Trees and Woody Shrubs

By Brad Parkinson

Trees and Shrubs

1. Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine

• Two needles per fascicle

• Serotinous cone

• Fire dependent

• Grows in even aged stands

• Mountain pine beetle is main enemy

• Very much light dependent

• Prefers moist soil but will grow in wet soil

2. Western Red Cedar

Western Red Cedar

• Generally found in northern Idaho

• Has flat scale like leafs

• Produces great lumber called cedar and will last a longer than pine or fir

• Thuja is the scientific name

• Used as an ornamental tree in our community

• Very small scale like cones (deciduous)

4. Subalpine Fir

Subalpine Fir

• Narrow Christmas tree shape

• Single flat needles brushed upward, crowded together, with white band on upper sides, soft like fir.

• When crushed needles give off citrus odor

• Found near alpine environment or in moist environments

• Deciduous upright cone

5. Mountain Mahogany

Mountain Mahogany

• Found on dry south facing slopes

• Very short 4-7 meters

• Hazel green color

• Very hard wood but not a true mahogany

• Very common in Darby canyon

6. Utah Juniper

Utah Juniper

• Gray brown bark

• 8 meters or taller when mature

• Scale leaves

• Cones are dry, fibrous, ripening to reddish-brown, containing one seed

7. Rocky Mountain Juniper

Rocky Mountain Juniper

• Scale like leaves mostly in whorls of three

• Reddish brown bark

• Bluish to dark blue cones containing two or three seeds

• 8-12 meters with branches close to ground

8. Engelmann Spruce

Engelmann Spruce

• Needles pointed and square, stink when crushed, hurts when going against the grain. Needles are blue green in color.

• Cones are long and deciduous, tan colored

• Found in mountains along streams like cottonwoods in the lower valleys

• Branches are sculptured• Found from 2500 ft to tree line

9. Blue Spruce

Blue Spruce

• Native of Colorado but not Idaho

• Popular ornamental tree in yards

• Needles have a blue hue

• Needles are sharp, pointy, and rigid

• Cones persist near the top of the tree

10. Limber Pine

Limber Pine

• Needles are found in bundles of 5

• Closely related to Whitebark pine

• Yellowish brown cones that persist after falling to the ground

• Limbs are very flexible

• 26-43 feet tall at maturity

• Found in high mountains generally at tree line

11. Whitebark Pine

Whitebark Pine

• Needles found in bundles of 5

• Generally found at or near tree line

• Purplish brown cone that tends to disintegrate when falling from the tree

• Cones are smaller than Limber pine cones at about 5 cm compared to 7-12 cm on Limber pine cones

12. Douglas Fir

Douglas Fir

• Flat soft needles, single.

• Cones are soft with distinctive three-forked bracts, like the hind end of a mouse.

• Rough thick bark with reddish hue.

• 75-110 feet tall, large diameter, wonderful wood for building.

13. Narrow Leaf Cottonwood

Narrow Leaf Cottonwood

• Found in calcareous type soils

• Found along streams

• Very long narrow leaf

• A riparian type tree not as common as the Black Cottonwood

• A member of the Poplar family of trees

14. Mountain Alder

Mountain Alder

• Doubly or irregularly toothed

• Underside of leaf has a gray-frosty appearance

• Small cones on a small up to 30 foot tree

• Found along creeks, ponds, or wet meadows

15. Water or River Birch

Water or River Birch

• Bark is almost black on young trees, turning to dark reddish brown, and not peeling

• Branchlets covered with white glands.

• Found in moist areas, such as, along Birch Creek in Clark County.

16. Quaking Aspen

Quaking Aspen

• Largest terrestrial organism in the world

• Bark smooth and whitish, with black scars

• Clones itself using roots and suckers

• Light green rounded-triangular leaves that tremble in the wind

• Have salicylic acid in bark (aspirin)

17. Black Cottonwood

Black Cottonwood

• Most common tree along rivers and streams in the Upper Snake River Valley

• Much rotten wood found in living trees, very popular tree with woodpeckers and has many cavities for cavity living birds and mammals

• Seeds are spread in cotton given off from catkins in early spring

18. Black Hawthorn

Black Hawthorn

• Thorny branches

• Leaf blades with lobes on upper half of blade

• Black fruit in fall containing five seeds

• Flowers in May with white unpleasant smelling flowers

19. Rocky Mountain Maple

Rocky Mountain Maple

• Three lobed leaves, green in summer and red in the fall (see Palisades area in fall)

• Biwinged seeds in September

• Small short tree found on moist mountain sides. Seems to prefer steep slopes.

