Plant identification

September 25, 2010 3:44 PM

I have some plants I need to identify. In Toronto.

I need a website (or a book) to help me figure out what these are. I have some pictures but they're not the greatest. Of course, if you know what they are that would help too. Specifically, the first row titled with question marks.

posted by sgrass to Science & Nature (6 answers total)

(b) is an Eastern White oak, (J)is an American elm, (H) is an Eastern hemlock and I want to say that (i) is a White ash. I don't know (f).
posted by kuujjuarapik at 3:56 PM on September 25, 2010

Oh, and a really good cheap book with an easy dichotomous key is Tree Finder. Good for US and Canada east of the Rockies.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 3:59 PM on September 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

F is some kind of euonymus, probably the evil Euonymus fortunei
I looks like blue ash
j looks to be slippery (or red) elm, Ulmus rubra
E is probably Thuja occidentalis
Yes, H is hemlock
B is some kind of red oak, it could be Quercus rubra var ambigua, or it could be velutina or even some hybrid
C is probably staghorn sumac
posted by Red Loop at 4:21 PM on September 25, 2010

I meant to add: if the ash twigs are (somewhat) four-cornered, like, barely squarish in cross-section with a somewhat visible ridge running lengthwise along the twig, it's a blue ash, hence the Latin Fraxinus quadrangulata. Slippery elm leaves are usually very scurfy.
posted by Red Loop at 4:25 PM on September 25, 2010

Range of blue ash in Ontario. No presence in Toronto. Never seen one near the Great Lakes.

Range of slippery elm. Barely making it near Toronto. Range of American elm. Widespread north of Lake Ontario, and everywhere around here.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 4:58 PM on September 25, 2010

It surely may be a white ash or American elm. The elm leaves look a little rounder than many American elms, and the ash leaves a little thicker with larger teeth on the leaflets. But there are many differences in genetics and provenance. For the ash, you might try and check the leaf scars or other characteristics. Elms can be identified by the samaras in the spring (or fall, in a few that likely don't grow around Toronto)
posted by Red Loop at 7:14 PM on September 25, 2010