TREE BOOK

Learning to Recognize
Trees of British Columbia

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What are the Parts of aTree?

Trees have three main parts - the leaves, the trunk and the roots.
The upper part of the tree with the branches is called the crown.
Needles or leaves are the part of the tree that make sugar from air and
water. They do this by a chemical process called photosynthesisin which
energy from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and water recombine to
form sugars and oxygen
Stomates are tiny holes that control the amount of air that enters and
leaves the tree.
Chlorophyll is a chemical that makes leaves green. It is found inside the
plant's cells where chloroplasts absorb the sun's energy for photosynthes-
is.
Stomates are tiny holes that control the amount of air that enters and
leaves the tree.
Chlorophyll is a chemical that makes leaves green. It is found inside the
plant's cells where chloroplasts absorb the sun's energy for photosynthes-
is.
The trunk has several layers.
The outer bark protects the tree from fire or insects and insulates it from
extreme heat and cold.
The phloem is the layer of cells that forms a pipeline to carry sugars
from the leaves to the rest of the tree. As these cells die, they become part
of the outer bark.
The cambium is the growing part of the hunk. Each year the cambium
produces new phloem and sapwood. These cells grow more slowly in the
winter and tllis slower growth produces the tree's annual rings. These a1l
rings can help us find the age of a tree. The oldest part of the tree is al-
ways on the inside.
The sapwood is the pipeline that carries water and nutrients from the
roots up to the leaves. AS new layers develop, the inner layers die and
become heartwood.
Heartwood is dead wood in the centre of the tree. It gives the tree its
strength.

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Roots have two jobs - to anchor the tree to the earth and to absorb water
and nutrients from the soil.
Trees have fungi that live in and on the root cells and help them absorb
water and nutrients. In return, the fungi obtain food from the tree.

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 Aceraceae (Maple Family)
1 Vine Maple (asma akçaağaç)
Acer Circinatum Pursh

General:
Deciduous small tree or shrub, 1-8 m tall, often propagating by layer-
ing, sometimes forming dense thickets; stems branching, pale green to
reddish, becoming brown with age.
Leaves:
Opposite, 3-12 cm wide, 7- to 9-lobed, hairy on the lower surface and
on the upper surface along the veins, becoming golden to bright red (in
full sun) in the autumn.
Bark:
Thin and greenish, becoming reddish-brown; smooth, or sometimes
with shallow crack
Flowers:
Inflorescence of flat-topped, indeterminate clusters at the end of
shoots; petals white, 6-9 mm wide; sepals usually red.
Fruits:
Winged, in pairs, 2-4 cm long, widely spreading, green becoming red-
dish-brown, pairs attached at a 180degree angle, or nearly so.

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Uses
The Coast Salish people used vine maple occasionally for bows and
frames for fIshing nets. The lower Thompson people used the wood for
making snowshoes and cradle frames.
On the coast, the aboriginal people boiled the bark of the roots to make a
tea for colds. They burned the wood to charcoal, mixed it with water, and
drank it to combat dysentery and polio. They always collected the bark
and wood early in the morning from the sunrise side of the tree.

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2 Douglas Maple (Douglas Akçaağaç)
Acer glabrum Torr.

General:
Deciduous shrub or small tree, up to 10 m tall; stems branching, glab-
rous, young twigs reddish; bark greyish to reddish-purple.
Leaves:
Opposite, 2-12 cm wide, 3- to 5-lobed, glabrous to sparsely glandular
short-hairy, coarsely toothed, paler on the lower surface, turning yellow
to orange or crimson in fall.
Barks:
Generally thin, smooth, and dark reddish-brown; roughened on larger
branches and old trunks.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of flat-topped, terminal or axillary clusters of about 10
flowers, male and female flowers on separate or same plants, appearing
with the leaves; petals and sepals yellowish-green.
Fruits:
Winged, in pairs, 2-3 cm long, greenish-brown, pairs attached in a V-
shape.