21. Red Osier Dogwood

Red Osier Dogwood

• Large spreading thicket forming shrub, found near or on the edge of streams

• Clusters of ¼ inch white flowers in summer turning to whitish berries with a bluish hue in the fall.

• Bark is red, thus the name

22. Service Berry

Serviceberry

• Shrub or very small tree, multi trunks• White star shaped flowers in spring and

early summer• Leaves about 1 inch, rounded and

serrated. • Bark is brownish red• Fruit in fall is dark purple, sweet, and

seedy• Likes moist shady areas, very hardy

23. Mountain Ash

Mountain Ash

• Shrubby plant growing on steep, damp hillsides.

• Compound pinnate leaves

• In springtime clusters of white 3/8 inch rounded flowers

• In the fall clusters of orange red berries enjoyed by birds and bear alike

• Not palatable for humans

24. Big SagebrushArtemisia

Big Sagebrush

• Much-branched gray green shrub with pungent sage like aroma

• May get 15 feet tall

• Leaves are evergreen

• Lives in fine deep soils in arid regions.

• Browse for deer and elk but not preferred, very low in nutrient

25. Bitterbrush or Antelope Brush

Bitterbrush (Antelope Brush)

• An erect, much-branched silvery shrub with fragrant yellow flowers. Three lobed leaves.

• Twigs are very bitter to the taste

• Found on dry hillsides

• Are a very important browse for mule deer in the winter

• Found near sagebrush and juniper forests

28. Oregon Grape

Oregon Grape or Holly Berry

• Member of the Barberry family that is an intermediate host to several plant diseases

• Bright yellow clusters of flowers that turn into dark purple berries with light blue powder covering the berries

• Sour to taste but edible, add sugar for a tasty grape juice

• Spiny leaves that hug the ground

30. Thimbleberry

Thimbleberry

• A broad leafed member of the raspberry family

• Erect shrub 2-6 feet tall with broad 5-lobed leaves. White flowers and red berries with a raspberry appearance.

• Pricklies on the stems

31. Huckleberry

Huckleberry

• Erect, much-branched shrub with thin, toothed leaves. Height 1-5 ft

• Medium sized deep purple berries

• Yellow globose flowers from May to July

• Fruits appears in late July and August

• Shaded woods and moist side hills, to open slopes on recent burns

32. Twinberry

Twinberry

• Erect, deciduous shrub with opposite leaves and both flowers and fruits in pairs growing from the leaf axils

• Black oval berries are edible but not tasty

• Compare to red Honeysuckle with red berries that are also paired but not edible

• Red berries many times are poisonous, so beware of red

33. Snowberry

Snowberry

• Erect, much-branched shrub with white berries, preceded by tubular rose colored flowers.

• Also called wax berry

• Not palatable or edible for humans but browsed by deer species, grouse, robins, and pine grosbeaks.

• Found along moist trails, and riverbanks

34. Rabbit Brush

Rabbit Brush

• Rubber Rabbit brush has latex in the stems

• Inhabits dry areas and is a know invader of sagebrush country when overgrazing has taken place

• Shrub with several stems growing erect from the base with yellow disk flowers in rounded terminal clusters

36. Knnikinnick

Knnikinnick

• A prostate, matted evergreen shrub with reddish peeling or scaling bark

• Small white to pink, urn shaped 5-parted waxy flowers in May and early June

• Leaves have a wintergreen flavor

• Green berries in late summer

• Leaves are used medicinally by many indigenous people. Many other uses

37. Squawbush

Squawbush

• Erect bushy, stiffly branched shrub with highly aromatic 3-parted leaves and clusters of red berries

• Found on open slopes and canyons: often chaparral.

• Foul odor thus nickname of skunk brush

• Berries used by birds, Indians made a drink similar to lemonade with them

38. Ceanothus or Deer Brush

Ceanothus or Deer Brush

• Green shiny low evergreen • White to pale blue blowers in conical

clusters at ends of flexible twigs.• Found on dry slopes in chaparral and

open forests• You can tell how deep the snow was the

winter before because the deer and moose graze Ceanothus down to snow level

39. Common Willow

Common Willow

• There are many different types of willows out there. So…..We will learn them as willow rather than try to identify each.

• Willows along a stream are very small on the trunk and multi stemmed.

• Some have a yellow hue and some have a brown, reddish, or black hue to them

• Willows are very important in holding soil in a riparian habitat for insects, birds, etc.