    He did state that he found the tree in the "Pacific Northwest Washington area". – Maxime Morin Nov 13 '16 at 18:01
  • Sorry, I missed that. – Treow Wyrhta Nov 13 '16 at 18:19

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