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Uses:
Aboriginal people in the Interior had many uses for Douglas maple. The
wood is tough and pliable, and they used it for such items as snowshoe
frames, saddle frames, spoons, dipnet or fishing hoops, bows, rattles,
masks, and headdresses. They soaked the green wood and heated it, then
molded it into the desired shape.
The Thompson people used the stringy inner bark to make twine, the
Shuswap people used it for rope, and the Nisga'a for mats.

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3 Big-leaf Maple (Büyük yapraklı Akçaağaç)
Acer macrophyllum

General:
Large, deciduous, spreading tree up to 30 m tall; branches greenish
barked, smooth; older bark greyish-brown, ridged and often covered with
lichens and mosses.
Leaves:
Opposite, 10-30 cm wide, deeply 5-lobed, tips abruptly sharp-pointed,
dark green above and paler green below, turning yellow in fall, stalks
with milky juice when cut.
Barks:
Greyish-brown, shallowly grooved when older.
Flowers:
Inflorescence racemose with male and female flowers on the same
plant; numerous on short stalks, appearing with or before the leaves;
petals greenish-white,
Fruits:
Winged, in pairs, 3-6 cm long, yellowish-brown, hairy, pairs attached
in a V-shape.

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Uses:
Coastal peoples used bigleaf maple wood to make dishes, pipes and
hooks for clothing. Many groups who made paddles out of the wood
called it the paddle tree. They used the inner bark to make baskets, rope
and whisks for whipping soopolalie berries.
In the Interior, aboriginal people ate the young shoots raw in the spring.
They also made a type of maple symp, but because the sap has a low
sugar content, it takes a large quantity of sap to make a small amount of
symp.

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4 Manitoba Maple (Manitoba Akçaağaç)
Acer negundo

General:
Deciduous, spreading tree up to 20 m tall; young branches glabrous to
finely hairy, light brown, becoming furrowed with age.
Leaves:
Opposite, pinnately compound, with 3-7 (9) leaflets, oblong-lanceolate
to oblanceolate, coarsely few-toothed, usually hairy.
Barks:
Light brown or dark grey, furrowed into irregular flat-topped ridges.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of racemes in dense axillary clusters on slender stalks,
male and female flowers on separate trees; petals lacking.
Fruits:
Winged in pairs, 2.5-3.8 cm long, hairy, pairs attached in a V-shape.

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 Betulaceae (Birch Family)
5 Mountain Alder (Kızılağaç )
Alnus incana

General:
Deciduous shrub or tree, up to 12 m tall, usually 2-5 m tall, new
growth short-hairy; axillary buds with short stalks; bark scaly, often
lichen-covered, yellowish-brown or grey.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, smooth, coarsely to irregularly toothed, the teeth
pointing outwards, leaf margins not rolled under, brownish in the fall.
Barks:
Yellowish-brown with distinct oval-shaped ruptures or tears on the
bark (lenticels).
Flowers:
Inflorescence of male and female catkins, which open before the
leaves on previous year's growth; male catkins with stalks.
Fruits:
Small nutlets, without wings; female cones 1-1.5 cm long, egg-shaped.

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Uses:
Because of its hardness, some Interior aboriginal people used mountain
alder wood for making bows and snowshoes. Because it
doesn't flavour the food, they also used it for smoking and drying salmon
and meat. Like red alder, it was a source of dye and a substance for tan-
ning hides.
The Carrier made fish nets out of mountain alder and dyed them black by
boiling them in their own juice. Fish cannot see the black nets.

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6 Red Alder (Kızılağaç )
Alnus rubra

General:
Deciduous shrub or tree, up to 25 m tall; axillary buds with stalks; bark
scaly, often lichen-covered, yellowish-brown or grey-splotched with
white.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, smooth, coarsely to irregularly toothed, the teeth
pointing outwards, leaf margins rolled under, brownish in the fall.
Barks: Thin, greenish on young trees, turning grey to whitish with
age. The inner bark and fresh wounds tend to turn deep reddish-orange
when exposed to air.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of male and female catkins which open before the leaves
enlarge; male catkins with stalks.
Fruits:
Small nutlets, with narrow-winged margins; female cones 1.5-2.5 cm
long, egg-shaped.

