How to Identify Evergreen Shrubs
Evergreen shrubs are those that keep their leaves year-round. The definition of shrub is a bit more variable, but typically means a woody plant of multiple stems and a height of under 20 feet. Identifying such plants, common in both the landscaped and wilderness garden, takes a little sharp-eyed observation and a good reference. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Scrutinize the leaves. Conifers have needles or scales, and a number of species---like the junipers---frequently manifest as shrubs. Measure or eyeball the length of conifer needles, and look at how many needles constitute a bundle. For angiosperms---flowering plants---look at the configuration of leaves along the branch. Are they paired oppositely, or do they alternate on either side of the stem? Perhaps there are more than two leaves originating from a single node; such leaves are "whorled." How is the leaf shaped---circular, triangular, oblong, lance-like? In the Cascade Range, you may encounter both golden chinquapin and Pacific rhododendron as understory plants in thick conifer forest; while both have a decidedly tropical look and elongate leaves, those of the chinquapin are narrower and two-toned---pale-green on top, yellow below---while the rhododendron's are more bulbous, rubbery and darker.
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Make note of the bark. Mountain-laurel, for example, has a rufous trunk; that of odorless bayberry is pale, sometimes white. Consider the texture, not just the color: Mountain-laurel's is scaly, bayberry's is smooth. Keep in mind both of these bark characteristics may change as a shrub ages.
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Look at the height. This can be quite variable within a species, depending greatly on habitat. A number of trees grow in shrub form under harsher ambient conditions, most notably near or above timberline in high mountains. Cascade Oregon-grape has very similar leaves---serrate and compound---to tall Oregon-grape, but the latter, as its name suggests, may be six feet in height, while the former is a spreading shrub.
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Key into reproductive features. Flowers and seeds are often flashy, diagnostic indicators of an otherwise unremarkable shrub. Rhododendrons are famous for their tremendous spring and summer flower displays. Long catkins and pinecone-like strobiles are giveaways of alder shrubs. Pinemat manzanita and kinnikinnick are similar matting shrubs in the Northwest, but the former has dark brown berries, while the latter has red fruit.
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