How to Identify Trees in Michigan by Their Leaves
With more than 18 million forested acres, Michigan is a place where you will encounter plenty of trees. More than 100 kinds of trees grow in Michigan, so it could be difficult to identify each species. Many people use leaves to make an accurate identification. You can learn what some of Michigan's trees are by their leaves as well if you know what traits to look for. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Recognize the yellow poplar by the shape of its leaves. Also called a tulip tree, the yellow poplar has leaves that look like the outline of a tulip flower, with four distinct lobes. The shape of the leaves also make them susceptible to fluttering in a slight wind, since they are wide and have long stems.
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Distinguish a boxelder from other maples by its compound leaves. This is the only maple of Michigan with compound leaves, meaning that multiple leaflets are attached to a stem that forms each separate leaf. In boxelder, these leaflets number three on mature trees and five or more on younger trees. The leaflets have shallow lobes, with one leaflet on the end of the stem and others arranged opposite another.
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Look for large leaves on an American sycamore. These leaves can be as wide as 10 inches and in the autumn they wrinkle up and turn brown, often staying on the tree late into the season before finally falling off. Sycamore leaves have three to five lobes and long stems.
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Identify the northern catalpa by the immense size and odd shape of the leaves. These leaves are heart-shaped and look almost like green elephant's ears. Some are as long as a foot and 8 inches wide. Study the stems of the leaves and you will see that often three leaves grow out of a single spot at the end.
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Identify sassafras by its mitten-shaped leaves and their spicy aroma. Sassafras trees can have different-shaped leaves on the same tree but their most recognizable ones have the outline of a mitten. When you crush the leaves, you will immediately notice a pleasant smell.
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Tips & Warnings
Buy a field guide to trees that grow in Michigan to make the task of identifying them by their leaves much easier. One such book is "Trees of Michigan Field Guide" by Stan Tekiela.