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Uses:
Aboriginal people used the bark for dyeing basket material, wood, wool,
feathers, human hair, and skin. Depending on the teclmique used, the
colours ranged from black to brown to orangey-red. Some coastal groups
used the tree's inner cambium layer for food. The wood is low in pitch,
which makes it a good wood for smoking meat. The wood was also used
for carving items such as bowls.

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7 Water Birch, Mountain Birch (Huş Ağacı )
Betula occidentalis

General:
Deciduous small tree or large shrub, 3-10 m tall; bark dark reddish-
brown to black.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, rounded to sharp-pointed at the tip, usually
doubly saw-toothed, thin and membranous, 1-7 cm long, leaf stalks more
than 1 cm long.
Barks: Thin, shiny, dark reddish-brown to black, with marked hori-
zontal slits (lenticels); does not peel like other birches.
Flowers:
Male and female flowers in separate catkins 2-4 cm long; flowers
emerging before or with the leaves; catkins breaking up at maturity.
Fruits:
Nutlets with broad wings, at least twice as wide as the nutlets; bracts
with pointed, lateral lobes.

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Uses:
Water birch has limited use, mainly for fuel and posts. It is only lightly
browsed by most classes of livestock. The willowy, slender stems have
made many hasty fishing poles. Native Americans used a tea from Water
birch as a diuretic. A strong solution was reported to break kidney stones
and ease their passage. The juice from young leaves was used for skin ir-
ritations.

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8 Paper Birch, White Birch (Huş Ağacı )
Betula papyrifera

General:
Deciduous tree, 10-30 m tall; bark white, yellowish- to reddish-brown
or dark grey, often peeling; twigs hairy with both short and long hairs.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, broadly egg-shaped in outline, the tips sharp-
pointed, hairy below, rarely glandular, 4-10 cm long, leaf stalks more
than 1 cm long.
Barks:
Thin, white to reddish-brown, with dark horizontal slits (lenticels). It
peels in papery strips, exposing reddish-orange inner bark which will
gradually turn black with age.
Flowers:
Male and female flowers in separate catkins 2-4 cm long; flowers
emerging before or with the leaves; catkins breaking up at maturity.
Fruits:
Nutlets with broad wings, at least twice as wide as the body of the nut-
lets; bracts with rounded, ascending or diverging lateral lobes.

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Uses:
Many First Nations people in British Columbia used birch bark as mater-
ial for baskets, cradles, and canoes. They also used it for wrapping and
storing food and for roofIng pit houses. They used the wood for many
small items, including bows and spoons. They drank the sap as a medi-
cine for colds.
Birch sap can be used to make syrup, but it requires 80 to 100 litres of
sap to make one litre of symp! Undiluted, birch sap' can be used to make
vinegar or birch beer.

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8 Silver Birch (Huş Ağacı )
Betula pubescens

General:
Deciduous tree, 10-30 m tall; bark white or brown, often peeling;
twigs short-hairy, not glandular.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, rounded in outline, hairy below, rarely glandular,
1-5 cm long.
Barks:
Bark which is white all year round and twigs that are softly hairy to the
touch.
Flowers:
Male and female flowers in separate catkins, the male 3-6 cm long, the
female 1-4 cm long; flowers emerging before or with the leaves; catkins
breaking up at maturity.
Fruits:
Nutlets with broad wings, at least 1-1 1/2 times as wide as the body of
the nutlets; bracts with rounded lateral lobes.

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Uses:
Birch wood is tough and heavy, making it suitable for furniture, handles
and toys. It was used to make bobbins, spools and reels for the Lan-
cashire cotton industry; and herbal medicines were made from different
parts of the tree. In spring, the rising sap can be used to make refreshing
drinks, wines, ales and liqueurs; while the bark is used for tanning leath-
er.

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