Pines as a group are quickly recognized. I find it hard to keep the different species straight, but they are not in fact hard to identify by leaf, bark and cone. Unlike almost every other tree in this book, pines do not produce fruit, but bear their seeds naked on scales in cones. They belong to a group called Gymnosperms (naked seed), as opposed to Angiosperms (vessel-seed). Although it is trivial to do so, you must differentiate between pines and other conifers in the region: firs, Douglas firs, spruces, yews, junipers, tamaracks, Metasequoia, cedars, and even bald cypresses in Mt. Auburn Cemetary. Local pines have tough needle-shaped leaves, that grow in bunches of two to five. Their cones are woody, their leaves evergreen.

Populus provides only a few species in our area. Only the aspens--trembling and bigtoothed--will be at all difficult to identify. These are rapid growing trees, that invade disturbed areas, tend to grow in groups, and have short lives. The exception is Populus deltoides, much more common in the Connecticut River valley than in the east, which grows to considerable size. All of the species of Populus in this area have laterally flattened petioles, which make the leaves flutter very easily in the wind. Chewing the twigs, especially if you taste them on the rear portion of the tongue, is amazingly like chewing aspirin, and just as pleasant. The young trees have smooth, whitish or greenish bark that is quite distinctive. From a distance aspens look rather like birches.