Conifers Laboratory & Media Piece
Conifers Objective:
Make a field guide that identifies conifers based on their leaves; including pine, fir, spruce, cedar, and sequoia.
If you have not already completed the Latitudes lecture guide, the Taiga page includes an introduction to coniferous trees.
Background for Conifers Assignment
Conifers can be identified by bark, cone, leaves, and even overall shape.
We are using leaves as the method of classification as this works on even the youngest trees. You can often find dead leaves under a tree if the branches are out of reach.
Often plants are identified using dichotomous “two-choice” keys, like this one.
The other option is a visual key that uses two choices with picture cues.
To start using either of these keys to identify a conifer by its leaves, pick a leaf up from the ground under the tree.
Determine whether the leaves are in bundles or not in bundles. These needle-shaped pine leaves are attached together at the base and are an example of a leaf bundle. When you pick them up off the ground, there are two, three or even five needles attached together in a bundle, depending on the species.
Pine trees are an example of needle-like leaves in a bundle.
These fir leaves are also needle-shaped but are not in bundles; each leaf falls off individually.
Both fir species and spruce species have needle-shaped leaves that are not in bundles. Typically the fir needles are softer, you can run a stem through your fingers easily. Generally the spruce leaves are sharp to the touch.
Fir
Spruce
Not all conifers have needle-like leaves. The cedar pictured here has scale-like leaves that overlap.