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3. a. All questions will be restricted to specimens on the Official National Tree List.

Wow... I'm pretty sure some other trees on the NJ list aren't on the National tree list either, like the Atlantic White Cedar and the Mockernut Hickory.

Wow...well that's only three more trees I have to learn. Shouldn't bother emailing them about this, unless it's a real big problem. Either way, wow...........

SilverNight wrote:

3. a. All questions will be restricted to specimens on the Official National Tree List.

Wow... I'm pretty sure some other trees on the NJ list aren't on the National tree list either, like the Atlantic White Cedar and the Mockernut Hickory.

Yeah, likewise, the Minnesota list includes at least 3 trees that aren't on the national list.

According to Sibley, the basal lobes on Norway Maple are longer than those on sugar maple. (I think those are the lobes closest to the bottom of the leaf.) Example:

Norway Maple

Sugar Maple.
In addition, the keys of norway maple are unique.

Thanks, but I still don't really see the difference Maybe its just me... I'm pretty bad at this... I still don't really know the difference between black cherry, black walnut, white ash, and mockernut hickory leaves. If you were to get just a leaf (not a branch so you wouldn't know if it was compound) of these trees, how would you tell them apart? And how about Persimmon? Some of the pictures of them that I found online didn't really have "wave edges" as Sibley claimed, like this one: http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/divi5_002_lvp.jpg

Because my team hasn't begun practicing yet ( ), I have no idea where to even begin. I don't think the AL Forestry list is even up yet...I have heard that the National Wildlife Federation Field Guide is probably the best for use--is this true? (I apologize for my lack of knowledge, we just don't have a bookstore in town that has field guides.) Also, since I may be miraculously coaching this event despite having no previous knowledge...erm...yeah.

Audubon has pretty good info... NWF has some nice pictures though....then again, we're allowed 2 field guides.

SilverNight wrote:Thanks, but I still don't really see the difference Maybe its just me... I'm pretty bad at this... I still don't really know the difference between black cherry, black walnut, white ash, and mockernut hickory leaves. If you were to get just a leaf (not a branch so you wouldn't know if it was compound) of these trees, how would you tell them apart? And how about Persimmon? Some of the pictures of them that I found online didn't really have "wave edges" as Sibley claimed, like this one: http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/divi5_002_lvp.jpg

Yes, in retrospect, the leaves look identical, but the keys are very distinct.
I would find it very unlikely that the would only give a leaflet of a tree, if it were compound. The main way to tell several of these apart is by compound versus simple leaves, and how many leaflets are on a compound leaf. At school tryouts, we were not given any leaflets by themselves, in fact, we weren't really given leaves by themselves, often, they would have twigs and other leaves attached!

Thanks PacificGoldenPlover! Everyone in this forum is so much more prepared than me... My school is so incredibly slow that I don't even know for sure if I'm getting this event. (No one else got events yet but the president of SO said he'd probably give me the event.)

Is there anything we need to know besides the trees? I read somewhere on this forum that we might need to study general forestry, especially since NJ only has 20 trees on its list...

SilverNight wrote:Is there anything we need to know besides the trees? I read somewhere on this forum that we might need to study general forestry, especially since NJ only has 20 trees on its list...

Yes, you will probably have to know general tree biology and ecology and all that jazz.